Wanna help a new self published author out?

"In the Mountains in the coulds"

Matt, I can see right away that you need an editor first.

–B.G.–

Haha Thanks Bob, I did indeed pay a copy editor to go through the manuscript and catch (hopefully) all those mistakes. Thanks again I feel like that was like having a big glob of sunscreen on your face, so much better if some one just tells you!
Happy Trails
Matt

You might want to explain if your book has something special about it. For example, is it optimized for North America or New Zealand or someplace else? Is it for beginners or experts or thru-hikers, or is it completely general? Obviously, if it gets too specialized, then it narrows the market.

–B.G.–

That's a really good idea, I was considering adding a subtitle but I decided against it because all the ones I came up with seemed too wordy. I live in California and had most of my backpacking experience in the central and northern parts. I did not write specifically for this region.

The book is written to help newbies get a basic understanding of all the options available for ultralight backpacking. As well as choosing UL gear that will suite their trip type and climate. I attempted to give all the options with pros, cons whys and what and hows for gear selection.

A resource section is there to help with the gear selection for the region and budget of the reader.

The book is not designed to introduce new revolutionary ideas to the ul community. The goal of the book is to make ultralight backpacking accessible to more people.It is not a complete guide but more of just a healthy introduction.
Happy trails
Matt

Matt, you might want to briefly mention how your book would be better than a Skurka book. Why should we buy yours over Skurka's? What is it that you explain better?

–B.G.–

Matt,

I don't want to be negative, so I'll just be straight forward. The book is available in the Kindle version for $0.99 — pretty inexpensive, and if I thought it might be somewhat interesting, I would have risked 99 cents. Then I noticed it was only 67 pages long; seems mighty thin to cover even the basics. So I downloaded the free preview. To be honest, this didn't pique my interest.

I did see a longer sample on Google, which made me less enthusiastic.

So here is some quick feedback using your section on Clothing Layers as an example (the stove and water purification sections weren't much more informative either)…

First you don't really explain how layers work and why they are important. There is a paragraph about "Cotton kills," which isn't actually true in many situations. You throw in a lot of stuff like "Clo" but don't explain what that means. Then you touch on the value of wind shirts, which is followed by a paragraph on rain jackets where you state they are not breathable, but eliminate the need for a wind shirt — all very confusing and not factual. Seems like there is a lot of opinion not backed by facts.

The sections I read need a lot of proofreading for grammar, sentence structure, spelling, etc. Many acronyms the reader may not be familiar with (e.g., AT, CDT, PCT). If the reader knows what Clo and down fill specs are, they probably don't need your book, but you toss those terms around without explaining what they mean.

It feels like you just threw this together.

So…

The book doesn't need editing or reviews; you need to start over.

My son is a backpacker, and definitely not UL or whatever label we want to put on it. If he expressed an interest and wanted advice on an UL gear book, I would probably steer him towards Skurka's book, not your's. But don't give up if you want to become a writer.

Determine who your target audience is. Then read some of the well-known writers of the gear genre. Colin Fletcher, Andrew Skurka (his first and I think only book), Chris Townsend, and Mike Cleland (for an alternative style) come to mind. Study them. What do they do well? What do they miss the mark on (if they do)? Do they establish their credibility as experts in the field, so their insights are to be valued?

Then revisit your book.

"Many acronyms the reader may not be familiar with (e.g., AT, CDT, PCT)."

Nick's point is this: The first time that each acronym is used in the text, it needs to be defined. Then after that you can generally use the acronym.

A friend of mine self-published a Kindle book on Amazon. However, she spent several months in a writing class to get there.

–B.G.–

Matt, your enthusiasm is evident, but when asking a community to support your career as a writer, it may be wise to proofread the post in which you make the request.

I agree that it does seem kinda silly to have errors in writing when asking for feed back on a book. Perhaps I should have waited till I had an actual computer instead of my smart phone and more time to spend on this. I'm on the road and diddnt really think I would be getting to much attention right off the bat.

As I said though I got a professional copy editor to look at my book and go through it for errors. The offer still stands though if you want a free copy of the book just let me know. I promise I spent more time on it than I did on these posts :)

Although should I be unable to sleep tonight lying in bed, mayhaps I will go back edit for errors just to prove I am not an illiterate 12 year with a BPL membership but as for now id rather be exploring New Zealand ;)

I do really appreciate the feed back guys! I have read many of the know authors on the subject. I'm actually not asking you guys to buy the book here more for feed back which I'm getting a lot of.

Yes this book has some of my options in it but they are based on my experiences. I have never found a truly water proof jacket that can keep up with my sweat while hiking. I work in outdoor recreation so I know that no outdoor professional would recommend that you rely on cotton in any environment say for the desert.

