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Andrew P. Sykes

Goodreads Author

Born

in Halifax, The United Kingdom

Website

https://cyclingeurope.org

Twitter

CyclingEurope

Genre

Travel, Sports, Humor and Comedy

Member Since

December 2011

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Andrew P. Sykes was born and grew up in the small town of Elland, in the foothills of the Pennines in West Yorkshire and he studied for a degree in mathematics at the University of York.

Following a period of time working in London and then France, he returned to the UK in 1999 to train as a secondary school teacher of French at the University of Reading. He taught in Berkshire and Oxfordshire for 15 years before taking a career break in 2015 to learn some Spanish, cycle from Tarifa in Spain to Nordkapp in Norway and move back to live in Yorkshire. He now teaches at the same school that he attended as a pupil during the 1980s.

Since 2009 he has been travelling long distances on his bicycles: first Reggie, now Wanda (with Ronnie taking up the ...more

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Hi Andrew. Nice to see a fellow Yorkshireman on here! In January I tentatively self-published my first book, North to Alaska, which has been selling well - although I've now discovered I've been running an advertising campaign on Amazon which I've just been invoiced for and which I'd no idea I'd set up! From your experience, where's the best place to advertise for the best pound for pound return? Thanks!

Andrew P. Sykes Hi Trevor. Nice to hear from you and thanks for the question. By the looks of things, you're not doing a bad job in promoting your book and it seems t…moreHi Trevor. Nice to hear from you and thanks for the question. By the looks of things, you're not doing a bad job in promoting your book and it seems to have gone down well on Amazon in terms of reviews / rankings etc...
I've never used any paid-for advertising (I hope the Amazon thing didn't sting you for too much) but I suppose when I started promoting my first book about ten years ago I was quite early in the social media curve. I used that (Twitter especially) primarily to promote the book and then books. The website that I run - CyclingEurope.org - can also be a platform for directing people towards the books although I have toned down the hard-sell in recent times. Now there's the podcast that I make... And in terms of face-to-face 'advertising' I have done lots of talks over the years. Again, it helps get your name out there and that will, hopefully, impact upon sales. Ironically the marketing for the first two books - which were both self-published - was probably more than the marketing than that for the third book - which was published by a publisher - as for them it was just one book of many. When I was in charge of everything, I had more of an incentive to get the book out there in the consciousness of prospective readers. You need to preach to the converted so seek out people who might be interested in reading what you've written rather than trying to persuade people who have no interest. Local radio interviews - I've done quite a few - are fun things to do and good for your ego but ultimately have little if any impact on sales. I dare say national radio might be different but I've never done that let alone The One Show etc... It's a long battle of attrition. Keep at it!
Hope this helps.
Best wishes
Andrew(less)

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Hi Andrew. I believe you conducted a podcast recently about my grandfather, Maximilian J. St George. It was fascinating! I have tried to find the cycling book he wrote but without much luck. Do you know where any copies are? His wife Countess Ape, my grandmother, was a painter and I have a number of her works (including of her mother and sisters). Thank you very much for sharing this story!

Andrew P. Sykes Hi Timothy - I'm delighted you've found me. I have so many questions for you!! Could you email me so that we can start a conversation. My email addres…moreHi Timothy - I'm delighted you've found me. I have so many questions for you!! Could you email me so that we can start a conversation. My email address is apsykes@hotmail.com
Look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Best wishes
Andrew(less)

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Andrew P. Sykes’s books

Average rating: 4.12 · 936 ratings · 61 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie 4.06 avg rating — 419 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie 4.12 avg rating — 261 ratings — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie 4.20 avg rating — 214 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda 4.40 avg rating — 42 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Andrew P. Sykes's Blog

An Evening Of Adventure: Le Grand Tour (& More)

A few years ago I gave a talk in Saddleworth, just over the border into Lancashire, about my trip from Spain to Norway. In March, I'm back! I've been invited to talk as part of the Saddleworth Outdoor Festival. It takes place at the cricket club in Saddleworth and the details are below.

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Andrew P. Sykes wrote a new blog post An Evening Of Adventure: Le Grand Tour (& More) A few years ago I gave a talk in Saddleworth, just over the border into Lancashire, about my trip from Spain to Norway. In March, I'm back! I've been Read more of this blog post »
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Andrew Sykes and 1 other person liked Paul's status update Paul is on page 189 of 256 of The Gathering Place
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Andrew Sykes rated a book it was amazing Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda by Andrew P. Sykes (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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