Inspirational Indie Author Interview. Jim Merryfield: How to Quit the 9-to-5 and Hit the Road on Two Wheels

February 20, 2022

My ALLi author guest this episode is Jim Merryfield, who lived what he called the British version of the Wolf of Wall Street. He was rolling in dough from his sales job for a company that really didn't care about the impact it was having on the world. Jim decided it wasn't a life for him. So, he bought a motorcycle, saw the world, and wrote about how others can do the same. Midlife crisis? Not quite. Jim Merryfield is only twenty-seven years old.

ALLi's Inspirational Indie Author interviews are sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, a global, independent ebook and audiobook publishing platform that empowers authors with a quick and easy publishing process and unique promotional opportunities. To reach a wide readership, create your account today! Thank you, Kobo, for your support of this podcast.

Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-Publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of 2,000+ blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need.

We invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally, if you haven’t already. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.

Inspirational Indie Author Interview. Jim Merryfield

On Inspirational Indie Authors, @howard_lovy interviews Jim Merryfield, who quit his job, bought a motorcycle, saw the world, and wrote about how others can do the same. Share on X

Don't Miss an #AskALLi Broadcast

Subscribe to our Ask ALLi podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player.FM, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify or via our RSS feed:

Inspirational Indie Author Interview. Jim Merryfield: About the Author

Jim Merryfield. Bristol-born, Cheddar-based travel advocate and author of his debut book Iberia by Bike: Work Desk to Wild Camp. Jim holds a firm belief in the importance of adventure and the benefits that it can do for our mind and development. Leaving his ego at the exit door of a large corporate recruitment company, he disembarked on a motorbike trip around Europe with his tent and puppet monkey. A new life direction found him whilst on the road. Swapping an engine for pedals, Jim is currently cycling from England to Greece. Jim's journey is available to watch on YouTube under A Merry Ride Round.

About the Host

Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 35 years, and now amplifies the voices of independent author-publishers and works with authors as a developmental editor. Howard is also a freelance writer specializing in Jewish issues whose work appears regularly in Publishers Weekly, the Jewish Daily Forward, and Longreads. Find Howard at howardlovy.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.

If you’re a published indie author who would like to be interviewed by Howard for the Inspirational Indie Authors podcast, you need to be a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors.
Then contact Howard, including your membership number, explaining why you’re an inspirational indie author and what inspires you.
If you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization.

Author: Howard Lovy

Howard Lovy is an author, book editor, and journalist. He is also the Content and Communications Manager for the Alliance of Independent Authors, where he hosts and produces podcasts and keeps the blog updated. You can find more of his work at https://howardlovy.com/

Latest advice, news, ratings, tools and trends.

How Romantasy Is Shaping Reader Trends and Why Google’s AI Moves Matter: The Self-Publishing News Podcast with Dan Holloway

On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway explores Oxford’s Word of the Year shortlist, highlighting trends like "romantasy" and "lore," which reflect shifting reader and writer habits. He also covers Tumblr’s new community feature for creators, TikTok’s legal battle over its U.S. ban, and Harvard’s AI training dataset project, which raises questions about Google Books’ involvement and public domain use.

Harvard and Google Release AI Training Dataset with Public Domain Books, Raising Copyright Questions: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

Any process that improves by being trained on a set of materials will only ever get as good as the materials it’s trained on will allow. That’s as true of machine learning algorithms as it is of human beings. This week’s news that Harvard will release a dataset of 1 million volumes for AI training highlights efforts to address inequities caused by the need for high-quality training data.

The Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast Changes to Better Serve Indie Authors

The Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast is changing, and this episode gives you an inside look at the exciting new features planned for 2025. Join ALLi Director Orna Ross, Campaigns Manager Matty Dalrymple, and Content and Communications Manager Howard Lovy as they discuss the new name, revamped structure, and fresh approach to delivering expert insights across all seven processes of publishing. With contributions from advisors, expanded guest appearances, and a focus on fostering both virtual and in-person connections among indie authors, the podcast is set to provide even greater value for ALLi members and listeners.

View all articles