Selling Bicycle Man the Book During Pandemic Is Like Bicycling Across County: Keep Peddling and Pedaling

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

It’s no easy task selling self-published books during a pandemic.

No book signing events.

And it’s a constant sales pitch on social media and emails to friends and likely suspects who like bicycling and travelling.

My #PandemicBorn book, Bicycle Man: Life of Journeys, has received some nice attention in the media here in Las Vegas. So, that has helped. Channel 8 Sports Director Chris Maathuis put together this masterful TV report. And a tip of the bike helmet to Las Vegas Weekly staff writer Cindi Reed for this well-written review. Even my alma mater, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, chipped in with this report on its news website.

Selling books during a pandemic has its ups and downs. For every person who tells me he or she will buy the book from me but never does, there’s another person who emerges out of thin air to happily snap up the book with a payment through my website, LVSportsBiz, or my PayPal account. For every person who lets me down there’s another to pick me up. I’m constantly amazed at this cycle.

I’m also bolstered by terrific feedback by readers, including former editors of mine from my newspaper life. Here’s a buffet of comments about Bicycle Man.

I knew Alan Snel when he was a top investigative reporter at The Denver Post, usually cycling from assignment to assignment. When I discovered he had written “Bicycle Man,” I couldn’t wait to read it – knowing the caliber of his writing and mastery of the subject matter. “Bicycle Man” was a delight; it made me feel as if I were along for the ride on his colorful journeys. Indeed, it prompted me to drag out my 1987 mountain bike, get it tuned up and get back in the saddle again. Now I’m having a blast, and I have Alan and “Bicycle Man” to thank for helping me feel like a kid again. If you want a fun, inspiring romp that’s full of surprises, I highly recommend this gem of a book. — Billie Stanton, 40-year veteran of daily newspapers.

As someone who enjoys traveling, albeit on four wheels, reading Alan Snel’s collection of stories of his bicycle travels was a pleasant excursion. It speaks to the joy of freedom of not having to confine yourself to a schedule, to take your time, look around and enjoy the moment. And while I’m not willing to fly, reading Alan’s book has me thinking of getting back on a bike again and pedaling around. — Steve Carp, Hall-of-Fame sportswriter.

You got to buy the book. — Jared Fisher, owner of Las Vegas Cyclery bike shop and Escape Adventures bicycle touring company 

There are 42 stories in eight chapters of real life adventures and some misadventures, 272 pages that will take readers on a journey from California to Florida, not in a race, but in a meandering, well-written way that begins on a college campus in upstate New York — Chris Maathuis, KLAS-TV Channel 8 Sports Director.

Snel’s writing has a friendly, conversational style. It’s an easy read full of color photographs. The book’s modular aspect allows avid readers to plow from beginning to end, and casual ones to sample stand-alone stories. — Cindi Reed, Las Vegas Weekly.

I loved the different stories. Each one interesting, informative and sometimes funny. You feel like you’re there riding along with Alan. — Rosemary Evans, retired schoolteacher and former Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record employee.

As a college student, I reeled in many a mile with Alan across the rolling hills surrounding Ann Arbor, Michigan. Reading Bicycle Man is pure joy and a gentle reminder about the sites and sounds and characters one encounters when one explores America on two wheels. Alan shares the awe he experiences whenever he plants the balls of his feet on his pedals and begins his rhythmic dance across the country. His vision of the world is simple and pure and absolutely infectious. — Fred Brill, education man and bicyclist.

I earlier worked with Alan at a daily newspaper when journalism was still going strong in Florida and around the country. He attacked reporting in the same way he does bike rides — head-long and sometimes, head-strong. Whether it was about government bodies violating federal laws, politicians who said and did the silliest things or, yes, even baseball-team mascots who drew the most laughs, Alan didn’t brake until he had every morsel of detail. — Glenn Henderson, former Palm Beach Post editor.

Bicycle Man: Life Of Journeys is an honest and engaging ride along into how the bicycle can save the world and a soul from despair, boredom, loss and longing.  And more, it’s about how the bicycle, used as transportation, time machine, magic carpet and travel conveyance, changes the arch of a life and a view of the world. — Joe “Metal Cowboy” Kurmaskie, author of many bicycle travel books.

I’ve read Bicycle Man twice. It now occupies an appropriate space on my bookshelf, between Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. — Gary Kane, former Auburn, NY bureau reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Alan Snel has the gift of getting others to gab to him about their lives in an authentic, pull-no-punches style. Whether it is a waitress at a fast food joint or a big city mayor, Alan’s affable East Coast kibitzing style draws out the best in people. In his Bicycle Man, Alan puts together a string of. these real-life characters like a machine gun range, bang, bang, bang until you have to stop and take a breath before reloading. For cyclists and students of human nature, Alan’s book will entertain you and leave you smiling. — Frank Scandale, newspaper editor.