Brian W. Drew A Long Way from Clent

One of our founder members, Brian W. Drew, was interviewed by Audrey Flanders (also a member), about the writing and production of his book A LONG WAY FROM CLENT (published by Brewin Books) which has a foreword by Sir Chris Bonington, CBE

Brian W. Drew 'A Long Way from Clent' Sir Chris Bonington, CBE

Introduction
What inspired you to write the book?
How did you go about the research?
How long did the whole operation take?
How many publishers turned it down before you found Brewin Books?
Did you have anything to do with the marketing of your book?
What are your future writing plans?

The story tells how Len York survived a fall from the Matterhorn, which broke his neck at the sixth vertebrae. It is about his achievements since then and how he has coped with life as a paraplegic. The famous British Mountaineer, Sir Chris Bonington CBE, in his forward to the book, says “This is not a book about climbing but the story of the fortitude and determination of a very special person.”

Len has always been an inspirational figure, both before and after his accident. He would run eighty miles a week with Halesowen Athletic Club and Tipton Harriers before his accident. He was also a keen cyclist, walker and mountaineer. He had plenty of time for younger members of the clubs with which he was connected and regularly encouraged them to get their very best out of these activities. I was in a good position to judge this as I am a first cousin, Len and I sharing one set of grandparents. He suffered his fall in 1972, the second time he had been to the top of the Matterhorn. I first heard his talk about ten years after his accident, at Cornbow Hall, Halesowen. The story was still developing and I did not hear it again until another ten years later. I made a point of hearing his talk several more times over the next few years until one day in 1997 I asked him if he had ever thought of writing his story. He was quite capable of doing this despite his physical problems. He told me he didn’t have time to do it with his other commitments so I offered. To my complete surprise, he responded, “Thank God somebody wants to write it up.” I am pleased that I waited so long before beginning because the story would not have included some important aspects. Surprises are still happening regularly to Len.
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Len has a superb memory. No question seems to stump him. If he does not have the answer to the question, he usually has a quip to fit. He has kept a detailed scrapbook over the years and he was a fine photographer. There was a wealth of pictorial and written material at my disposal. Len would meet me at my home every two weeks to record his views on all the questions that his scrapbook and photographs uncovered. This went on for eighteen months. My wife and I took a holiday in Zermatt to meet and interview the guide who was responsible for locating Len on the Mountain and arranging his rescue. I also interviewed Jack Yates who, in company with his wife, was a key figure in the continuing story. I interviewed Len’s wife Brenda on several occasions and also Len’s sister Maggie. Some of his climbing friends also came in for the same treatment and always, I used the recorder for their stories. One tip that I am sure we have all heard before is that if you know someone with a big name (i.e. a media star, professional sportsman, politician of note (there are some, I understand), then ask for their help if it is appropriate. Len had shared some dinners at the British Mountaineering Club with Sir Chris Bonington CBE. I wrote to him asking if he would provide the forward for the book. When I told Len, he was visibly shaken. “He won’t remember me! I was just one of a group – a crowd at these dinners,” he protested. He need not have worried himself about that. Sir Chris wrote back almost by return, saying that he would be “Delighted to be associated with the project.” He had returned two or three days previously, from his final trip to The Himalayas.

I always say it took four and a half years in total. Eighteen months to research. Eighteen months to write, rewrite, and edit. Eighteen months to find a publisher.
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I would think around thirty-five to forty. I scanned the pages of “Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook for all likely leads and wrote a stock letter to them outlining the story and sent them the first chapter. Originally, I had written a fictional short story for a Birmingham University course exercise on the bones of the tale but I sexed it up with a little romance. The course lecturer thought it was one of my better efforts and encouraged me to develop it. When I originally approached the publishers, I had written it up as a novel and one local publisher replied that they “Did not take fiction.” He was only interested in sport or military stories, preferably about local people. This set they grey matter working again and I rewrote the book as a biographical piece and submitted it to him again. Bingo! Alan Brewin wrote, would I come and see him and talk things over? I phoned him to make the appointment and advised him that, as the book would contain many of Len’s photographs, I would bring Len along. He was all in favour of this and after I had checked with Alan that there were not too many steps to negotiate to get into his office, Len and I went along to a most agreeable interview, mostly about the superb photographs. If I had not written the story up already, I think Alan Brewin would have issued the book in pictorial format for Len, who was at his persuasive best.

