Do you think there are enough people who would buy another book about trucking to Tehran? I’ve had one on the stocks for some time but unfortunately Old Pond are not publishing any more trucking books at the moment. However my son has very successfully self-published a fantasy series on Amazon Called ‘ Arbanhalle ‘, which is selling well both here and in the States.
So I am seriously considering going down the same route. The book tells the story of a single trip from London to Tehran and back in a Mack F786, but condenses the experiences of several years journeys which I made, into one. Is it the sort of subject that you would buy? Another question is that it is much cheaper to publish without photos but everyone seems to want them and I have loads. Would you be prepared to pay another two or three pounds for the inclusion of several pages of photos showing scenes from the entire journey?
How many people have travelled the roads to the Middle East countries ? Not many really so its going to be intresting to most
people plus pics of the trucks is very important and parking areas,customs posts etc.
Hi JAZZANDY,
Ever since i joined trucknet i would all ways read your posts and i relised that there were just a few of you in a select group that were in the right place and at the right time and spotted the new [back then] opportunity in middle east ,but were you actually lorry drivers,i think you were running a office at AVIS IN DOVER so you would be in the know.and not doing the rough and ready lorry driving,so i have always thought of that when i am reading your many posts and books
jelousy on my part maybe.
AS i sent my life history driving to “OLD POND"REJECTED AS WANTED EDITING then i relised most Authors of most trucking books were not your secondary modern school boy left at 14 not a clue of education ,however fitted nicely after time in the lorry driving game.diagnosed as” practical"why am i telling anyone this ,
Most drivers do not have the "ENGLISH "knowledge in writing readable ENGLISH however men like you do, would you have been a driver at 21 ??unless the family had a business like some who very fortunate .
So i take all the MIDDLE EAST BOOKS with a view ,"in my opinion "as all very similar so i would not read another middle east book…my view ,i never myself did any middle east .it was bad enough earning a living on the U.k the 1970s/80s. dont forget its my view not meant for the bones to b e picked ,unless you mus.
pdb
Just to set the record straight. I was manager of Avis in Dover and also Euston. But I-also spent six happy years driving trucks Throughout Europe and the Middle East. My first trip was Moscow in 1969 and my last was When I flew out to Italy to pick up an abandoned Seddon Atki 400 at Trieste and brought it back to UK in 1978. (Three of those years I was working for Avis!)
It’s hard to assess whether there’s still an appetite out there for more Middle-East books, or whether M/E fatigue is setting in. As more and more drivers who did it fall off the edge, the future potential readership becomes more a case of people who want to read about the adventures, rather than people who want to read about a life and culture they belonged to. In fact, it was reading such books that really got me interested in the M/E run and kindled my thirst for the sense of adventure we enjoyed while doing it for real.
I would read another M/E book, especially if it was written by someone with proven ability, like yourself Andy. My only reservation for you, would be that self-publishing can be prohibitively expensive so you must really want to get your stuff out there if you are to enjoy the end result. In any case, it would be a good book because I’ve seen the snippets of it you’ve put on various threads over the years.
I would say YES, go for it. Self-publish with a books-on-demand printer and there is virtually no cash out-lay for the author. I used Createspace which is now part of Kindle. They make a quality product at a reasonable price but colour photographs make things expensive. I went with black and white photos in one of my books to cut costs but would have preferred colour. I don’t think any Middle-East first-person travel-log is going to cross over onto any best-seller list but there is a niche market of collectors who will buy any road transport themed book. Maybe you would be better writing a film-script and pitching it to a production company. I know it is almost impossible to get Netflix or Amazon-Prime to have a look at anything but there is a young couple called Harry and Meghan who are getting into film production and they might be interested.
Having read your stories on TNUK with great interest,my personal answer to another book re ME would be most welcome,preferably with colour pictures,as they say “a picture paints a thousand words”!
There is one other book I want, the one of Johnny Neville if only for the cartoon and caricatures. I presume it is his brother who has had it published as he passed away far too early.
I bought and have read 50 shades, and liked it and your other stories on these threads.
Yes, I would buy the book, and would not mind paying a bit extra for one with pictures.
PS: did Arthur and Annatje ever get married ?
Jazzandy:
The working title is ‘Iranian Overdrive’. What do you think?
At first glance it might be mistaken for a political work. Reckon it needs a more specifically transport-orientated title. The Iran Run; Gutter Persia; Lorrying East…?
Jazzandy:
The working title is ‘Iranian Overdrive’. What do you think?
At first glance it might be mistaken for a political work. Reckon it needs a more specifically transport-orientated title. The Iran Run; Gutter Persia; Lorrying East…?
Rowena
I had never heard of Overland Transport described as Middle East “Run” or Run of any kind until the likes of facebook reared its head.
Anyway my Johnny Neville Book has arrived so its another one to ponder over.
Jazzandy:
The working title is ‘Iranian Overdrive’. What do you think?
At first glance it might be mistaken for a political work. Reckon it needs a more specifically transport-orientated title. The Iran Run; Gutter Persia; Lorrying East…?
Rowena
I had never heard of Overland Transport described as Middle East “Run” or Run of any kind until the likes of facebook reared its head.
Anyway my Johnny Neville Book has arrived so its another one to ponder over.
“The Middle-East run” precedes the internet by a couple of decades and was probably coined by journalists, Wheel-nut, as they were using the term liberally as far back as the early '70s (I’ve just checked copies of Commercial Motor and TRUCK). It is now widely used even by people outside transport and is nearly 50 years old, so I reckon it’s here to stay!
did you ever release your book and if so what did you call it
Cheers
Yes, Andy MacLean published his book in 2000 under the title of Me, My Mack, Tehran and Back! I understand that it has sold well over the last 3 years.
did you ever release your book and if so what did you call it
Cheers
Yes, Andy MacLean published his book in 2000 under the title of Me, My Mack, Tehran and Back! I understand that it has sold well over the last 3 years.
Ro
And don’t forget Andy’s “FIFTY SHADES OF TARMAC” published in 2015.
bald:
I bought and have read 50 shades, and liked it and your other stories on these threads.
Yes, I would buy the book, and would not mind paying a bit extra for one with pictures.
PS: did Arthur and Annatje ever get married ?
Never mind Annatje, whatever happened to her flat mate Helga the nurse.
Asking for a friend.
