The Bolivian Files – Book One: The Alchemist’s Hotel
A true-crime memoir series from Simon McCoy, tracing a life lived on the edge of two worlds. No guns. No glamour. No bravado. Just decisions, consequences, and the cost of an outlaw’s life.
Help launch The Bolivian Files
The Bolivian Files is a true-crime memoir series following a life lived fully on the edge of two worlds, one visible, one hidden. Over four decades, Simon McCoy moved between them, building, risking, winning and losing, and eventually walking away.Not a gangster. Not a hero.Just a man who stayed long enough to understand the cost. This Kickstarter launches the series independently, beginning with the first two books:
Book One — The Alchemist’s Hotel
Book Two — Smoke & Mirrors
No advances. No marketing machine. No gatekeepers. Just a direct line between writer and reader. If you want to be there from the beginning, this is where the story starts.
What is The Bolivian Files
These are not crime stories in the usual sense.They are a record of a life lived fully on the edge of two worlds — one visible, one hidden. Some lives are lived quietly. Others simply lived larger than they should have been. There is no mythology here. No attempt to glamourise or excuse what happened. Only the reality of decisions made, the consequences that followed, and the cost of staying in the game too long. Some moments are sharp. Some are quiet. All of them matter. Each book captures a different stage in that progression:The Alchemist’s Hotel — broke, alone, and out of options, Simon travels to La Paz. What begins as survival becomes something far more dangerous.
Smoke & Mirrors — Simon is no longer alone, the operation grows, and so do the risks. The line between what’s real and what’s not begins to blur.
The Sun Gods — success brings money, pressure, and momentum, but something beneath it all starts to shift.
Crashing Comets — one failure sets off a chain reaction, and suddenly everything that once worked no longer does.
True Jail Tales — the doors close, but the stories do not. Simon takes the reader inside prisons across the world and introduces the people he met there.
Every book is intended to stand on its own, but together they form a larger arc of survival, ambition, illusion, strain, collapse, and reckoning.
Book One — The Alchemist’s Hotel
At rock bottom — broke, in debt, and running out of options — Simon travels alone to La Paz.
What begins as an attempt to rebuild his life becomes something far more dangerous. Navigating an unreliable world of suppliers and shifting loyalties, he forms an unlikely partnership with Sofia, a knitwear manufacturer whose work sparks an idea.
From a quiet hotel room, Simon develops a method that allows him to move unnoticed between worlds.
Each success draws him deeper. Each mistake carries a cost. And once the game begins, it is very hard to stop.
This is the book that starts everything.
Book Two — Smoke & Mirrors
Simon is no longer alone.
Joined by Steve, whose appetite for risk matches his own, what began as survival starts to scale. A legitimate business grows alongside something far less stable, blurring the line between reality and illusion.
As the operation expands across continents, so do the pressures — personal, moral, and financial. With his life divided and his conscience under strain, Simon begins to realise that growth comes with consequences no one can avoid.
And not everything can be controlled.
This Kickstarter is not only about launching Book One properly. It is about creating the momentum to bring Book Two out behind it and build the first stage of the series the right way.
Why I wrote this?
I wrote this for the ones who didn’t make it. For the women who loved me and the men who shared the road. And for a conversation we still haven’t had properly. Most stories stop too early. They focus on the rise, the risk, the reward.This one stays — through the cost, the strain, the moments that mattered, and the slow realisation that walking away is the only thing left to do. This series is not a boast. It is not a myth. It is not a how-to guide. It is an attempt to tell the truth about a life lived on the edge, and what that life eventually costs.
Why kickstarter?
This series is being published independently.No advances. No marketing machine. No one else deciding how or where it goes. No gatekeepers. No intermediaries. Just a direct line between writer and reader. We are using Kickstarter to build the launch properly, directly with the readers who want to be part of it from the beginning.This campaign funds the launch of the first two books — publicity, distribution, and the work needed to reach the right audience without relying on the usual gatekeepers. It also brings readers into the process. Early supporters receive limited editions, early access, and their place in the launch as founding backers.
What does "Founding Backer" mean?
