BOOK RELEASE

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Hello everyone and welcome to There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. This is the episode where the books have been released. Oh yeah. So coming into our tent and I’ll spill the beans.

Hello everyone. Yeah, the intro still rockin. That’s in place I saw the company’s out guys. Wow. Cheers. Cheers to you guys. This one’s for you. Oh God, I am definitely going to go a couple of ways. Jesus Christ.

The Book is Out!

There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is out. I don’t even know what to say. I don’t know what to say. It’s been in the works for six years. There’s no structure to this one. It’s been six years in the making to get to the point of a book release. And here we are. There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is available on Amazon. It’s available, potentially wherever you want to buy your books. I don’t want to say it’s available on eBook paperback, hardback. Six years, man six years in the making to get to here. My initial plan was back in I think 2018.

We’re at what I think this is the 82nd podcast episode. And my initial plan was to release There’s No Place Like Summer Camp in 2018. I remember my first book, The first book of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp wasn’t even called the same name. I don’t know if you know this, but this is going to this podcast could go on for however long. And it’s gonna go on all sorts of tangents. So I hope you’re prepared for that. And I hope you’ve got a nice beverage of choice next year. Mine today is Coke Zero. And you would see that if this was a YouTube video, but we’ll get onto that more a bit later. I’m just going to pretend it’s like an alcoholic beverage. Because that’s the cool thing everyone does. But I’m no drinker. Not anymore. I’m approaching 30. Come on.

Initial Copies of the summer camp story

Yeah, my initial release was in 2018. I think I’m sure I released a version of the book. I think it was 2016 or 2017. And I thought it was pretty much ready. Now if you go and get There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. You’ll be able to see all this bonus information by going to theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/bonus. And you’ll be able to download all this bonus content. And in that bonus content, you’ll be able to see the previous covers that I had, as well as a readout that I did at our author meetup. You can see the journey that the books come on. Now it’s cool. It’s cool to say I’m a fucking author. I’ve published a book, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. What I was trying to say is there’s no place like summer camp, it wasn’t always that name. It used to be called a secret diary of American summer camp. I don’t even think that’s the correct name.

But it’s gone through its name iterations and then I settled on There’s No Place Like Summer Camp because I think it hits the nail on the head. And I don’t know if you’ve known this but I know Natasha, for instance, didn’t know this herself. It took her a while to figure out oh, that’s why it’s called that. So obviously I’m sure there’s gonna be people in this podcast now listening and going HOLY SHIT I didn’t even realize or There’s gonna be loads of people you listening saying obviously. I knew that. So cut to the point. There’s no place like home. Yeah, It comes from Wizard of Oz. Now a lot of you listening are probably going to be in the 18, to 25 age bracket.

Why is it called There’s No Place Like Summer Camp?

Now, I’m not that much older than 25, he says, but I know the Wizard of Oz. So if you don’t know the Wizard of Oz, and you’re between 18 and 25, please come watch the Wizard of Oz, the original one. So that’s where there’s no place like home comes from. And the reason I called it, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is because it’s sort of like a second home. Now, that’s poetry. And I think it sums up exactly how I feel about summer camp, is I keep reminiscing, I keep talking about it, loads of other people do the same thing. And that’s the reason that I settled on, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp, it’s, you know, it’s a bit of a phrase, that sums up exactly what I want this book to be. And I’m proud to say that it’s available now.

It’s come on quite a journey. And I don’t know, I don’t know what my goals are for this. I don’t know what the goals are, I don’t know what I’m expecting from it. I just knew that I wanted to produce the best content I could, and it will take as long as it would need to take before it would launch. I didn’t want to release something that was going to flop on its initial launch. That’s something that I’ve been very careful about. Because back in 2016, sort of times when I thought the book was ready, and I did those author talks where I’d still stand up in front of a group of authors. You’ll hear on the bonus content, the feedback I was getting, wasn’t great. You can tell why if you listen to my readout. It was very wanting those early copies. I think in total, I’ve probably made over 20 different versions of this book. Over the course of the six years, 20 completely different versions of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp, where they either have like, you know, totally different layouts, totally different name different characters, totally different. Events, totally different sort of photos were in there at one point in the very early stages. But now I can say that I’m so happy with it. And I have to give a quick mention to the people that helped me get to this point because it’s not just a one-man band.

