Thread by @jonworth

OK, so I am going to use the channel I know - Twitter - to help me address something I’ve no idea about, namely whether I should write a book

This morning I was asked, for at least the 10th time, would I write a book about #CrossBorderRail

The answer was “maybe” - but how?

🧵

First of all: what do I know?

After having crossed 95 borders, travelled 30000km by train, having taken thousands of photos and hundreds of videos I have more than enough material. And I feel like I have not even begun to address many of the issues I discovered

What do I not know?

Should I write a book? If people are suggesting it, perhaps I should. But maybe they are more confident in this than I am?

Were I to write a book, how am I possibly going to finance the time such a massive undertaking would require? Who publishes this?

And most important of all, what sort of book would make sense?

There are probably three sorts.

A kind of coffee table book, heavily illustrated and with lots of photos and maps, akin to the Soviet Bus Stops book

A kind of telling the stories from the borders, sort of hidden corners of Europe book (but then I am probably treading on the toes of @BastonBorders and that’s not my intention - and there is the “Hidden” series, and the @hiddeneurope magazine)

Or a kind of political manifesto book - a sort of how to fix the problems of #CrossBorderRail in Europe (this one would probably get a lot fewer readers than the other two, but it is closer to the purpose of the project!)

Something like @DrHannahWhite’s book, but for rail

(And note I am definitely NOT writing some rail nerd book - the whole point of #CrossBorderRail was to bridge between political nerds and rail nerds, and there are plenty enough rail nerd books)

And relating to that sort of question, who am I even writing it *for*?

Do I want to change people’s minds, politically? If so, maybe a book isn’t the best way.

Do I want to tell a good story? Perhaps, but I am not sure that’s my skill really.

There’s also this sort of annoying thing nagging at me - that in order to be taken vaguely seriously in the hierarchical, conservative world of German politics, having written a book is a good way to be credible. But that as a motivation repulses me too.

So please tell me brutally and honestly what you think.

Whether you know me offline or not. Whether you know me well or not.

And any tips and suggestions will help me work out what to do!

/ends

Ok, conclusions: if this is to happen, it has to be a political book. Option 3. If anyone wants to have a go at a coffee table book *with* me (who likes the topic?) then I’m open to suggestions!