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View Full Version : Published my AT book "Walking Upright" for free - read it here



matt608
09-19-2013, 08:18
Hello fellow woodland wanderers. 3 years and 1 month ago at age 21 I hiked North-South the entire state of Virginia on the AT. It was a life changing experience, as it is for many of us. For me it was especially so as I ended up with lyme disease and CFS, which I am still recovering from. But much more importantly it was a journey of deep awakening, as well as lots of fun! I was almost blinded in the Wilderness by exploding water purification chemicals, I encountered drunk hill-billies, bears, snakes, kindly locals and was molested by a gay midget wrestler!

I wrote the entire thing up into a book. After seeking 'traditional' publication for a while and not getting any luck, I've gone ahead and published my entire book for free! It's on Devtome, an open source project. You can read it here:

Walking Upright - The Appalachian Trial in Virginia
(http://www.devtome.com/doku.php?id=walkingupright)
Pictures are included too! :)

I'd be interested to hear your comments.

slbirdnerd
09-19-2013, 08:29
Thanks for sharing your book, Matt, and your experiences. I'll take a look!

Rain Man
09-19-2013, 09:49
I'd be interested to hear your comments.

Thanks for sharing! Just took a glance, but will have to read later. One comment is the font needs to be bigger and the likewise the margins, with perhaps some more paragraph breaks here and there. Text that runs that far across a line is really hard to keep up with, visually. White space is a type-setter's,-- and reader's,-- friend.

I already do like the photos.

Rain:sunMan

.

Marmaduke
09-19-2013, 11:49
I just read the entirety....... a good read........ it looks like your tone about "americans" changed a bit throughout the tale. The trail never lies. Congratulations on your journey!

matt608
09-19-2013, 15:02
Thanks for sharing! Just took a glance, but will have to read later. One comment is the font needs to be bigger and the likewise the margins, with perhaps some more paragraph breaks here and there. Text that runs that far across a line is really hard to keep up with, visually. White space is a type-setter's,-- and reader's,-- friend.

I already do like the photos.

Rain:sunMan

.

Thanks, there's not much I can do about making the lines shorter unfortunately, that's just the formatting on the website I can't change.


I just read the entirety....... a good read........ it looks like your tone about "americans" changed a bit throughout the tale. The trail never lies. Congratulations on your journey!


Thank you! :) I hadn't realised that, but yes I think I did feel much more warmly towards Americans the more I experienced them. Would you agree that's how my tone towards them changed?

geomaniac
09-20-2013, 11:35
I just got finished reading your book. Its a great read thanks for sharing it. I wish you a speedy recovery from the CFS and Lymes.

matt608
09-26-2013, 08:09
I just got finished reading your book. Its a great read thanks for sharing it. I wish you a speedy recovery from the CFS and Lymes.

Thanks you I'm glad you liked it. I am so far about I'm 70% recovered, it's a very slow illness to recover from, but I can't wait for my next hike! :)

HikerMom58
09-26-2013, 08:55
I can't wait to read it all... thanks! :)

Marmaduke
09-30-2013, 09:18
Thanks, there's not much I can do about making the lines shorter unfortunately, that's just the formatting on the website I can't change.




Thank you! :) I hadn't realised that, but yes I think I did feel much more warmly towards Americans the more I experienced them. Would you agree that's how my tone towards them changed?


yeah, that's why I asked. Most of us are good natured individuals who are happy to help people we meet....... you can probably say that about any group really though. People are generally decent..... :)

AttorneyAtLunch
09-30-2013, 11:48
Always looking for something to read so I'll check it out!

frogmonkey
09-30-2013, 12:50
Check out https://www.createspace.com/ if you want to try to publish the book on your own. You can do an eBook or a print book.

Sheriff Cougar
10-08-2013, 23:55
Thanks for sharing. I always love to read other's adventures about hiking. I will be taking a look at it as time allows.

Ken.davidson
10-09-2013, 08:05
Thanks for sharing your journal book and especially the pictures. I will share my comments as I get further into it, you have just arrived at Front Royal where I left off. I will be taking a hike from Harpers Ferry to Waynesboro, VA in about two weeks. Regards.

Theosus
10-09-2013, 22:33
Love it! I wrote one about my beginning experiences and learning from my mistakes... I'm going to try the traditional route myself, but given my past successes and the state of the industry in general, I'll probably be doing the self publishing thing.

Stay AWAY from "Publish America". Worst mistake EVER!

Spine
10-10-2013, 13:33
I encountered drunk hill-billies, bears, snakes, kindly locals and was molested by a gay midget wrestler!



You also encountered a "big fat black" person, who must have left quite an impression on you, as there are three references to the "big fat black one" in one paragraph.

Joyce
10-10-2013, 13:50
I printed it out and can't wait to read it. Thank you for sharing your story.

matt608
12-01-2013, 11:25
For anyone who hasn't read it yet, my book about hiking the Virginia is still available to read for free! Thought I'd bump this for those who missed it. Would be happy to hear what you think of it :)

Theosus
12-01-2013, 18:59
glad for the "bump"! I need something new to read and had forgotten about this.

scrabbler
12-16-2013, 16:36
That was a very good read, thanks for posting! It's always interesting to see what people think of us Americans.

Deer Hunter
12-16-2013, 22:02
I missed this when it was first posted. Thanks for bumping it, Matt. I've read up to Waynesboro. So far I like it.

HikerMom58
12-16-2013, 22:05
I missed this when it was first posted. Thanks for bumping it, Matt. I've read up to Waynesboro. So far I like it.

Whoa, I forgot about this... better get reading.

Ken.davidson
02-16-2014, 21:42
Matt,
it is an enjoyable read and the pictures very good. At some points it was hard to follow, it seemed to skip about. Journaling is not easy on a small device and trying to capture your feelings and philosophy was well said. Thanks for sharing it and I did relate to most of what you presented. Best of luck.

Siarl
02-16-2014, 23:09
I'm 51 years young so I may be a bit prejudiced when I say what I'm about to say. I was reading the first paragraph and my first impression was that this person was someone more older, perhaps in their forties or older. The words reflected that the author, just my impression, had been in the world awhile and was now attempting to disconnect. I then arrived at the place in the paragraph when he states his age of 21 y/o. Then I thought, who do I know, even when I was that age or anyone who is that age that speaks or writes in this manner. I then arrived at the photo and where he was from and everything fell into place. No young person in this country speaks like that and so eloquently. Not that I don't love my country or my place of origin, which is the Appalachians because I do. I value everything that Appalachian culture has to give. If you take out the mud in a story and are only left with that which sparkles, you're left with something devoid of character. However, I wish that there were more young folks that could write and speak this way. I look forward to your story, young man.

matt608
07-25-2014, 14:21
Thanyou Slarl, that's quite the compliment!

I check back here every so often to see if any one else has stopped by. Happy to see it's gone down well so far :). I can hardly believe it was 4 years ago now I did this life changing hike! I still haven't recovered from the lyme disease I picked up, on a long course of antibiotics for it currently, though it might be post-lyme syndrome rather than an active infection, my doctors have opposing views.

Anyway, this post can serve as a bump as there's probably new forum members by now who might want to read my story.

Thanks again for the feedback everyone.