A shoutout to my editors, designers and people around me

I got a lot of help from my editor, Joanna Craven, who’s mentioned in the book, as well as the others. Muhammad Ali, was great. He was so fantastic at helping set up a book that looked professional, and he helped with the formatting and that sort of thing. There’s Rebecca Ira who was great at helping me create a stunning front cover and helps me with just getting the across the line all three of those people are fantastic. To say that the books out now is is it’s ridiculous.

So yeah, it’s available on Amazon eBook, paperback hardback, it should be available no matter where you’re listening. So if you are listening, say from the US, and you’re interested in summer camp, you should be able to go on to amazon.com and buy the book. If you’re in the UK, of course, all three copies will be available there. There are some problems with like different language countries like Mexico, where you speak Portuguese for some reason. If you want to order the book, you’re gonna have to order from like, I don’t know, amazon.com or something. I don’t know how it works over there. But if you’re listening from abroad, just bear that in mind. I know I have my fans in Germany, I sent out that special signed in addition to my friend Alex, who’s been on the podcast before for an interview where we just talked about summer camp, and it was great to see his support throughout the years. So he got a special signed copy. I think the German audience do have their storefront as well. So you’ll be able to pick up the copy.

But it was just in some random countries. I think it was Mexico and Netherlands that there were the two where I just couldn’t, I couldn’t upload the book because it was in English. And even with the heads up like heads up this books in English by the way. Amazon still wouldn’t let it happen. But anyway, I’m getting on a tangent. There are more retailers in the world than just Amazon. Which leads me on to this Say how chuffed I am with having it. The possibility of having the book in Waterstones or WHSmiths or your local book shop, it can be in so many different places. It’s not an Amazon exclusive, I’m thrilled to say because you do get some, you know, self-published works that are a bit questionable. But in this case, I’ve gone all out, I’ve not, I’ve not let any stone go on turned. And for instance, I’m still recording a fucking audiobook. It’s a lot of work, I think I’m about five hours into it and I’ve only scratched about 25% of the book.

Audiobook incoming

So that’s fun and that might be coming out “soon”. I say soon with air quotes there. But I hope to have that out at some point, just to get it as available as possible. Because I know some of you guys, you might not read books, books are pretty uncool, at least in the stereotype way of thinking is you know who reads a book. “oh, the last time I read a book was, I don’t know the Hungry Caterpillar when I was four years old”. I know that this sort of audience, a lot of you think that way. And it’s a bit of a shame because books can open up a world of possibilities. But I know, audiobooks, podcasts are filling in that gap. So I am working on an audiobook. And you’ve always got this podcast here to help you out as well just to get your summer camp fix. So There’s No Place Like Summer Camp, it’s available. It’s not only in Amazon, hopefully, if I ever do see it in Waterstones or any retailer, but I’m also going to have to buy a pen and just sign it. So if you do ever see it in a store, hit me up on Instagram, hit me up on Twitter. That will be so cool to see because I’ve done it properly. I’ve done it through all the official channels. It’s very much a real possibility that it could be, you know, a Waterstones best seller.

Goals for the book now its released

Now, my goals for the book, they’re not as extravagant as that, I just wanted to say that I’ve released a book, and it’s on a passion project of mine. That’s, you know, been such a fantastic time of my life where I volunteered at summer camp that I think it should be some experience that’s shared with the world. I hope it inspires young people to go and explore and take a risk. Because I think nowadays, it’s very, very easy to just sit on your ass and watch Netflix. Now, that’s not the sort of person I am. And it’s never really been the sort of person I am. Instead, I’ll be the sort of person that would sit down in front of my Xbox 360 and play video games all day. There was a part of my life that was like that. But nowadays, I’ve started to become like this workaholic. I’m not trying to turn this into like a mental health podcast or anything like that.

But when I listened to the likes of happy place on Spotify or any other podcast platform with Fearne Cotton, I do empathize/associate myself to the way that she thinks because if I’m not working, or if I’m not being productive, then “what’s the point in living, oh my god, what am I doing, I’m just a waste of skin”. And like someone else, you know, could do so much better than what I’m doing right now. I have to tread a careful line here. Because the main reason that I don’t use Facebook and social media, in my personal life, like Instagram, own Instagram accounts, and that sort of thing. I don’t use social media because I compare myself to others. I very much care what people think, which is shit, to be honest.