This book is tailored people who may not be as nerdy about backpacking as some of us(me included). Its not ment to be an end all tome on the subject. 61 pages is what I came up with for writing what I wanted the book to convey. A simple straight forward introduction on a few pieces of gear.

Again this was an offer for me to give you a copy(for FREE) :) to get some feed back from a community that I respect. I'm not saying you should buy this book instead any other one I think there are many wonderful and more in depth books out there on the subject. So thank you for the feed back so far I look forward to hearing more!
Peace
Matt

"As I said though I got a professional copy editor to look at my book and go through it for errors."

You should try to get your money back on that deal.

–B.G.–

Ahem boys, lets not rag on people for "self-publishing". It isn't some kind of STD these days. It is actually considered kind of normal now. Especially for bloggers.

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This lady has self-published every one of her books, print and digital. I am considered a successful author in my genre with 3 trail cookbooks and one at home cookbook. Self-publishing is just another way of bringing your thoughts to the world. I know for me…it simply came down to that since I was willing to be my own PR company and I had the knowledge of how to put books together, I might as well do all the work and own the rights. The majority of people will never publish a book, and first books are the scariest.

Anyhow, I haven't looked at this book but I tell every author friend I meet who self-publishes, to pick up Scrivener software (they were for Mac originally, but do make it for PC as well). It helps with layout but also formatting – and flow. You can export Kindle ready for a perfect look as well. It is well worth the cost for a tool. It is considerably better than Word can ever be.

And if you ever need any suggestions, please shoot me a PM :-)

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Matt,

Hope you’re having fun in New Zealand. I just looked in Google Books and read several sections including your section on stoves.

Really, you got taken by that copy editor. I don’t mean to be overly critical, but it is rife with grammatical errors, and I do mean rife. Your editor grossly failed you, and you should demand your money back. Really. It’s that bad in terms of the editing.

Matt, I’m going to just say it: Writing isn’t your first gift. Your passion is evident. Stick with your passion and share it wherever the trail takes you, but the written word just isn’t your medium.

Honest feedback made with all due respect,

HJ
Adventures In Stoving
Hikin’ Jim’s Blog

Or a bit more helpful would be "Keep writing. It can get better with time." Seriously on that! Years of work teaches a lot for anything – be it writing, photography, and so on. Don't tell someone to not write! I was told repeatedly in school that writing was not my specialty. I couldn't write book reports even……it was one reason I didn't finish college, term papers were beyond my grasp. I kept at it, and I learned. So please, don't tell people they shouldn't write. The passion can carry, and the writing becomes easier. Just keep at it – and hold off publishing if it isn't ready. When I have works open, I revisit them monthly and take a new look, do changes and save. Then I come back with fresh eyes over and over.

*I might also note that I have read 100's of old-school hiking and outdoor books from the 1940's through the early 2000's and many of them were poorly written – and these had publishers. And even in the past 10 years I have seen numerous books from well known niche publishers that had bad editing. It isn't anything unique.

About one foot from my computer is a big red binder with the title: Technical Writing, Spring 1993. That's the only thing that keeps me out of trouble.

–B.G.–

I read BPL's Lightweight Backpacking and Camping last year. There are several sections where I had to wonder who edited it. It's a wealth of information and I would still recommend it to a new ULer, poor editing be damned.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't put forth your best effort to present a professional product. I have a personal blog and I still have a lot of room to grow and develop as a writer. It's something I enjoy and will continue to do. Maybe people will read it. Maybe I'm pissing in the wind. Who cares?

If you enjoy writing, then keep writing.

I appreciate your enthusiasm so I hope you do.

Right on guys I knew I could count on BPL for some honest feed back! So here's what I plan on doing with it.

Do a rewrite after
– researching more
– taking a writing class or two
– find a better copy editor

I probably would take down the copy but I have up right now but I have a 90 day agreement with the distributor. So for now the world will have to live with another crappy eBook!
Cheers
Matt

Points well taken, Sarah.

HJ

Keep on writing. Practice and go to people who can give constructive criticism.

The writing class will be helpful if for the constructive criticism part alone.

The other part of writing that can be challenging is finding a unique voice. Arguably. that part of writing is the most difficult aspect.

What makes your writing stand out from everyone else? Colin Fletcher had a wonderful way of phrasing words and ideas and was a joy to read.

Andrew Skurka has a lot of experience (Gee..that's an understatement Paul :) ) and presents his information much in the same way as his hiking style: efficiently, well thought out, to the point and without any extra filler.

Chris Townsend is similar to Fletcher if with a little more of Skurka's practicality.

And so on.

What will make people want to buy your book?

Keep on keeping on. :) Good luck!

I haven't read your book, but applaud your effort and determination. Putting something out there for others to read and critique takes guts.

Ryan

And to add to Ryan, the way you have presented yourself and responded to the posts in this thread have been admirable, in my opinion.