From Plan to Print: Creating ‘A Guide to Wild to Wild Swimming in Cornwall’
In June 2021, we self-published A Guide to Wild Swimming in Cornwall with the aim of making cold water swimming accessible to anyone interested in taking the plunge. Each book includes: 54 locations from around the county; extensive safety information – including specific details for each spot; details on the health benefits of cold water immersion; a key for ease of use; directions; and a discover more section. In this blog, Max writes about the process of creating the book and how it came to be.
Summer 2020
My alarm rings out at 4.15 AM. We have about 20 minutes to climb out of the back of this borrowed Renault Picasso and get ourselves set up for the sunrise. We’ve managed to fit the three of us, side by side, in the back of the car. I grab my camera and lenses, and together we shuffle down the gravel path that leads to the beach.
From the top of the glassy cliff, we can see three small coves, facing north into the Celtic Sea. The ebbing tide has left a stretch of untouched sand, and a soft golden hue suggests an imminent sunrise.
I scurry around in the heath, searching for the best viewpoint to make the most of the gentle, orange light. The beach is empty, and from the last ten months of scouting locations, we’ve learnt that you can’t beat the sunrise. No crowds, no heat, and a flattering glow that drenches everything in beauty.
The creation of our wild swimming guide book allowed us to witness countless sunsets like this
Refreshed and glowing, after a majestic morning swim, we wander back up the path to the car. We manage to squeeze in two more locations before the light becomes too harsh, and the tight country lanes fill with hoards of beachgoers. At 10 AM, the day already feels long, and we find a spot at the back of a busy beach car park for a much-needed coffee.
“I can’t believe how much beauty we would have never seen, If we didn’t start this project,” Beth said, clutching the steaming mug of coffee.
It’s true. The creation of this guide has led us along the entire length of Cornwall’s coastline. We’ve stumbled upon countless spots, that without having the book as an excuse, we would simply have never found. Mornings like these, with the fleeting beauty of dawn, leave us with an overwhelming appreciation to call such a beautiful county home.
The coffee does little to curb our tiredness. We hang towels on the window of the car and lay down inside like three little sausages for our afternoon siesta. As we drift through various levels of sleep, we make out the vague voices of passing families, wandering down to the beach whilst staring curiously at the three pairs of feet poking from the back of the Picasso.
Siestas in the back of the Picasso
Autumn, 2020
The photoshoots take us into October. Some locations we return to two or three times, to ensure the imagery is perfect. Throughout the summer, we visit over 70 locations. Some we instantly write off as unsafe, others we decide are too secret (we don't want to anger any locals), and some are already overcrowded enough.
As autumn rolls into winter, we shift our focus from photography, and into the long process of copywriting. The first draft morphs into a second, third and fourth. With teary eyes, we’re forced to cut some of our favourite locations. Several private landowners reject our requests for permission to include their beaches, and we curse ourselves for not asking sooner. And slowly, from our target of 60, our location list shrinks down to 54.
We slowly whittle down the seemingly endless pile of typos and errors. With each re-read, the list of corrections and comments gets smaller but never disappears. With something close to our target word count, and with our chosen selection of images, we send everything over to Ben, our designer for the first mockup.
Scouting for locations on the South Coast of Cornwall
Spring, 2021
A few weeks later, we receive an email back from Ben, with a few comments and a PDF attachment. We can barely contain our excitement. For the first time, it’s all there. All the images, notes and research from the last year, compiled into 157 PDF pages. There’s still a long way to go, yet now we have something to show for all our efforts.
The next milestone is money. Early in the project, we decide to self-publish. The burdens of designing, printing and marketing all fall on our shoulders, and with very little experience, we’ve had to figure a lot out for ourselves. We decide to go with St Austell Printing Company, as they are the most sustainable print house in the country. Our guide will be printed in 100% recycled paper — with a fully recyclable end product and a carbon offset production process. To raise money for the print and design fees, we launch a crowdfunding campaign.
The response is great, and we quickly overtake our target. Everything seems to be going well until we have to cut our cover shot. We receive a concerned email from some concerned locals, worried that the image will bring too much attention to their tidal pool. It’s impossible to ignore, and with mixed emotions, we hack another location and settle on a new image.
We read and re-read, slipping copies in front of friends, families and a proofreader too. We send everything to Ben for a final draft, and only a few months after our initial target, ‘A Guide to Wild Swimming in Cornwall’ goes to print.
The perks of creating a wild swimming guide book
Summer, 2021
Three months later, we’re making a big dent in our pile of 4,000 books. The response so far has been incredible. It’s been a massive learning curve for us, the process of publishing a book is much more complicated than we first thought. It wouldn't have been possible without Lydia and her amazingly organised brain, who shared the idea in the first place, and Beth’s creative talent and insights into the publishing world.
For everyone who has encouraged us, donated to the Crowdfunder, purchased a book or even supported us with a like or a follow, thank you SO much. We’re incredibly grateful for everything. It’s been an amazing journey so far, and we can't wait to see where it goes next. Our goals for the book are that it helps bring people closer to nature, that they experience adventure closer to home and the incredible health benefits of cold water immersion. Thanks to you we’re one step closer in being able to do so and we hope that the guidebook is a resource which can be used by anyone interested in cold water swimming in Cornwall.
Thankyou to everyone who has helped with our journey. Love and warm wishes, Lydia, Bethany & Max
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