Comparing yourself to others

But that’s the way of social media, the way social media is set up is for you to instantly think oh, okay, I know Andrew bought house. I don’t know, I went to school with him. And, you know, look at him, he’s released a book. And then I’ve, oh, I’m just over here, just doing my nine to five and I never got to travel. If you think that way then you’ll be miserable. And that’s not my intention here like it’s very easy to compare yourself to others. But one of the best tips that I got from Jordan Peterson, who’s a very, very big inspiration of mine, is to compare yourself to who you were yesterday. Don’t compare yourself to me. Don’t compare yourself to… I don’t know, your best friend. Don’t compare yourself to your worst enemy. Don’t compare yourself to Elon Musk or someone you aspire to be. Compare yourself to who you were before.

The anxiety of telling friends and family about the book release

Of course, take tips and influence from the likes of someone who’s who inspires you. But compare yourself to someone that’s I don’t know. You don’t know anything about it’s not a good way. So yeah, it filled me with much anxiety posting to my own Facebook page. Or should I say my own Facebook account to my so-called friends? To sort of promote that this book is a thing because, in my head, I thought, okay, the books releasing now, do I keep it silent and not say a thing? Then people stumble upon my book and think, holy shit, Andrew Waterhouse has released a book, or do I go out there? Do one post, say, here it is, it’s released now. And then that can be it. That’s why I went with, so it wasn’t sort of bragging. Maybe I’m overthinking it just by saying it in this podcast. But I think a lot of people have a lot of struggles, especially with COVID and stuff. I know I do.

Everyone does. Everyone has their mental struggles. And it’s very easy to compare yourself to other people. And that’s why I do a lot. I care about what other people think too much. It’s not a healthy thing. So it’s only as I’m starting to tense my 30s that I think, you know, what, if someone doesn’t like me cool, fuck off, your problem. I think that’s only a thing that you start to get when you’re starting to turn 30. Anyway, so that’s what I was very careful about is sort of straying that line of trying to be the, if I ever come across as the person that’s trying to show off, and he’s doing it for the ego, please try and knock me down a peg or two. Because that’s not I’m trying to be I’m just trying to do it for my own sake.

So as for goals of the podcast, and the book is just been something that’s, you know, something I’m passionate about, it’s always going to be there, which is always a fantastic thing like the book will always be there, it will always be on sale, you can always pick it up, you can always get it second hand, hopefully, if physical copies sell. It’s very tempting to keep an eye on the seller rankings and how many sales are making. But initially, on my first day, I have no intention of going in and looking at the sales quite yet, you know. And it’s exciting to see like, it’s sort of climbing some sort of ranking list.

Where we go from here?

But I don’t want to become obsessed with it. You know, I did it for my own sake. I haven’t got a sales goal in mind, I just want to get the word out and sort of capture a niche that I think is ready for a capture. And I think a lot of people don’t even realize that they’re ready for it. So we’ll see. So that’s sort of about the goals of the book. I don’t know my intentions from here on in. I think I’m still going to be doing podcasts. I think I’m going to try and make it more interview orientated. If I get any celebrities, man, that’d be so cool. I’ve been looking into the people in the UK. So this is like a really, really niche thing. But trying to get people who have some association to the summer camp, whether they’ve worked there, it’s mostly what they’re if they’re from the UK. And they’re willing to talk about it. Someone like Martin Lewis, for instance.

Celebrity guests who’ve done summer camo

The Money Saving Expert, there’s more people than just him. You know, in the other podcast episode I talked about Michael Eisner. He’s also someone that lives in the UK and is a fucking billionaire. Is he a billionaire who might have just thrown me under the bus? I don’t think he’s a million. I think he’s a billion. I think he’s a millionaire. Let’s have a look. Yeah, he’s worth a billion pounds. Okay, so yeah, he’s a billionaire. So trying to get someone like that on the podcast would be so cool.

