Another quick book update.
Some of you may know that I am gradually re-editing the more popular volumes in my Footsteps on the Mountain Travel Diaries series and releasing revised editions in both ebook and paperback format. The latest diary to undergo such a transformation is The Manaslu Adventure, the story of my expedition to Manaslu in Nepal in 2011.
The first thing you may notice is that I have renamed the diary from The Ascent of Manaslu to The Manaslu Adventure. This is to make the title more consistent with an enduring theme of my writing — that the journey is more important than the destination, and that success is measured by enjoyment rather than achieving a particular goal (it’s also an affectionate nod to the great mountaineering writer Frank Smythe, whose book The Kangchenjunga Adventure Edita was reading on our recent trip).
The book is a peek inside the workings of an 8,000m peak expedition. Manaslu is now considered one of the easier 8,000m peaks to climb, but it is also becoming increasingly dangerous, and the main climbing route has changed several times in the last few years.
Our expedition in 2011 was carried out just a couple of years after Manaslu was recognised as a suitable peak for commercial expeditions. It has since become much more popular. Unlike most teams we opted to trek to the mountain up the dramatic Budhi Gandaki gorge. The book should appeal not only to mountaineers who are considering climbing Manaslu, but to all fans of trekking in Nepal.
As well as changing the title, the complete text has been re-edited with the help of my regular editor Alex Roddie of The Great Outdoors and Sidetracked magazines. I have added historical background, tightened up many of the jokes, and generally polished the text until it shines. There is also a new epilogue covering the deadly avalanche that struck Manaslu a year later and focused media attention on commercial expeditions to the 8,000m peaks.
Fans of my writing will be happy to know that the underlying style remains. My aim with the Footsteps on the Mountain Travel Diaries is to treat the reader as a travelling companion, walking alongside me on the trek and joining me for the climb.
Buy the ebook of The Manaslu Adventure
The revised digital version of The Manaslu Adventure is available now from the main online bookstores (Amazon, iBooks, Kobo and B&N). To buy a copy, find out more about it, or read a free sample, visit my book page.
For a limited period you can buy the digital version for the bargain price of $1, €1 or £1, depending on your preferred currency.
Until now the book has only been available digitally. But I am now in the process of producing it as a paperback for those of you who like sniffing the ink on the page, and are not embarrassed to show off your reading tastes to commuters on the train. Once the paperback is available, I will be increasing the price to bring it into line with other titles in the series, so get in quick!
To find out more about the evolution of the Footsteps on the Mountain Travel Diaries series you might be interested in this blog post I originally wrote for the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).
I had already bought the previous edition, and Kindle is not letting me buy the new one because they think it’s the same book. They are also not updating the text for me. Any tricks you know?
You should be able to update it via your “Manage Content and Devices” page on Amazon.
There are two options. You can either choose to update all books automatically whenever there is an update (not recommended if you annotate books with notes and bookmarks, as it will delete them) or you can choose to update a book manually.
Both options are explained here:
https://www.ereader-palace.com/update-kindle-book-latest-version/
Thank you! I’m not finding an update available, though. Maybe it already updated? The title pages still say “Ascent of Manaslu”, though.
You still have the old version in that case. Can you see an “Update” button if you go here https://www.amazon.com/hz/mycd/myx#/home/content/booksAll/dateDsc/ ? It may be that you have to delete the old version from your device first.
I doesn’t have an update button by it, but no change happens when I delete it and re-download it. It’s rather odd! I have auto-update turned on, in any case, so it should have happened automatically.
I do appreciate the trouble you’re taking over this!
OK, I will send you an email.