Regular readers might recall that back in June I posted something on here about a book a few friends and I were working on as I asked for opinions on whether people’s preference was for a traditional book format or an e book. For the record, the majority view (by about two to one) was that we publish in the paper format with the fact that books which contain reference material are best suited to paper rather than digital screens being a point made often in justification of the traditional format, but the main reason for this message is to say that our book is now at the printers and will be published shortly.
Some of you may have seen something about our book in the Trust column in Sunday’s programme – it was said there that the Newcastle game on 5 October had been pencilled in as a launch date. However, since that piece went to press, we have been informed by the printers that it’s virtually certain that they won’t be able to meet the deadline for publication on that date and so it will go on sale from the Trust Office before the Swansea match on November 3 – as there is a good chance that we will have the books some time before that, we are looking at possible alternative ways of selling it at earlier dates than that and there will be the chance to purchase it through a PayPal link which will be put on here in the next two or three weeks.
As for the book itself, it will be called “The Journey Back- Cardiff City’s rise through the divisions 1991 to 2013″. It was originally conceived as a follow up to John Crooks’ excellent “Official History of the Bluebirds” published in 1992 and, although it was later decided that we wouldn’t look for “Official” accreditation, it is still, in many ways, a Part 2 to that book in that it begins where the original ended (the end of the 1990/91 season) and the format used consists of reviews of each season followed by a statistical breakdown of that campaign.
The book will have around 400 pages including a colour section featuring team groups for eighteen of the twenty two seasons covered and there are black and white photographs throughout. I have written the season reviews and Richard Holt has provided the stats. I must say as well that I think he has done a great job in providing clear and easy to understand team line ups (including the opposition) for every competitive match we’ve played during the period covered – we have a very hard act to follow, but I’m of the opinion that, in this area at least, we’ve improved on the original.
This is a provisional cover for the book – there may well be some small changes made, but, essentially, this is what it will look like.
The book costs £19.50, but Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust members can buy it for £17.50. As mentioned in my first post on this subject, this is just a small venture by a group of individuals with limited funds (we’ve had to take out a loan to get us over the line for the sum needed to get the book published), so it’s nowhere near as slick an operation as you see with most books you buy. For example, we will only be selling, in the short to medium term at least, from the Trust Office at Cardiff City Stadium on match days or via the PayPal link that will appear on here and we can only accept payments by cash or through PayPal. Our limited funding also means that our print run is a pretty small one – we are open to a second one if there is sufficient demand though and, to that end, we need to get some idea as to how great that demand is.
Therefore, it would be really appreciated if anyone interested in purchasing the book could give me an “expression of interest”. Preferably, this would be by e-mailing me at paul.evans81@ntlworld.com , but you can leave something in the comments section on here if you want to.
Hopefully we’ve done the memory of John Crooks proud with our book, but that’s for you to judge – I hope you buy and enjoy it.