So yeah, we’ll see where it goes, you know, I want to try and get people on. I’m reaching out to people trying to get some cool things. It’s, you know, with a podcast with a book they’re always going to be their new people are going to stumble upon this and if you do, it’s cool. It’s cool just to have an audience. It’s cool. So what’s been happening in the last week or so? Well, we have a YouTube channel now. If you just search for There’s No Place Like Summer Camp on YouTube, it’ll come up with like, the latest episodes and that sort of stuff. It’s a program I released only because a lot of the podcast content that I listened to is actually through YouTube. And I’m sure there’s gonna be loads of you out there that just listen to the same way that I do. I might be the odd one out because I don’t watch Netflix. I don’t watch Amazon Prime or anything like that. Or Disney plus or Marvel films or anything like that. Oh, my go-to is YouTube. And I just thought it would make sense, to make a YouTube channel, have a program that automatically uploads like a template or a video alongside the podcast and you can always listen to it there too. You can also go to the YouTube, you guys, I’m struggling to speak because I’m too excited YouTube channel, you can also go to the YouTube channel to go and watch my unboxing of the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp paperback that came in the post, and you can get to see me open it and be excited because it looks good.

Merchandise for summer camp

I’m going to be trying to do some short videos to help promote the book, there’s the store as well. So if you’re going to summer camp, or if you’re there at the minute and you’re listening to this, you can always pick up some cool merchandise. And you can represent There’s No Place Like Summer Camp where a t-shirt or something helps spread the name. Because that’s cool. There was a giveaway, and that’s completed now. So I can’t promote the competition anymore. If you want to pick up the book, you have to go to a retailer. And I think that’s pretty much all I can share with you, to be honest, it’s been a ride, you know, what 2016 to 2022, it’s taken me to release this is come on leaps and bounds. Link for the shop: http://theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/shop

I appreciate all of your support. I’d appreciate it if you go and buy a book or buy a t shirt, just help spread the name. Let me know your reviews of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp if you do go and buy it, I would love to see your feedback. You know, the more feedback and reviews I get, the better it will be for the next time, you know, and it will also help for getting the word out to people that are considering going into camp themselves. So thank you guys, for all your support. Thank you for the Twitter messages. Thank you for Instagram following me. Thank you for listening to all these podcasts because you know six years is a mental amount of time. And I’m sure a lot of you have only come on recently. But it’s good to see that steady growth. And yeah, I greatly appreciate that. As for my next project, I think I’m going to take a step away from summer camp because it’s been my life for six years. And it’s a bit obsessive when you’re trying to recall, dialogues, people’s names, and details about camp filling in the blanks.

The next book

So I need to take a step away from There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. And my next book is going to be called The Fly Who Flew Too High. I’ve got an idea in my mind of how that’s going to work. I’ve got a rough script. So that’s exciting. And that’s going to be a children’s book. The book is half-written and it’s a completely different change of pace. It’s not going to be geared towards 18 to 30 year old’s, it’s a kids book. The book is almost there, but I think it’s going to be a 2023 thing or, late 2022. So I’ve always had this idea for this children’s book. And it’s just a different change of pace.

The second summer camp book

Now, that’s not all there’s going to be in regards to the summer camp side of things. Because I did do a second summer. The second summer will be coming. It’s going to take time to do though, want to step away from the summer camp side of things first before I start on that though. So this second book of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is probably going to be a 2024 thing. And that’s even that’s calling it quite early. But the fact that I’ve got this through to publication now. And it’s got to a point where I can see that night and day difference between the first or even the 10th version of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp to where it is today. has educated me on how to produce a book how to make it readable to an audience how to make it entertaining, and how to cut the chaff. And I think that’s going to help me to make it quicker the next time and have it just as good if not better quality. So I think we can wrap it up here. Just touching on 25 minutes, man. I appreciate all your guys support and go and check out the book. Please give it a review please spread the word.

Hit me up on Twitter hit me up on Instagram. If you ever want to get in touch and you want to be interviewed by me for the podcast, also get in touch it’d be cool if you’ve been to summer camp before all the better or if you’re considering it, that could be an interesting take. So anyway guys, here’s a deep cheers for me. You can’t see me live my drink here but you might be able to hear me slap it. Till the next time, thanks for this opportunity. And I’ll see you in the next podcast. Cheers guys.

To order the book on Amazon, go here: https://amzn.to/3uwSmm5