As a guidebook author for Lonely Planet Guidebooks I’m often asked by friends and people I meet to explain how it is a guidebook comes to be made. Taking a page from my friend Chase Jarvis – who’s great blog (www.????) has done wonders to remove the mystery shrouded around commercial photography – I hope to do the same for travel writing.
So stay tuned and look out for an inside peak into my world. You’ll see what happens before I ever step on an airplane, what life is like on the road and what the reality of writing up a manuscript is all about. Sometimes you’ll envy my, sometimes you’ll pity me and more then anything you’ll get to know my world a whole lot better!
As I write this I’m sitting in a departure lounge at the Auckland Airport about to board a flight to LA. This time yesterday I’ll be in California, ready to board another flight to Miami. After spending a short night in a hotel I jump a morning plane to Provo in the Turks & Caicos Islands of the Caribbean. So this is all quite relevant – it’s going out live and happening right now…
So how does it all start???
The process of writing a guidebook – or commonly a portion of a book, starts months before I ever leave home or put pen to paper. As an LP author I’m privy to the publishing schedule so I can see the upcoming titles. As this schedule is updated books will appear on the horizon – inevitably there are books that spark my interest. The first step is to talk to the Commissioning Editor who is in charge of the book. I’ll email them and start a dialog on what the book is all about, what they require and what I can bring to the project. The process goes back and forth a few times and if it is deemed that the author and the project are a good match – the contracts are drawn up and it’s all systems go!
This is when the real work begins – the preparation phase of a guidebook is anything but glamorous – but invaluable for the final product. This prep can take many forms; most of it is pure research. The internet is a great source of information on destinations – articles from travel websites can be a great insight into what is happening in a destination, new trends or recent developments. Google Alerts are also a great resource – they funnel news and blog stories that have key words of your choosing. For example I’ve been able to read nearly every news story from a multitude of sources about the Turks & Caicos Islands – all delivered to my inbox.
In addition to the web – there is pure book research. I start by reading all of the competitor’s books to see what they’ve been up to and how to best the competitions’ books on the destinations. I also read books by notable authors from the place and just about anything else I can find – I’ve spent more time reading Conde Nest Traveller then I ever thought I would for this gig that’s for sure!
With all of that research in mind it’s time to make a plan. By getting a good idea of what is hot right now, what is old news and what might be cool soon I can start to plan my time. Time is always limited on the ground – there are miles to cover and knowing what is the plan for the next day is a HUGE help.
All that’s left to do is to do the normal prep work that the average traveller does before leaving home – that might include getting shots, getting one last haircut and a new button-down to try for that business class upgrade. But one thing to remember is that although I’m headed to supremely spectacular holiday destination – I am not there for a holiday. So I have a laptop in tow, a GPS to help with mapping, a digital camera to document everything, blank DVD’s to back up files, a flash drive for critical backups, hard copies of maps to update, the previous edition to help me get around, copies of other relevant materials, a compass to keep me from getting lost and a notebook that will hold all of my research data and will never leave my pocket till I get home.
So I better run – time to jump on that flight and try and get a few hours sleep. If I can’t there is always more prep work to be done – more articles to read and plans to formulate…
If all this sounds way too tough – don’t feel that bad – it is the Caribbean :)
Cheers
~Scott
So stay tuned and look out for an inside peak into my world. You’ll see what happens before I ever step on an airplane, what life is like on the road and what the reality of writing up a manuscript is all about. Sometimes you’ll envy my, sometimes you’ll pity me and more then anything you’ll get to know my world a whole lot better!
As I write this I’m sitting in a departure lounge at the Auckland Airport about to board a flight to LA. This time yesterday I’ll be in California, ready to board another flight to Miami. After spending a short night in a hotel I jump a morning plane to Provo in the Turks & Caicos Islands of the Caribbean. So this is all quite relevant – it’s going out live and happening right now…
So how does it all start???
The process of writing a guidebook – or commonly a portion of a book, starts months before I ever leave home or put pen to paper. As an LP author I’m privy to the publishing schedule so I can see the upcoming titles. As this schedule is updated books will appear on the horizon – inevitably there are books that spark my interest. The first step is to talk to the Commissioning Editor who is in charge of the book. I’ll email them and start a dialog on what the book is all about, what they require and what I can bring to the project. The process goes back and forth a few times and if it is deemed that the author and the project are a good match – the contracts are drawn up and it’s all systems go!
This is when the real work begins – the preparation phase of a guidebook is anything but glamorous – but invaluable for the final product. This prep can take many forms; most of it is pure research. The internet is a great source of information on destinations – articles from travel websites can be a great insight into what is happening in a destination, new trends or recent developments. Google Alerts are also a great resource – they funnel news and blog stories that have key words of your choosing. For example I’ve been able to read nearly every news story from a multitude of sources about the Turks & Caicos Islands – all delivered to my inbox.
In addition to the web – there is pure book research. I start by reading all of the competitor’s books to see what they’ve been up to and how to best the competitions’ books on the destinations. I also read books by notable authors from the place and just about anything else I can find – I’ve spent more time reading Conde Nest Traveller then I ever thought I would for this gig that’s for sure!
With all of that research in mind it’s time to make a plan. By getting a good idea of what is hot right now, what is old news and what might be cool soon I can start to plan my time. Time is always limited on the ground – there are miles to cover and knowing what is the plan for the next day is a HUGE help.
All that’s left to do is to do the normal prep work that the average traveller does before leaving home – that might include getting shots, getting one last haircut and a new button-down to try for that business class upgrade. But one thing to remember is that although I’m headed to supremely spectacular holiday destination – I am not there for a holiday. So I have a laptop in tow, a GPS to help with mapping, a digital camera to document everything, blank DVD’s to back up files, a flash drive for critical backups, hard copies of maps to update, the previous edition to help me get around, copies of other relevant materials, a compass to keep me from getting lost and a notebook that will hold all of my research data and will never leave my pocket till I get home.
So I better run – time to jump on that flight and try and get a few hours sleep. If I can’t there is always more prep work to be done – more articles to read and plans to formulate…
If all this sounds way too tough – don’t feel that bad – it is the Caribbean :)
Cheers
~Scott
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