Archive

In production now! I’m proud to announce Falling Uphill: The Secret of Life the children’s edition is coming this fall and will be illustrated by Poplar Creek Elementary School.

• The New York Times and the NYT slide show
• The San Francisco Chronicle
• The Milwaukee Journal
• Santa Maria Times
• The San Diego Tribune

Unfortunately a lot of great stories aren’t available, like my story in the Cape Argus, Cape Town South Africa and the Waukesha Freeman.

Photo by Kate Heil

I’m a little sad to announce that my dreams to circumnavigate the USA on a bicycle for my Falling Uphill Book Tour has concluded here in Wisconsin. I traveled about halfway around the country before realizing I was being over-ambitious, and that promoting a book is a full-time job, which doesn’t allow for cycling 6-8 hours per day. However, I am grateful to also have discovered that by staying in one spot (planning events can take months) I can inspire many more people; indeed, I have rediscovered friends are the greatest resource on the planet, and I feel honored that the people of Wisconsin have welcomed me back. Someday, I do hope to continue traveling around the country bringing my stories of inspiration to people’s doorstep; however, for now I must also rest my aching body. Unfortunately, according to several doctors, I went too many days without proper nutrition and hydration which has affected how my liver metabolizes sugars. But rest assured, I continue to share my story at all the local schools and special events.

Thanks to everyone who supported the journey. ~ Scott

As a post world tour honor, me and my bike got to occupy first, second and third place on the podium at the Downer Classic race at the Tour of America’s Dairyland. I also had the chance to share my story with the crowd.

I’ve always been impressed that many world-class cyclists and teams that don’t qualify for the Tour de France come to Wisconsin for our excellent race series also including Super Week starting soon.

I’ve never wanted to measure my life by money, which lately has been an overly idealistic philosophy; nonetheless, I believe in measuring my life by new experiences and new opportunities. Books are a rather bad business plan, so one of the main rewards of my book is hearing the stories of how I’ve made a difference. Not to sound too arrogant, but I think it is important both as a business and as an artist to know if the world considers your works valuable, which creates a mutually beneficial feedback loop.

One recent story comes from an 88 year old woman named Jean. She saw my bicycle leaning outside a store and insisted her driver stop and let her out. She “ran” into the store and told me that she had purchased my book last summer and “just loved it” and that she bought a copy for all her friends. She found it so inspiring, she said, that after reading it she added up all her frequent flier miles from a lifetime of travel, and not long after that she made a solo journey to the other side of the world to Bangladesh. Her eyes were still on fire with the excitement of her recent trip. She rattled off a few amazing stories, and told me of her new dream to write a book about her adventures and she says to me, “I want to call my book ‘An old lady and 3 Bangladesh men’.” Then she winks and says with a smile, “Do you think that will sell?”

I considered myself lucky. I’ve got a creative bone that just needs to be itched, and I had something entertaining and enlightening to write about—I rode a bicycle around the world in quest of happiness. Combining work and play seemed a recipe for success. I thought there couldn’t be a simpler business plan than to produce a book, and I would have the added benefit of fulfilling another dream. Well, years later, including a year of promoting Falling Uphill, the book about my quest for happiness and the meaning of life, I seem to keep surprising myself how difficult it is to sell a book. And that’s not including a 4-year, 26,000 mile trek, including dengue fever in India, being imprisoned in Zimbabwe, suspected of terrorism in Israel, nearly dying of dehydration in Mexico, meanwhile discovering the meaning of life along the way; and let’s forget the degree in graphic design and production, and the on-the-job education of learning my P’s and Q’s as a copywriter, and nevermind the thousands of hours of writing. That’s all simple stuff compared to the publicity stunt of selling a book.

It should also be noted that I achieved some stellar results. I started a book tour again riding my bicycle around the country as a publicity stunt. Spending 6 hours a day pedaling wasn’t a great use of time, but it did produce results even without a PR agent. I had dozens of media interviews, including the New York Times, far exceeding the average 1% return rate on my cold emails. I advertised on Youtube with a movie about my trip that actually got conversions. I had friends helping me. My mom sent out 200 letters to agents. They actually responded. Even publishers were showing interest. My book was translated into Korean. I had rave 5-star reviews. And I broke at least 4 records at bookstores for author signings. In fact, I have 18 spreadsheets of actions and ideas that are too numerous to list. The bottom line is I sold about 4000 books so far, which is 8 times more than the average book even by a big name publisher. But yet, I have still burned/invested every penny I own, hoping someday my book will go viral. Yet, the world seems to have had other plans, for one inventing a thousand upon a thousand devious ways to get a slice of my pie, or prevent my pie from getting to the market. So, what is my devious solution? Why not fight fire with fire?

Why not enter the world of online innovation and publish an e-Book?

