[Neil F]

Wow!  Fantastic Will.

Congratulations on getting over the line.  I can't wait to see the end result...

Neil

[bolehillbilly]

Great stuff Will and team, well done.

[remus]

Great effort Will et al, can't wait to get my grubby little hands on it, excited already having only seen the cover!

[scragrock]

Well done Sir

[Wood FT]

After 6 years, and thousands upon thousands of hours of effort by a team of over 100 extraordinary local volunteers, this morning we sent our guidebook to the printers.
This has been such a long project, with so much work at the crags and at our desks, that this day has been some abstract future notion. When you're standing under Langcliffe with the camera, waiting for the cloud cover to make the light right for your topo photo, or when you're trogging up to some crag to try again to get action photos in nice light, or up late checking and editing scripts, you can't think of the end because it's so far away. You just have get on with the next thing that needs doing, and when that's done you get on with the next thing.

Slowly, but surely, it has taken shape and now I can only hope that we've done justice to the efforts of all the contributors who have made it happen, and that it brings joy to those who use it. I suppose I ought to say what it covers. 608 pages, full to the brim with the best trad, sport, and bouldering in Northumberland, Yorkshire Limestone, Yorkshire Gritstone, Lancashire, and the North York Moors.

YYFY!

Congratulations, really looking forward to owning it

[User deactivated.]

Congratulations! Can we expect some juicy downgrades? My money's on karjala for the biggest

[Will Hunt]

Thanks everyone.
There are one or two downgrades but certainly lots more upgrades!

[andy popp]

Congratulations Will (and team), that's a very fine effort!

[steveri]

Kudos, looking forward to it!
That looks like at least 10 sales 

[SA Chris]

http://www.wired-guides.com/#about

Wired guidebooks aim to document the whole of the UK describing the very best – world-class – rock climbing these beautiful green islands have to offer.

Be keen to know what the forward plan is for this..

[Will Hunt]

The total market for guidebooks hasn't changed hugely, but a greater and greater share of that market goes to select guides (and also apps now I guess). When you consider the amount of effort that goes into producing a guide, there are a number of definitives which might very well dwindle out as not enough people are interested in buying them.

Wired is something which the definitive-producing clubs and organisations formed together. It's a co-operative that allows them to produce select guides under a common brand and hopefully reclaim a bit of that market share (when it comes to selling books a recognisable brand is hugely important), from which the proceeds can go back into climbing-related projects such as producing definitives.

To say that Wired aims to document the whole of the UK is a bit of a stretch in my view, but most of the UK's major areas are covered in definitives produced by Wired members and thus you'd expect them to feature in a Wired select.

Scottish Rock is just slightly bigger than Northern Rock (by 8 pages I think, I was livid when I found out  ) and will be out soon; Welsh Rock is in production at the moment though I'm not sure how far along they are.

Having access to that network of experienced people was really useful. Steve Scott of the FRCC was particularly helpful, as were Ken Taylor and Al Davis who did a ridiculous amount of proof-reading. They're all FRCC members but they all mucked in and did a tonne of work for our book.

[SA Chris]

Thanks for the info, I look forward to the Scottish one. The SMC one and the Latter Guides never really hit the mark; especially as they seemed to think there was nothing in Scotland East of Pass of Ballater and North of Clova worth mentioning.

[Johnny Brown]

Great effort Will.

Wired is something which the definitive-producing clubs and organisations formed together. It's a co-operative that allows them to produce select guides under a common brand and hopefully reclaim a bit of that market share (when it comes to selling books a recognisable brand is hugely important), from which the proceeds can go back into climbing-related projects such as producing definitives.

I didn't know that; thanks for clarifying.

PS Ken is a legend.

[Will Hunt]

I didn't know that.

I went to my first meeting in early 2016 and told them I had never heard of them or their two books (Lakes and Pembroke at that time). We really need to do something about advertising!

[SA Chris]

and maybe spruce up the website with some sample pages and "coming soon"?

