And they say independent publishing is dead.
In recent months, the Soviet-trotting adventures of one Bald and Bankrupt exploded upon YouTube recommended feeds around the globe, just another occurrence of the whims of the mostly inexplicable YouTube algorithm.
Upon seeing a few videos of his, I was almost instantly a fan. His simple selfie stick-wielding, fluent Russian-chatting, “Briton in a Foreign Land” video layout is addicting in today’s over-produced, cookie-cutter travel vlog scene. This was neither a man wishing to discuss the touristic merits of calling Prague “cheap” vs “affordable” nor a model (sorry, Bald) hoping to spread the Good News of her next big trip. Here was a man who shows us the truth of work paying off. After studying Russian for years, individually and in classes (not to mention living in Belarus for a spell to refine his linguistic skills), Bald is perfectly capable of taking us to the most remote corners of the former Soviet Union.
After looking around the Internet about this guy, a few things seem to come to the surface, and though I needn’t attempt to go into this guy’s life story here, from what I have gathered from his Q&A videos and some posts online, he has had an interesting life nonetheless. It was during this peak of heightened interest in his content that I came across the fact that he had self-published a book detailing a branch of his travels and, for the low price of £6.35 plus shipping to the Netherlands, I ordered it post-haste.
Though he has lived in India for a number of years, as well as extensively travelled the former Soviet Union, his book The Burning Edge: Travels Through Irradiated Belarus focuses solely upon his time in Belarus: Europe’s “Last Dictatorship” written under the penname Arthur Chichester (he is a rather private gentleman, a proper Brit).
The book is a simple joy to read. As simple as his video editing is hands-off. He writes bluntly, honestly and with just a touch of poetics. The book will read very quickly, not unlike the number of videos one can watch in a single sitting should they allow the Autoplay to dictate their media. Though sitting at twenty-eight short chapters, it feels as though the book could be read cover to cover or as simply a collection of short experiences that happened to a foreigner in a lesser-known country.
I will not go into the stories themselves, Mr Bald is a far better storyteller of his experiences than I could be, but this book, coupled with the popularity of such a simple channel, shows the potential of self-publishing. Meaning no disrespect to the book, but it was probably rather simple to write, perhaps the product of converting notes kept in a journal to explain the series of interesting experiences of the travel, and it was kept entirely in Mr Bald’s voice (something that is perhaps more difficult to do when going through the Orthodox Publishing House method of publishing written work). This results in a book that seems to come naturally from the videos themselves, almost the perfect film to book adaptation. This is a method I have not yet seen much of from independent content creators on YouTube, most that seem to write books tend to wait for the sought-after Book Deal to come through first.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and wish I could read more work in this vein of writing. Bald and Bankrupt continues to grow and produce content, though at the time of this writing I believe he is back in the United Kingdom, so I am uncertain what the publication schedule will look like for him in the near future.
For more of his work, or information on the fascinating nation of Belarus:
This video from the channel featuring another interesting character from YouTube: Roman or NFKRZ: a true, bonafide YouTuber from the lesser-known city of Chelyabinsk. They met recently at the behest of both of their sizeable fan bases and created a number of enjoyable videos ranging from Russian language videos to some travel trips. In this one, in particular, they check out the so-called “Most Polluted City in Russia”.
Mr Bald’s Instagram account seems to be where a majority of his correspondence takes place. A few weeks ago he posted on his Story the details for an impromptu meeting with his fans in Prague, so stay tuned, perhaps he will continue to do as such in the future.
Journeyman Pictures’ documentary from early last year covering current President Lukashenko’s election and earlier crackdowns in the nation after the 2010 elections is an excellent glimpse into the nation’s history and contemporary position.