This will save me the cost of manufacturing and shipping, especially opening up the overseas market. I can tap into this market that has seemingly exploded overnight. (Two new e-readers have hit the market since I was asked to write this article.) And, hopefully, I can claim some online real estate, since it seems people are skipping books and even televisions and going straight for instant online satisfaction. Plus, there is fairly convincing evidence that you will sell 35% more books at the click of a button.

What the heck is an e-Book?

Well, obviously it is an electronic book that can be read on a computer or portable device using a variety of file formats. The most basic kind is an ePub format, which is basically a variation of HTML so that the type can be reflowed and resized at whim. The second kind is a PDF, which can look fantastic, but the page layout is static. And, there are a bewildering array of other file formats: DRM, XML, LIT, DTP, PDB, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, MP3, Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible, MOBI, PRC, HTML, XHTML, DOC, RTF, BBeB, and more.

What kind of e-reader should I choose?

It seems every e-reader is different and uses different formats, which means publishing numerous different versions of your book. The big players at the moment are the Amazon Kindle, iPad, Barnes & Noble Nook, Adobe Reader, MS Reader, Palm Reader, and your basic old computer or cell phone. However, the current battle that is revolutionizing the publishing world seems to revolve not around the e-reader itself, but the unique distribution network each one is attempting to capture.

So the next question is: Which distribution network do I use?

My printer, a division of Ingram, the largest book distributor in the world only deals with a handful of devices, excluding the Kindle and the Nook; however, they just struck a deal with Apple’s iPad. The cost is astonishing! Apple takes $250 to join plus 30% royalties; and Ingram gets another 5.6%. So far, Barnes & Noble, in traditional fashion, snubs the small publisher, offering no information except an email address. And Amazon’s Kindle takes a whopping 70% of my literal blood, sweat and tears. There are also a variety of online bookstores that will distribute your book for you.

So what’s the answer?

Well, I haven’t been able to find a good solution. So, I plan to take a few small steps in the general direction and see what happens. I think my book, Falling Uphill, would simple be lost on the e-shelf of most of the distributors (there were a record breaking 1,000,000+ new books in print in 2009); and, since, publicizing my book and driving the customers to the bookshelf is 99% my problem (i.e. being an unpaid employee for the distributors), I’ve decided to simply sell the e-book on my website. I know how to make a PDF and ePub file, and those two formats work on every device. One of the consequences will be security. The benefit of the aforementioned distributors is being able to prevent people from pirating your book, you can even set your book to expire. However, since after a year of hard work it still hasn’t gone viral, I don’t foresee e-piracy as being a big problem. (I never figured into my business plan that multiple people would read my paper book or the used market further undermining my promotion efforts.) Also, though I like to attribute Amazon as one of my biggest problems (read my article “The high cost of low price”) I have to give them credit for making publishing on their Kindle open to everyone and super easy to convert to their format and distribute inline with your existing paper book, rather than having to buy a separate ISBN at another $125 bucks and marketing a second e-edition. Plus, they promise to lower their royalties to 30% this summer, provided you meet their list of unmeetable requirements.

And, if you are new to this, you will soon realize that e-book or paper book, the great grandmother question of them all is: How do I publicize my book? Well, that is a whole other e-ball of wax.

Stay tuned for an update of how this whole dream manifests itself into some kind of cyber reality.

———————–

This article originally written for Keeping Up: Chronicling Technology Innovation Online

Why are this man’s legs so strong?

Update: My story in the acclaimed Milwaukee Magazine  was on the newsstands in March and was a sweet summary of my trip. Wish I had a professional photographer following me around the world. Can you guess what that white stuff is? BTW, how did I get beat for the cover by a piece of pizza?

Photo courtesy of © Dan Zaitz

In this issue:

1. Scott’s new book is here!
2. This months inspirational idea

The young adults edition has just arrived.

Falling Uphill: Dreams for the young adventurer & the young at heart

The true story of one man’s quest around the world on a bicycle seeking the meaning of life.

This easy-to-read edition features 236 photos and illustrations, answers to over 225 frequently asked questions, and brand new humorous short stories so that you can re-imagine the journey. In fact, the whole book is a new perspective on the highlights and lowlights of the adventure—from dying of dehydration to climbing Mt. Everest—and a whole philosophy of making dreams a reality.

Falling Uphill is a metaphor for your own journey, and as you re-live bicycling around the world, re-discover the passion to live your “impossible” dream… or just sit back and enjoy the harrowing adventures.

This special edition features the magical secret to making your dream a reality , and several exercises (and additional surprises online) to help guide you through the creative process—by the time you’ve finished this book, not only will you have dreamed impossible dreams, but you’ll have taken the first step on your new adventure.

Scott Stoll lives a life the rest of us only dream of. ~ Michael Berry, Bay Area book critic.

Top Ten reasons to read this book.

