A brilliant book concept – Bicycle Mania

bicycle mania

I loved the idea of Bicycle Mania before I even saw it. Author Shirley Agudo, is a friend of mine, and fellow journalist based here in Holland. I knew that already. What I did not know was that she was also a photographer, and a fine one at that.

Anyway, a little over a month ago, Shirley came bounding up to me at the Expatica Fair in Amsterdam and showed me the press release for her upcoming book. Published by my friend Bert van Essen of Xpat Media, It made perfect sense, I though. Why had no one done a book on bikes before in the Netherlands? Doh! There are more bikes than people here. Did you know that? Or that   50,000 get stolen in Amsterdam annually, 12,000 of which get dredged out of the canals? Bicycles are Holland. But what makes Shirley’s book even better is that it is actually more art book than text book. It took her a few years to take the photographs, many of which had her hanging around street corners in order to do so. See the photo on the cover, left? That’s a man. And he is one of the citys’ most treasured pieces of living art. He attended the launch party, clambered onto a chair, perching there in his platforms, now held together with sticky tape, and recited a multilingual epic poem he’d created especially for the occasion. This book, and everything about it, is compelling.

But let’s go back to the title of this post. I claim this is a brilliant concept. Now let me tell you why.

1. It is on a very focused, narrow topic
2. and that topic has a massive market here, in Holland, where it has been published.
3. The market includes locals, expats and tourists.
4. It is beautiful to look at and makes a fabulous gift.
5. It is very interesting. How else did I find out about canal-dredging?
6. It is useful, packed with rules and facts about cycling here. Now I know I can be fined for not putting out my hand to show I am turning left or right.
7. The photographs are being exhibited in a city art gallery, and are, of course, for sale, thereby increasing the profit potential of the book. Take a look at some of the photos here.
8. Oh, and did I say that it is beautiful?

If you plan on producing a book for your local market, take a leaf out of Shirley’s book, and see if you too can create a work that has fabulous potential.