One of the most exciting things about writing a book is when, having finished the hard toil of actually putting your words down on paper, you start thinking about the cover. Way back in 2011 when I self-published ‘Crossing Europe…‘, I tried to create my own cover. It wasn’t a bad attempt but clearly I’m no expert and, when it came to publishing the second book, ‘Along The Med...’ I called in a professional, Andy Mitchell, a Bradford-based graphic artist. He did an excellent job creating vibrant covers for the first two books and also provided the inspiration for the third book, ‘Spain to Noway…’ when an image that he had already produced was adopted by the publishers as the basis for the cover that they subsequently designed.

Those books were all ‘...on a Bike Called Reggie‘. The new book is ‘…on a Bike Called Wanda‘ so I thought it would be nice for it to have a different look and feel. Browsing online for local artists who might be able to help, I stumbled upon the work of Ellie Way. She is a Wakefield-based illustrator who has produced some striking travel posters for local towns and cities. I went to see her at an arts fair a few weeks ago and asked if she was interested in creating a book cover in a similar style. We agreed to meet up to discuss the project further and earlier in March I went down to Wakefield to chat to her in her studio. Creating a book cover is not only an artistic endeavour; it’s also a technical one that requires some precise measurements based upon page count, format etc… This morning, I was finally in a position to send her the technical information. It will be fascinating to see what she comes up with.

Here are some of the posters that she has produced in the past. Anyone local to West Yorkshire will spot some familiar places:

The image is from her website and you can see more examples of her work on her website, ellieway.co.uk

Aside from the technical requirements, a book cover also needs a blurb and here’s the one that I have come up with for Le Grand Tour:

Le Grand Tour… on a Bike Called Wanda

Secondary school teacher and inveterate would-be adventurer Andrew P. Sykes is back in the saddle. This time, however, it’s not the one belonging to his long-term sidekick Reggie. There’s a fresh-faced kid on the block and she’s a bike called Wanda. (Nothing fishy about that!) The new double act set off on a grand tour of Europe to explore some of the continent’s most iconic cycling routes and locations: the Vélomaritime, the Avenue Verte to Paris, the Véloscénie to Mont-Saint-Michel, the Vélodyssée, the Canal de la Garonne, the Canal du Midi, the ViaRhôna, the Furka Pass and the Rhine are all on the itinerary of this light-hearted loop from the Hook of Holland… to the Hook of Holland. Join Andrew and Wanda as they put their best foot and only front wheel forward in a hot, dusty but at times very damp quest to delve into the lives, landscapes, history and culture of some of our nearest continental cousins and the countries they call home. [Warning: This adventure also contains trains.]

If you have any feedback on that, I’d be interested in hearing what you have to say.

And on the subject of the opinions of others… I have been particularly grateful to a number of people who have read the manuscript of the book and who have provided feedback (and continue to do so). Over the past decade I have come to know quite a few people in the world of cycling, travel and writing and I approached a few of them to ask if they could help out with proofreading and qualitative feedback. Giles Cudmore, Piers Lesser, Tim Sanders and Craig Dodson have all provided invaluable comments that have helped remove embarrassing typos and factual errors. Three other people – Helen Moat (author of A Time of Birds who I interviewed for episode 13 of The Cycling Europe Podcast), Steve Silk (author of The Great North Road who I interviewed for episode 34 of The Cycling Europe Podcast) and long-time supporter Brian Palmer (editor of the Washing Machine Post website) have also provided some extremely valuable comments on style and content, as well as some nice quotes which will also adorn the book cover.

Quotes

“I love, love, love the humour”

Helen Moat, travel writer

“Engaging, witty and pacy”

Steve Silk, journalist and travel writer

“Interesting, intriguing, humorous and well-written”

Brian Palmer, The Washing Machine Post

And there will also be room for this:

From the author of:

• Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie
• Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie
• Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie

So, it will be very interesting to see Ellie’s vision come to life in the cover. The book should be available to purchase as a paperback later in April and download an an eBook shortly thereafter. If you haven’t done so already, you still have a few weeks to catch up on the three previous books, the first two of which are still available for just 99p on Kindle! The links are over there on the left or here.

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