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Media Kit

A Continental Affliction — Media Kit

Author: Brian Shannon
Genre: Nonfiction · Travel Memoir · Adventure
Tone: Witty, reflective, pre-digital nostalgia
Setting: South America, Oceania, Africa, Europe, North America
Word Count / Length: ~300 pages (est.)
Published: 2025

Publishing Platform: BookBaby (with rollout to major retailers) Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 979-8-31781-639-1  eBook ISBN: 979-8-31781-640-7 | Formats: Paperback · eBook
Brand Colors: #DA4167 (rose), #164979 (deep teal)

1) Logline & Tagline

Logline: In 1991, Brian Shannon quit his job, sold almost everything, and circled the globe on $10/day—with a backpack, a bicycle, and zero internet—discovering that getting lost is sometimes the point.
Tagline: No GPS. No plan B. Just a passport and nerve.

2) Short Book Description (120–140 words)

Before smartphones and instant translations, a 26-year-old Brian Shannon walked away from a steady career and a sputtering relationship to chase the horizon on $10 a day. With a Pan Am round-the-world ticket, a backpack (and later, a bike), he navigates Brazil’s beaches and favelas, New Zealand’s highlands, Africa’s dusty rails and game parks, and Europe’s Alpine passes. A Continental Affliction is a witty, heartfelt travel memoir about the beauty and chaos of pre-digital exploration—paper maps, strangers’ kindness, and the occasional catastrophe. It’s part misadventure, part coming-of-age, and a love letter to the analog era when “adventure” began the moment plans fell apart.

3) Long Book Description (300–400 words)

In the pre-GPS, pre-Google world of 1991, Brian Shannon made a radical decision: sell nearly everything, quit a safe job, and buy a Pan Am round-the-world ticket. What followed was a year-long odyssey across five continents that tested endurance, humility, and the limits of improvisation.
South America delivers culture shock and wonder in equal measure—Carnival in the Amazon, the long dust of Ruta 40, and plans derailed by bandits en route to Machu Picchu. A mid-journey reset sends Brian homeward—only to re-launch on two wheels through Maui wipeouts, New Zealand treks, and Australia’s reef and road. Africa arrives in a rush: Harare time warp, rails through Zimbabwe and Zambia, Nairobi chaos, and the legendary “safari by bicycle.” In Europe, old friends, campfires, and an Alpen pass ride offer laughter, pain, and perspective before a quiet goodbye in Greece.
Told with humor and candor, A Continental Affliction captures a rare era when travel demanded patience, curiosity, and trust in strangers—and reveals how losing your way can become the way to find yourself.

4) About the Author (120–150 words)

Brian Shannon is a Canadian-born, U.S.-based entrepreneur with a background in finance and software. He’s a customer-obsessed, innovative problem solver, empathetic leader, and trusted advisor—and a lucky dad of five. A runner, cyclist, local-anything enthusiast, aspiring author, and fortunate photographer, Brian loves stories that begin with “What if?” In 1991, he sold almost everything and set off around the world with a backpack, a bike, and a $10-a-day budget. That journey—equal parts mishap and marvel—inspired his debut memoir, A Continental Affliction. He lives in the United States, still chasing good roads, great coffee, and the next horizon.

5) Fast Facts

  • Era: Pre-digital (1991) · Budget: ~$10/day
  • Transport: Foot, bicycle, bus, boat, pickup, train, plane
  • Vibe: Humorous, reflective, adventure-forward, Lonely-Planet era
  • Core themes: Risk, resilience, meaning, kindness of strangers, analog serendipity

6) Key Messages / Angles for Editors

  • Analog Adventure: Travel before smartphones—maps, pay phones, mistakes, and magic.
  • Cycle Touring & Grit: What a bike teaches about endurance, fear, and joy.
  • Leap Year for Grown-Ups: Quitting stability to find perspective (a sabbatical story with stakes).
  • Humor in Hard Places: When “adventure” begins the moment plans fail.
  • Belonging Everywhere: How curiosity and humility turn strangers into guides.

7) Comparable Titles (positioning, not claims)

  • Bill Bryson — Neither Here nor There (humor + cultural observation)
  • Rolf Potts — Vagabonding (ethos of long-term travel)
  • Paul Theroux — The Old Patagonian Express (grit + transit)
  • Alastair Humphreys — Moods of Future Joys (human-scale adventure)

8) Interview Topics

  • How to plan (and un-plan) a round-the-world trip
  • Lessons from cycling the Alps and “safari-by-bicycle”
  • The $10/day playbook: risk, resourcefulness, and kindness
  • Travel misadventures that became the best stories
  • Why disconnection (no phone) unlocked deeper connection; is it still possible today?