[dunnyg]

Sponsor a bit of wall at walls across the country, and get a 10ft version of the front cover painted on.
Consultancy fee 1 pain choc

[Alex-the-Alex]

Awesome effort Will! And great cover shot (white rose, whiiiiite rose!). I hope there is Let's Get Wired launch party to launch it?

Similarly excited for the Scottish one, especially if it contains select bouldering too!

[Bradders]

Excellent news Will et Al, well done!!

Perhaps you could all now help out with the Yorkshire definitive bouldering guide, what with all your new spare time  I've made lots of progress since we last spoke (in my dreams)

[duncan]

The total market for guidebooks hasn't changed hugely, but a greater and greater share of that market goes to select guides (and also apps now I guess). When you consider the amount of effort that goes into producing a guide, there are a number of definitives which might very well dwindle out as not enough people are interested in buying them.

Wired is something which the definitive-producing clubs and organisations formed together. It's a co-operative that allows them to produce select guides under a common brand and hopefully reclaim a bit of that market share (when it comes to selling books a recognisable brand is hugely important), from which the proceeds can go back into climbing-related projects such as producing definitives.

To say that Wired aims to document the whole of the UK is a bit of a stretch in my view, but most of the UK's major areas are covered in definitives produced by Wired members and thus you'd expect them to feature in a Wired select.

Scottish Rock is just slightly bigger than Northern Rock (by 8 pages I think, I was livid when I found out  ) and will be out soon; Welsh Rock is in production at the moment though I'm not sure how far along they are.

Having access to that network of experienced people was really useful. Steve Scott of the FRCC was particularly helpful, as were Ken Taylor and Al Davis who did a ridiculous amount of proof-reading. They're all FRCC members but they all mucked in and did a tonne of work for our book.

Feedback from a potential customer:

This clearly represents a huge effort and if it is half as good as the Pembroke guide it will be a great piece of work. As others have hinted, Wired currently have a low profile amongst the Great British Climbing Public. I had a quick peek at the website but I am none the wiser as to what crags Northern Rock will cover. Northumberland, Yorkshire Limestone, Yorkshire Gritstone, Lancashire, and the North York Moors is still pretty vague. I'm not suggesting a <over-exposed brand goes here> social media onslaught but perhaps just a tiny proportion of the effort of writing might go into drawing the attention of the non-cognoscenti...

[Will Hunt]

I'm working on it!

[Johnny Brown]

I nearly posted something similar, but put my ignorance down to me being out of the loop. I think you should put Wired's laudable raison d'etre front and centre, appreciate you'd probably prefer the guide to be judged on its merits but it does differentiate Wired from some notable competition.

[Will Hunt]

I nearly posted something similar, but put my ignorance down to me being out of the loop. I think you should put Wired's laudable raison d'etre front and centre, appreciate you'd probably prefer the guide to be judged on its merits but it does differentiate Wired from some notable competition.

I agree that I (the group, really) need to push the Wired brand more. I will try and work this into advertising material but Northern Rock has got a challenge in that, as Duncan says, the coverage is not immediately obvious from the title. Books like Pembroke Rock, Lake District Rock, Yorkshire Grit, etc have coverage that is fairly self-evident even from looking at the front cover. We don't have that, so the most important thing to convey is the coverage and the fact that all three disciplines are represented. I don't want to say too much more or post my sample spreads (which include the contents page, Duncan) because I need to pay Shark some money to have a post in the sponsors section.

BUT, at the risk of incurring the wrath of our Dear Leader, I will say that if you'd like to get the book you can pre-order now and get 15% off with free postage. RRP is £36.95; available for a limited time only at £31.40.
 

https://www.climbers-club.co.uk/shop/?pub=Wired

[Paul B]

Maybe what you actually need is some Influencers, I hear they're all the rage.

Bouldering bobat expose on Wired?

[Fiend]

 

[dunnyg]

If you pay my petrol to font and back, I will not wear a t-shirt to almscliff promoting the book.