Every once in a while, you stumble across a quote that changes your outlook on how you approach life. Of course, this requires that one does a good deal of “reading”, which is a problem for me, as reading anything that isn’t Cycling-related feels the same as doing “work”. I do the odd bit of it nevertheless, and in a recent such episode, I encountered a quote by Tommy Edison, inventer of several handy contraptions, including the lightbulb and motion picture:
Vision without execution is hallucination.
This brilliantly points out the fact that merely having an idea is nothing without the conversion of that idea into a tangible result. That, of course, is the elusive and difficult bit, but it is also the fun bit. Taking an idea from concept to reality is one of the most exciting and rewarding things a person can do.
It was about this time last year that James Spackman approached me via email and suggested we put a proposal together to do a book on The Rules. We loved the notion of this, and the Keepers set about putting a concept around this abstract notion, and a plan for how we might accomplish it. James provided feedback and guidance on how best to frame the concept, and led us through the proposal process. The proposal was approved, they made us an offer, we signed a contract, and turned around to stare down the business end of 70,000 unwritten words. Little by litte, we chipped away at it, and today, I am very happy to announce that the book has gone from concept to manuscript to editing to printing. What you see here are photographs of the actual book, printed and ready for sale on June 20, 2013. A free eBook Sampler with extracts from the book will be available free from June 6 to June 19. (Incidentally, the book will initially be published in the UK and Commonwealth countries; the US release of the book is expected in the Spring of 2014 through our US Publisher, WW Norton.)
The Rules stands apart from many blog-to-book concepts, where a book is little more than a re-publication of the blog’s archives. It was important to us that if people are paying for a book, that they are getting something they haven’t already read for free online. We also wanted to take advantage of the wonderful experience one has when reading a book; the sound and feel of a hard cover, the texture of quality paper, the creaking of the spine as you turn the pages, and the smell of the whole package.
The format of the book is very different from how The Rules are presented on Velominati. The book is organized into V sections, with each of The Rules aligned into one of them. The sections all have an introduction, and for every Rule, a passage has been written that either provides history or in some other way justifies the Rule, or provides an anecdote from our various lives as Velominati that might provide insight into why that particular Rule is in existence. The entire text is framed with a Prologue and Finale and topped off with an introduction by my personal Cycling Writer Hero, Will Fotheringham. With the exception of a paragraph here or there that was borrowed from our archives, the entire book is comprised of new material.
It gives us tremendous pleasure to see this project come to life as a real, tangible book. Special thanks to Sceptre Books for taking a chance on us. Words can’t describe our appreciation of our editor, Drummond Moir, who was the most incredibly patient man and guided us expertly through the process of write a great book. (Sorry for having accused you of being English, mate.) Thanks to Nikki Barrow, our publicist in the UK; keep your ears on the papers, radio and television waves as the fruits of her labors come to light. Finally, thanks to the Community for making this such a fun place that someone might want to do a book in the first place, and for tolerating our dull writing on account of all our creative powers having been drained into the book. I also suppose this means that the V Keepers should start considering themselves writers or, worse, authors. Strange to say the least, especially since I have always considered myself a software developer.
Keep your eye on the Sceptre Facebook and Twitter for the latest, and everyone rush to your nearest bookseller on June 20 to pick up your copy.
Amazon:
The Rules: The Way of the Cycling Disciple
Obey the Rules: A Free Extract (eBook)
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Septre/”/]
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View Comments
@ralph
It will take about a year to turn all the "tyre"s to "tires" and "colour"s to "color".
Seriously, I guess its the way things work. Publishers usually have a market they sell in, and unless its Harry Potter's publisher, its not a global market. Sceptre is based in the UK with no distribution to the US markets. Our plan, then, was to sell the book once finished to a US publisher. Sceptre worked their asses off to promote the book at book fairs etc and got some interested parties who collectively wanted to wait to see a manuscript before deciding to buy it.
In most cases, publishers wait to see how a book sells before buying it, but we lucked out and sold it before the official release. We'll have to do some work on it to get it ready for the US (spelling, grammer, etc) but what will be sold in the US will basically be the same book. Then we have to slot it in with the marketing engine at our US Publisher, WW Norton, and decide on a good time to put it out. Christmas is out (we've missed that window) and the next obvious date is Valentines Day or Father's Day. We'll see and we'll let you know, of course, as things get closer.
In the meantime, you should be able to get it from the UK sites like Amazon.
@LA Dave
Very very kind! We were very keen to have the book be really high quality. In fact, our initial idea was to do a thick leather-bound version but the pricing made it impossible. We're really pleased, and I think you'll also be excited about the quality of the paper and the design of the pages, which are not pictured.
@mikebikes
Love it. Or perhaps mounted behind saddle? Oh, hang on ...
@the Engine
And me. Not missing out this year. Already got VMH approval
@Rob
@CanuckChuck
Cheers, east coast brothers.
Rob, I heard a rumor that you were decamping to Florida. It's true? Miami Beach? Turquoise fat bikes, white linen pants, and visible chest hair? You'll be having a laugh come next January.
very nice, can't wait to get a copy
@frank
...which is to say: have these removed? Nice play on grammer, by the way.
FYI: Robert Millar mentioned The Velominati in his blog on Cyclingnews.com today:
"Want a bit of good reading to get you prepared for a summer of cycling? Look up The Rules by Velominati. I will point out that I quickly browsed through them and noticed they've missed a couple. Front brake to the left hand lever, rear brake on the right hand lever is one and no sprinting on the hoods is another. The exception to that rule is Guiseppe Saronni, for an example see the Goodwood Worlds in 82. I know it's not a great exemption as he employed the same style at Prague in 81 and Freddy Maertens mugged him so stick to the rules."
@Jay See Post #106 by @The Engine some 24 hours ago. We are all pretty stoked though.
@strathlubnaig I was so impressed at the mention I posted without reading all of the posts. I'm an idiot...