Customer Reviews

Crafting the Travel Guidebook: How to Write, Publish & Sell Your Travel Book

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Crafting the Travel Guidebook had some good information in it, mainly of the inspirational nature. However, it also had a lot of typos, strange formatting, omitted words, and other errors that made it seem unprofessional. Furthermore, some of the advice in the book - such as writing your own [[...] reviews and sending them to friends in other states to post for you, to drive up your ratings - were borderline unethical. Some tips were repeated over and over again, while other areas were very thin on content.

The good stuff included inspiration about famous travel guides who started out small, a good overview of self publishing, and a good overview of the different types of travel guides that you can write. Overall, what was good was great, but the book would have benefited from better editing and more solid content in several key areas. It was definitely worth reading, but I wish I'd borrowed this book from a library instead of buying it new.

Travel writing in general, and the writing of travel guides in particular, is a very specialized genre for aspiring authors and is perhaps one of the most complicated areas in which to seek publication. Therefore it is especially satisfying to read travel writing expert Barbara Hudgins' practical, real-world, comprehensive compendium of sound advice and information on writing guidebooks, directories, travelogues, travel memoirs, in "Crafting The Travel Guidebook: How To Write, Publishing & Sell Your Travel Book". In addition to providing a wealth of useable information on traditional publishing, self-publishing, POD publishing, and subsidy publishing as it applies to travel oriented books, there are invaluable travel writing tips, advice on writing the book proposal, key information concerning publicity and promotion, and a list of publishers who specialize in producing travel books. More specifically to the advantage of the novice author seeking to write a travel guide or a travelogue is what "Crafting The Travel Guidebook" has to offer about finding a category to write about, creating a format, constructing the framework of the guidebook, finding an audience, and finding a 'voice' that will stand out from all the other travel books in competition for the traveler's attention. Simply indispensable reading for any beginning travel author, whether they are writing annotated directories, road guides, memoirs, outdoor recreation guides, destination and regional guidebooks, restaurant and winter guides, specialized audience guides, luxury or budget travel guides, guidebooks for the business traveler, or for the vacationer, "Crafting The Travel Guidebook" is also very highly recommended to seasoned travel journalists seeking to compile their magazine or newspaper travel columns into a travel book.

Award-winning travel author and newspaper columnist Barbara Hudgins has
produced a road map for fledging travel writers in her new book, 'Crafting the Travel Guide Book."
Succinct and savvy in style, HUDGINS' book furnishes the framework for the would-be travel author.
She helps the writer define concept, category and audience, and builds on basic topics such as organization, structure and general format.
Extremely well-organized , this book covers such details as "front matter"(as Hudgins terms them)---namely titles, sub-titles, copyright,
foreward, acknowledgments and table of contents.
The section on "What Goes In and What Stays Out" includes definitions of plagarism, copyright and "second-hand prose, or re-told stories from a wire service or other source.
Clear and concise, Hudgins' book takes the reader on a tour of the byways and highways of travel writing ---and makes it an easy ride.

I wish this book existed 10 years ago, before I wrote my first outdoor recreation guidebook. It would have made the process much easier. Barbara Hudgins covers all the details I had to discover by trial and error. Even after publishing 14 guidebooks, I learned some useful information.

If I was new to this world of writing and/or publishing a travel book or a guidebook, this volume would have catapulted me into the fast lane. It gives you the inside scoop on the nuances of the travel book writing and publishing industry and leads you through all the choices and decisions you have to make both before leaping into the foray and as you wander down the path. This comprehensive guide should be read by anyone contemplating writing any sort of travel book or guidebook. I have already recommended it to a colleague who is thinking of becoming an author.

Sue Freeman, author & publisher, Footprint Press, www.footprintpress.com

I wish I'd had this book when I first got started! I read Barbara Hudgin's book with glee. I could hear her telling me (very nicely and with a good bit of humor) how to avoid all the mistakes I made when I authored and self-published my first travel guide book. As I continued to read, I happily discovered I had incorporated some of the best practices suggested by Barbara. And, I am now able to use lots of the very sage and practice advice she gives as my initial guidebook expands into new territories. I just published my 2nd and 3rd books and was able to take advantage of quite a few of the many hints and tips provided by Barbara in her wonderful book. Thank you Barbara! Amy Lamperti, Publisher, The Playground Guide

This is the kind of book I will refer to over and over. It tells you exactly how to write a travel book, while inspiring you to action at the same time. When I say exactly, I mean the book covers literally everything you need to know.
* Creating a concept and finding an audience
* Ideas for different ranges of scope and focus
* Formatting and use of icons
* Developing an angle and a style
* How to research a travel book
* What to include, what to leave out
* Use of photographs, maps, and illustrations
* Different approaches to getting published as a travel writer
* A list of publishers who focus on travel writing

Crafting the Travel Guidebook is nearly 300 pages of solid information. I will keep this book on my shelves, alongside my other essential writing resources.

The previous five, all five star, reviews are dead on. Crafting the Travel Guidebook is an indispensable resource for anyone wishing to or already writing in the ever-expanding, increasingly popular travel guidebook field. Crafting the Travel Guidebook was pure joy to read. It is not the same old outdated information rehashed yet again. The information is detailed yet concise. Norman Goldman's review (either above or below, just find it and read it) gives an excellent breakdown of the book and its benefits to you, the writer. I only want to add that Hudgins, to her great credit, unlike many journalists and authors, really knows what she is talking about in the self-publishing field and the differences between self, vanity, subsidiary, and POD publishing. Many are the unwary authors that did not know the difference and suffered the consequences. If the book has a drawback, it is that the reader will come up with ideas for many new books as they read along. Having a legitimate excuse to research and travel to an exciting new place is some drawback, huh? Bravo, Barbara Hudgins, as C.S. Potter so aptly wrote.

My husband and I have been traveling for over forty years and we keep a journal of the places we have visited, from a cruise through the Panama Canal, renting a villa in Italy with friends, various hiking trips in Europe, and a three week visit to New Zealand, as well as drinking our way through Napa and Sonoma several times.

I've considered combining my journals into a book, but had no idea how to begin. When I discovered Crafting the Travel Guidebook, I knew I had found the tools to make that a reality. Honing in on a concept, figuring out your format and your parameters, finding a voice and constructing chapters that follow one another in a logical way--it makes everything so much easier.

There is also information on the construction of a book, particularly a travel book---from writing the disclaimer on the copyright page to listing what goes into the appendix. I also liked the information on how to approach a publisher and the rundown on the variety of self-publishers and subsidy publishers. All in all, a great buy for anyone who even comtemplates the writing of a travel book.

A friend loaned a their copy of this very thorough and very helpful book. While I probably will not ever write a travel book, I found that every chapter in this well-researched book full of information and suggestions that can help writers navigate the waters in this changing publishing world. The information about producing and publishing the nonfiction book gives every writer a leg up on the process. Bravo, Barbara Hudgins.

I would have given this 3 stars as it is actually not a bad guide, but the vast majority of the reviews for it here are fake. Normal people don't write like these reviews and the author herself talks about writing up your own reviews for your books and sending to friends to have them publish so your book gets a higher ranking. I'm afraid that is what is happening here and I find it a bit unethical. If you can't trust the author to not manipulate ratings, then I can't feel good about recommending the book.