The Animal Published A Book!

[Western Red Cedar]

Well.... It has been more than a week since @theanimal released his new book. I'm going to take the liberty and create a new thread to promote it. I think it is worth celebrating when someone from the ERE community achieves something of this magnitude. Here are details on how you can find a copy if you haven't already.

I've seen it mentioned in a few journals, but wanted to draw more attention to it for lurkers and those who aren't tracking all of the journal activity.

It's Alive!
Finally, today’s the big day! The book launched in all major online retailers. You can pick up a copy in any format on Amazon or go through your preferred outlet. I’m discounting the ebook on Amazon to $2.99 for a limited time. Physical copies and audiobook are available there as well.

The book is available on my website as well at a discounted rate to Amazon. I end up getting more royalty wise this way, even at a lower sales price. I also have some package options, combining things like the ebook, audiobook and paperback. For the physical copies, I’ll be doing the shipping via media mail, so it will be slower than Amazon. Unfortunately, paperback copies are currently on backorder due to some logistical issues, though they are expected to arrive this week. There’s not too much of a difference either way in terms of benefit to me, so if you’re interested in buying a copy and Amazon or something else is easier for you, feel free to go with that. If you do buy a copy and are willing to leave a review, it’d be a huge help!

Thanks for all your support and encouragement! I’m pleased to be able to share our story with a larger audience. And excited to finally do something else.

I read it in two days and thoroughly enjoyed it. Here are links to the two podcasts I'm aware of where he talks about the book, the trail, the writing process, and more:

Advanced Retroadaptics with @axelheyst:

https://tylerjdisney.com/blog/2024/4/1/ ... pisode-030

Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan:

https://chrisryan.substack.com/p/606-ja ... -you-carry

*ETA new link

[7Wannabe5]

Congratulations! Now on my must-read list.

[ffj]

A lot has changed since that day I met you in Chicago. Congratulations and future success. And well done WRC.

[theanimal]

Thank you, all!!

@WRC- Chris Ryan did put the episode on his website, but the link does not appear to be listed. Here's the link: https://chrisryan.substack.com/p/606-ja ... -you-carry

[IlliniDave]

Wow, so cool. Congrats! Just snagged the ebook. I'm going to try to save it for cruddy weather days once I get up to the hideout, with the hope it inspires me to make some of time there worth writing about aside from my random journaling. But the temptation to devour it immediately will be immense.

[J_]

@Animal I have read your printed book.
How open and straight written. What a struggle for you and mrs Animal. What a life start for your child.
Thanks to bring such an effort in words to life.
Thanks also for your photos, drawings by another member of the Ere-community and your practical tips.

[sodatrain]

Recently got my copy! I'm looking forward to reading it.

Congratulations, amigo!

[Scott 2]

I spent today with Animal's book. I've always enjoyed his journal and bought it as a show of support.

The story wildly exceeded my expectations. The adventure itself is engaging, and he offers far more than a log of events. Life philosophy. Relationship arcs. Moments of suspense and doubt. Even practical advice for someone attempting the same.

It's objectively a good book. For the right audience, exceptional. Very well edited too. You can see the time taken to refine it.

I didn't appreciate how challenging the trip was, until reading. I'd grasped pieces from his journal, but I didn't understand. It was truly a feat of physical endurance and mental toughness.

Animal is very humble about what they accomplished. That might be my one criticism. There are stories behind the story, a decade plus of training to be capable. I think it undersells how strong Animal and his wife are. Very few could peer with what they did.

[Scott 2]

My library hosted a "bring your own book" club today, so I brought this one. People were into it and excited to talk about other adventure books they'd read too. I'd say it fostered the most conversation of any title.

And to my surprise, the book is now available on Hoopla! So the recommendation was immediately actionable. It's worth a read or listen. Drop animal some stars while you're at it.

[theanimal]

@iDave- Thanks for getting a copy! I hope it can serve as the inspiration you're looking for.

@J- Thank you very much for reading and the kind words! It was a pleasure working with @mountainFrugal and we were both pleased with the end result.

@Scott- I'm flattered! Thanks for your kind words and for taking the book to your library. I'm glad to hear it was well received and sparked some lively conversation. I tried to write it in a way to appeal to a broad audience, beyond the outdoor niche and it seems to do that from what I've heard.

For anyone somewhat interested in reading it (but not to the extent to purchase a copy yourself) I'd suggest asking your library to purchase it. Libraries have the ability to purchase a physical copy, an ebook, and/or an audiobook through their distributive networks. The latter two through both Libby and Hoopla. As of now, it's in a handful of libraries.