9) Sample Q&A (for quick briefing)

Q: What pushed you to quit and go?
A: A nagging sense that a “safe” life was shrinking my world. Curiosity won.

Q: Biggest failure that became a gift?
A: Abandoning Machu Picchu due to bandits. The detour led to people and places I’d never have found.

Q: Why write it now?
A: To capture a vanishing era—and to nudge anyone sitting on a dream to move.

Q: One lesson for today’s travelers?
A: Leave room for serendipity. Your best guide might be the person sitting next to you, not an app.

10) Notable Moments (sound bites)

  • Carnival in Manaus; night skies on the equator (“millions of stars, zero notifications”).
  • Ruta 40 in the back of a pickup—dust, danger, delight.
  • Bungee countdown: courage at “3…2…1…” (and what comes after).
  • Cycling an Alpine pass into Geneva: lungs on fire, spirit lit.
  • Mosel Valley, Germany → Greece: a soft landing for a sharper self.

11) Excerpt (100–150 words, placeholder)

“Adventure begins the moment the plan stops cooperating. Mine quit at the ticket counter. The agent looked at my Pan Am itinerary like I’d booked it during turbulence. ‘You really want to do this?’ she asked. I nodded. Ten minutes later I was airborne—toward beaches I couldn’t pronounce, bus stations where my backpack would become furniture, and nights where the stars outnumbered my reasons to go home. I had a paper map, a stubborn bicycle, and a budget that wouldn’t buy an airport sandwich today. Perfect. I wasn’t trying to master the world—only to meet it.”

12) Marketing Copy Blocks (mix-and-match)

  • One-liner: A funny, fearless, pre-digital leap around the world—on $10 a day.
  • Short: Witty, wide-eyed, and wonderfully analog, this memoir proves that getting lost is the most reliable route to being found.
  • Retail blurb (80–100 words): (Use the “Short Book Description.”)

13) Metadata & Availability

  • Publisher: BookBaby
  • Formats: Paperback · eBook
  • On-Sale Date: October 31, 2025
  • Territory: World
  • Categories (BISAC): TRV010000 (Essays & Travelogues), BIO026000 (Personal Memoirs), TRV002000 (Africa), TRV009000 (Europe), TRV010000 (Oceania), TRV018000 (South America)

14) SEO / Keywords (Amazon & KDP)

“around the world travel memoir”; “solo backpacking and cycling adventure”; “pre-internet travel stories”; “life-changing travel journey”; “inspirational travel memoir”; “global cycle touring memoir”; “1990s adventure travel narrative”


15) Assets for Download (list & filenames)

  • Cover (RGB web, 1600px) — ACA_cover_RGB.jpg
  • Author headshots (hi-res) — Shannon_Headshot_1.jpg, Shannon_Headshot_2.jpg
  • Author action photos (cycling/travel) — ACA_action_01.jpg …
  • Press Release (PDF, 1-page) — ACA_PressRelease.pdf
  • Excerpt (PDF, 4–6 pages) — ACA_Excerpt_Ch1.pdf
  • Fact Sheet (1-pager) — ACA_FactSheet.pdf
  • Media Kit (full PDF) — ACA_MediaKit.pdf

16) Press Release (1-paragraph version)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — [Baltimore, MD, October 10, 2025]
In A Continental Affliction, debut author Brian Shannon recounts a year-long, pre-digital journey across five continents on a shoestring budget—navigating jungles, deserts, cities, and Alpine passes with a backpack, a bicycle, and a sense of humor. Set in 1991, the memoir captures the serendipity and grit of travel before smartphones, celebrating strangers’ kindness, detours, and the joy of getting wonderfully lost.

17) Events & Speaking

Formats: Readings, travel-memoir talks, Q&A, cycling & adventure clubs, “pre-digital travel” workshops, book-club Zooms.
Tech: Slide deck with archival photos + live reading (10–12 min).
Availability: North America (in-person) · Global (virtual).

18) Contact

Publicity & Media: press@shannonglobal.com
Events & Bookings: events@shannonglobal.com
Author Site: http://www.shannonglobal.com
Social: IG | FB | LinkedIn | (optional) Substack/Newsletter

For information, address: BookBaby, 7905 N. Crescent Blvd, Pennsauken, NJ 08110

19) Rights & Permissions

All rights available unless otherwise noted. For translation, audio, film/TV inquiries: press@shannonglobal.com