Being a Founding Backer means you supported The Bolivian Files at launch and will be recognised as one of the original supporters of the series.All paid backers will have their name listed in the back of Book One: The Alchemist’s Hotel in a dedicated Founding Backers section, marking the readers who helped launch the series from the very beginning.As a Founding Backer, you are not simply buying the book later at retail. You are helping bring the first independent launch of The Bolivian Files into the world.Depending on your tier, your support gives you:
a Founding Supporter edition
early supporter access
and your name listed in the back of Book One as one of the original backers of the launch
What your pledge makes possible
Your support helps us:
Launch Book One – The Alchemist’s Hotel properly
Bring Book Two – Smoke & Mirrors out behind it
Fund publicity, distribution, and the first stage of audience-building for the series
Build The Bolivian Files directly with readers, without relying on traditional gatekeepers
If the campaign significantly exceeds its goal, that momentum will help move the remaining books in the series forward faster and more effectively.
What backers receive
This campaign is about building the launch properly, directly with the readers who want to be part of it from the beginning.All paid backers receive:
a Founding Supporter edition
early supporter access
and their name listed in the back of Book One: The Alchemist’s Hotel in a dedicated Founding Backers section
We’ve kept the rewards simple and focused, with Bronze, Silver, and Gold founding supporter editions for readers who want to step in early and help launch The Bolivian Files independently.
Reward Tier Copy
Digital Founding Supporter
Bronze £15 ($20.25)
Join the launch as a Bronze Founding Supporter.You’ll receive:
a digital founding supporter edition
early supporter access
and your name listed in the back of Book One: The Alchemist’s Hotel in the dedicated Founding Backers section
This is the simplest way to step in early and support the independent launch of The Bolivian Files from the very beginning.
Paperback Founding Supporter.
Silver £30 ($40.25)
Join the launch as a Silver Founding Supporter.You’ll receive:
a paperback founding supporter edition
early supporter access
and your name listed in the back of Book One: The Alchemist’s Hotel in the dedicated Founding Backers section
Created for readers who want to own a physical first-launch edition and be part of the series from the start.
Hardback Founding Supporter
Gold £45 ($60.38)
Join the launch as a Gold Founding Supporter.You’ll receive:
a hardback founding supporter edition
early supporter access
and your name listed in the back of Book One: The Alchemist’s Hotel in the dedicated Founding Backers section
For readers who want the premium first-launch edition and a more collectible way to join the beginning of the series.
About the author
Simon McCoy lived for decades on the edge of two worlds — one visible, one hidden.This series follows the road that life took: the survival, the ambition, the illusion, the strain, the collapse, and the reckoning that follows. It is not written to glamorise what happened. It is written to record it honestly, with enough distance to see the shape of it clearly.
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Why read it?
Because most stories stop too early.They show the rise. They show the risk. They show the reward.This one stays through the cost. Through the strain. Through the moments that mattered. Through the slow understanding that walking away may be the only thing left to do. If you’re looking for mythology, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a grounded, reflective true-crime memoir series that follows decisions and consequences across decades, this is where it begins.
Timeline
This campaign supports the launch of the first stage of the series.Finalise and release Book One – The Alchemist’s Hotel
Roll out Book Two – Smoke & Mirrors behind it
Use campaign support to fund publicity, distribution, and audience-building for the first phase of The Bolivian Files
You can keep your more detailed production and fulfilment dates elsewhere in the page or under the rewards.
Shipping
We’ll be shipping from the UK and U.S
Shipping will be charged by region at checkout for physical editions
Digital editions require no shipping
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Risks & Challenges
This series is being launched independently, which gives it its freedom — but also means we are responsible for getting every part of the launch right. The campaign funds the first stage of the series properly: publicity, distribution, production support, and the work required to reach readers directly.
The main risks are the usual ones that come with independent publishing: scheduling, production timelines, fulfilment, and the challenge of building audience without the support of a traditional publishing machine. We are deliberately keeping the early launch focused and manageable, starting with the first two books and building from there.
This is not a campaign built on hype. It is built on a defined series, a clear launch strategy, and a direct relationship between writer and reader. If anything changes, backers will be told directly and clearly.
One-line tier comparison block
Bronze — Digital founding supporter edition
Silver — Paperback founding supporter edition
Gold — Hardback founding supporter edition
All paid tiers include early supporter access and your name listed in the back of Book One: The Alchemist’s Hotel in the dedicated Founding Backers section.
