I have this habit of being brutally honest, with my friends, family and colleagues. Though, I am hardest on myself. I have found that it’s best to just tell the truth and move on: That way I don’t have to keep track in mind what lies I’ve told and to whom, I have tried to make exceptions and tell white lies, but I find even those I don’t really have any justification for. In any-case, I want to talk about my book, and give my honest opinion on it, what could be better, and most importantly, how I look upon it now, 4 years removed from writing it.
I got the idea for writing this post when I read a comment on a forum, trek-lite I think is what the forum is called. Basically the author of the comment wrote: “I hope he can run the store better than he can write a book”, my first reaction was not sadness, or angry or anything else, I simply smiled to myself and thought, me too. Don’t get me wrong, some chapters in my book I think are pure genius, and still some of the funniest writing to be found in a hiking book. And this was kind of my goal with the book, to just have fun and take a piss on everything. It was a great laugh when I wrote it, and as I’ve said, some chapters are brilliant. However, there are other chapters that are mediocre, and a few that are complete garbage. My guess, is that with a proper editor for the book, more than half of the book would have been sent back for re-edit, not just in context but in style.
Of course I knew this at the time, and it’s also why the book is as cheap as it is, because I knew it was a good laugh, but perhaps not a complete guide on anything and everything ultralight hiking. I have over the last couple of months been working on a re-write of the book, as I think some chapters could use a bit more filling, and proper information. Such as tent selection, trip planning, trekking poles and so on. Other chapters I have decided to just delete altogether. Also, as with most things we grow and advance – I’m not the same hiker or person when I started writing the book four years ago, and if I’m honest, if I had to choose just one thing for people to remember me by, it wouldn’t be my book.
So I’m at an impasse, do I re-edit my book completely, or do I delete it and start over? Maybe write a new book and give Ultralight and comfortable away as an ebook on my site? How has the book aged just 4 years on?