This month’s inspirational idea

Here’s an excerpt from “Falling Uphill: Dreams” answering a common question: Do you have any advice on how I can plan my adventure?

The possibilities are endless in an ever-changing infinite world; and the best part about the world is you can create and add to it, so it’s not something set in stone, that if you memorize all the facts, you can figure one perfect answer. So I encourage you to go out and see the world for yourself. Why not start exploring your neighborhood? Why not consider yourself ambassador of [Your Name] and go on a diplomatic mission and exchange some cultural values?

I wrote the first draft of Falling Uphill in Antigua, Guatemala. Often I took notes while atop the roof of my hotel below.

Today’s interview is with Scott Stoll, author of the book Falling Uphill, founder of the adventure travel community The Argonauts, and perpetual traveler.  He’s currently cycling around the world.  Yes, cycling – as in on a bicycle. Read more….

Head on over to BikeRumor.com for a nice little blurb about Falling Uphill and a generally interesting bicycle site.

Plus read about the bike that sold for 1.3 million dollars.

Welcome to the first issue of our newsletter (re-posted here). Please sign up so that you don’t miss news about new books and new adventures.

In this issue:

1. Thank you.
2. 3 easy ways to help “Falling Uphill” reach critical mass
3. This months inspirational idea

Thank you.

Thanks to the thousands of people in over 13 countries that have read and enjoyed Falling Uphill. I’m honored by all the emails I receive from fans about their personal adventures towards the life of their dreams. Without all of you, my book and personal dream would not be possible either.

And for those of you wondering about my whereabouts, I’m about to set voyage into the unknown again to bring my story of self-actualization to more people. I plan to head down the Atlantic Coast, which to me is a rather scary adventure considering I had declared I’d never go east of the Mississippi again. But I need to bring my book to people’s doorstep, because it’s a busy world, and a long “uphill” challenge to reach that nebulous critical mass moment when “Falling Uphill” suddenly has a life of it’s own.

If you enjoyed “Falling Uphill” please help bring the book to life.

Despite critical acclaim, years of work, and literally every penny I have, very few people even know Falling Uphill exists. Below are 3 easy and effective ways to help. Anything helps, even if it’s a one-minute email to a friend.

• Tell your friends. Most book sales are a direct result of word-of-mouth recommendations. Perhaps, forward this newsletter, or join the Falling Uphill Fan Page on Facebook and leave an inspirational message.
• Write a review. Try Amazon or Goodreads, you can even submit a review to your local paper or community newsletter (such as a bike club).
• Gift. Give your friends “Falling Uphill” as a real-life example of how to create real hope and change in yourself and therefore the world.

This month’s inspirational idea

I was told by a buddha that there is a benefit to everything if you have the eyes to see it. Here’s an excerpt from “Falling Uphill” about how after one rainy day too many, I learned to see the world with new eyes.

I cycle into New Zealand’s emerald hills with renewed inspiration. One of the benefits of the pissy weather is that I see rainbows almost everyday. Rainbows only occur when it’s raining and sunny at the same time, and only visible when I’m cycling the path down the middle. Billions of raindrops, tiny prisms, fall out of the sky, and as if they’re observing the world, perfectly reflect and magnify their surroundings, revealing the nature of light, and colorizing mountains, pastures and skies. I find it curious that as the drops are born, fall and die, that the rainbow barely moves. Perhaps my being is like a rainbow broadcast by my DNA or my soul; and, perhaps humans are like drops of rain in the rainbow of humanity.

The book tour continues. I have to say some of the unexpected adventures I’ve had is just learning how society works.

Top 3 lessons of being a businessman:

1. It’s a busy busy busy world.
2. Society operates on a lot of hidden agendas and unwritten rules.
3. Perseverance: because everything is harder and more complicated than you think it is, which is another reason to follow your dream, because there is no easy answer.

While I’m at it. “iCycled around the world” bicycle jerseys are for sale. I can change the body copy and customize the front. Contact me for more info.

I met Stephen Regenold, the Gear Junkie, last summer in Minneapolis. I admire how he turned his love of gadgets into a profitable career, which is essentially the art of creating an adventure in your own backyard. In fact, he just returned from competing in the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, the “toughest and wildest race on Earth.”

Thanks to the Gear Junkie for featuring my bicycle in his nationally syndicated newspaper column. The story was great. So often journalists get it wrong. Also, it has had a very big impact, much more so than any other story in newspapers, TV or radio. So that’s a testament to the power of a passionate blogger.

Read the story about the The Bike that went Around the World

• Improved audio quality.
• Listen now on your mobile device, such as iPhone
• 12.5 hours of audio.
• Read by the author.
• Fantastic value at only 0.80¢ per hour of entertainment
• No extra shipping costs
• Tax free

Start downloading the adventure now.