BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi all

I'm in the process of writing a book about a nine-month cycle tour of Europe I completed last year. I'm 20,000 words in and am looking for people willing to read it and give me some constructive feedback, to help me progress further with the manuscript.

I don't necessarily want a writer's/editor's perspective on it, although that would be welcomed also, just some opinions from people who might be interested in reading a book about solo travels.

I hope I'm not breaking a forum protocol by asking this! I am new here but did have a look at the rules!

Cheers

Percy

Ok, so how do we read it?

Hi Percy,

do you have an agreement to publish your book anywhere? If not, you might be doing a lot of work, and people might be giving you a lot of honest feedback for nothing?

Best of luck with it, 20K of words is a lot.

Have you had anything published in magazines yet? This is my area of interest, travel writing for niche areas can be a lot easier to get into than general travel writing, even if it is on a bike!

Good luck

Hi Spiralout/Brendiver

In response:

--Ok, so how do we read it?--

Well, if you are interested, I'd email it to you and we would communicate via email from there. I'd like to know what sort of books/travel your interested in also, just so I know where my feedback's coming from, so to speak.

--Do you have an agreement to publish your book anywhere? If not, you might be doing a lot of work, and people might be giving you a lot of honest feedback for nothing?--

I don't - I will be approaching agents/publishers when I have at least this first section in a form I am happy with, and have written a synopsis and all that. Yes of course it's potentially a lot of work for nothing but there you go - I'm prepared to take the risk. With the other option being give up before I've even tried, I'll take this one.

I have had stuff in magazines and that was niche - canoeing - but I'm aiming a bit 'higher' with this one.

Cheers

Percy

Percy,

Tell you what, in order for me to be able to get back to you sooner, why don't you email me a couple of chunks, say the beginning and a section you like/think is funny/not sure about. I'll do a mini review, get back to you right away with my immediate thoughts and we can go from there. If you are amenable to this let me know and I will PM you my email address.

Sounds like a good plan Spiralout - thanks. Let's go for it.

When you query a non-fiction book, there are usually some very specific requirements for what to send. I don't think you ever just send them the manuscript for non-fiction. Usually, you send a query letter first and then, if they bite, you send your proposal which will include many things, including your bio, three sample chapters, market analysis, etc. This book on writing proposals might be very useful. There are other books like it too.

It will help you get a package together that will be attractive to publishers to make sure you're not doing lots of work for nothing.

Good luck!