The suggestion that we hold a “Launch” was met with lukewarm questions from the publisher but he warmed when I explained that I was prepared to do the lion’s share of the work involved. He was more impressed when he realised that to hire the Town Hall at Stourbridge for the evening, to involve stewards to patrol and to have willing booksellers on hand (all friends and family) would cost no more than about £75.
I wrote and told everyone I knew about the launch. Additionally I wrote to Len’s church, to his running friends and his mountaineering friends. I advertised the event locally in the Stourbridge, Oldswinford and Pedmore areas, finding shopkeepers particularly helpful putting up posters and showing interest themselves in the event.
When ‘selling’ the book to potential publishers, I had used the fact that the idea of the title including reference to ‘Clent’ was because Len had several connections with the location. Additionally, the local populations of Birmingham and the Black Country (about two million souls) almost to a man, had heard of it or actually knew it.
My enthusiasm did not end there. I visited Zermatt for a second time. Principally, my wife and I were on holiday but it did not stop us from visiting the local bookshops. I had with me a mock up of the cover of the book and used this as a visual aid in arresting the attention of the counter staff and the manager, where available. Not only bookshops sell books in Zermatt. Almost all gift shops have a book department. Sometimes this consists of a one-shelf display but often there is at least one wall of the premises devoted to books. Our efforts resulted in several expressing interest in the finished product and one book retailer even ordered two copies to, “Get the feel of the market”. I was encouraged by the level of interest but disappointed when the publisher decided not to pursue these leads. The reason he gave was that he had tried to deal with overseas outlets in the past but suffered a bad experience. He apparently had not been able to obtain settlement of his invoices and he was not prepared to go down the same route again. It seemed harsh to me at the time but he showed good faith later. He paid me a few hundred pound royalties when I was expecting about £95. He phoned me and said “I realise I have overpaid your royalties, but as you were so helpful in the early marketing stages I am happy for you to keep the cheque!” I was so cheerfully astonished at this generosity I could find no words of protest.
Apart from this I feel that the efforts of the publisher in selling the book has been limited. I understand all authors feel this way, however successful they are, so I will say no more on this subject.
Len and I have, happily, been more successful than the publisher in terms of the numbers of books sold. We originally ordered 500 books for ourselves and are currently left with only 12 copies, our most successful efforts having resulted in sales at the launch of 52 books and at Len’s church, 33 books. The rest have largely been sold at the meetings Len is invited to. He delivers his very well rehearsed talk and almost invariably we are able to sell a few books. It is still a source of wonder to me that Len is as enthusiastic as ever at the age of seventy-eight and however many talks I attend, he never delivers the same script twice.
One other gem on which I must spend a couple of sentences, is the thrill to a first time author, of walking into a shop like the gigantic “Waterstones,” at Merry Hill, and seeing your book on the shelves alongside Dickens, Darwin, and all the other authors beginning with ‘D’. One cannot resist the temptation to rearrange the books on the shelf to show the full cover of one’s own book, hoping that will attract the attention of prospective customers. Even more exciting, is walking into the store on one occasion and finding a customer actually thumbing the pages. I remember shrinking into the background very quickly “Would he buy it?” No, after a few moments he replaced the book into its slot. “Ah, but is he interested in it? Will he come back and buy it? Will he ask his children to buy it for him for Father’s Day?” My mind heaved with positive possibilities. But I shall never know the outcome.

I have several short items that I hope to sell to magazines following my brief visit to the Orkneys last year. If I sell them successfully, I am sure I can produce more items of non-fiction work but I don’t ever see me being presented with a story with as much potential as the one presented to me by my cousin Len York. My ambition now is to create a work of fiction. I am part way into a novel about a Major in the second world war and the letters he wrote home, with fairy stories and art work he had made up for his children. Bearing in mind the journey I had producing ‘A Long Way from Clent’, number two major work is currently scrabbling about the foothills - Peering up the mountain.