Animal is very humble about what they accomplished. That might be my one criticism. There are stories behind the story, a decade plus of training to be capable. I think it undersells how strong Animal and his wife are. Very few could peer with what they did.

I erred very much on the side of humility to avoid any possible chance of turning the book into something that was like "look at how awesome we are." As I've stated elsewhere, the idea with the book is to use our story as a means of inspiration. It is our story, but the goal is to get others thinking about how they can take on challenges in their own life or at the very least, alter their perspective of what is possible.

----
And related to that...another podcast I did was published this past week, with Emory of the By Land podcast. We talked about risk management, Mrs. Animal and my backgrounds, our thought process in deciding upon this hike, and relationship/communication difficulties along the way. He's had on a couple of the other families before, so he was more interested in talking about the philosophy and risk aspects than something like routine trip details. It was fun talking with him and I think resulted in an engaging conversation.

https://bylandpodcast.byland.co/1952792 ... ck-mcclure

[Western Red Cedar]

@theanimal

I finally had a chance to listen to the By Land podcast. Good stuff! I like the fact that the three interviews I've heard approach the trip and experience from fairly different perspectives. I saw a few other guests I recognized in that podcast feed, so I'm eager to dive a little deeper. If you end up writing something for the Pathless Path newsletter, please post it here or in your journal. I'd be interested in reading it.

FWIW, I just finished up five years of venom immunotherapy for honey bees, yellow jackets and wasps; along with other environmental allergies. I'm available if you have questions about the experience. I got a good chuckle out of the brief discussion in the podcast. I still remember the conversation with the consulting physician as I was going in to start the process. He said "so you've signed up for 3-5 years of hell" or something to that effect .

It was better than waking up in the hospital in an epinephrine haze with vomit on my breath after a wasp swarm in the woods, but certainly not much fun.

[theanimal]

Thank you, @WRC! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had a great time on that podcast talking with Emory. He's a skilled host so it ended up being really easy to talk with him and I think that shows in the conversation. That said, some of my bee knowledge was woefully inaccurate during that section .

Funny you mention the immunotherapy. Mrs. Animal just got shot number 6 and 7 of 32 this morning. The program she is on is an accelerated version so she should be done sometime next year. So far so good. From what the allergist has told her, it won't completely eliminate risk of anaphylactic shock but it will reduce the probability from something like 90%+ per instance to 3%. That's huge! We're excited about it. Congrats on finishing up your own treatment, I'm sure that's a big relief.

There were two other podcasts that I haven't mentioned here.

I went on Hiker Trash Radio and talked about our trip. If you listened to the other episodes/read the book, there's not that many new revelations in this one.
https://hikertrashradio.com/episodes/yo ... ck-mcclure

Likely of greater interest is the following episode:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PVsTpvDej3L7TcoARs4K1

Mrs. Animal went on a podcast and talked about our trip, sharing her thoughts and experiences along the trail.


I'll share the essay for Paul MIllerd's newsletter if it ends up getting published. I admittedly have not been giving it much focus and should probably send it his way. NOLS is publishing a review of the book in their magazine this month and I also recently did an interview with the online newspaper (?) SF Gate, which will also be publishing an essay about the book sometime this month.

[Tyler9000]

I'm way late to the game, but I wanted to add my congratulations to TheAnimal on the book! Your story is truly inspiring, and it's awesome to see you share it.

[mountainFrugal]

I really enjoyed the interview with Mrs. Animal. It provided a different perspective on the same story and is well worth a listen especially if you have read the book.

[mountainFrugal]

Front page of SF Gate this morning: https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks ... 742354.php

I think the reporter did a B- job by focusing mostly on the negative stuff. It might read as though you had 0 support from folks here or the broader @theanimal network. I hope it brings in some further book sales and inspires some more people with kids.

Also I hope this remains as inspiration on the forum to write a book and do ALL THE MARKETING YOURSELF.

[7Wannabe5]

So cute!! I don't think the negatives described are really any worse than I experienced while living in graduate student housing with a breast-fed baby who frequently woke up and a spouse who had to get up early for work. I also remember camping in the U.P. with two toddlers who were pretty much covered with mud from dawn to dusk. Also the time I was offered the charitable gift of a double-stroller by the older, more affluent Moms at my son's co-op nursery, because I was still carrying my very tall and chubby 2 year old daughter on my back. Kids are a lot of work if you are hands-on 24/7 no matter what the circumstances and sometimes the rougher patches are what shine out more vividly humorous in decades later retrospect.