BootsnAll Travel Community

OK, a business-side question for all you travel writers out there. Here's the scenario ...

I've got a book-length travelogue that I've been plugging away at for the last few years, and I feel like it's as done as it ever will be. If I want to publish this thing, then the next "traditional" step would be to (1) look for an agent or publisher, or (2) perhaps self-publish.

Over the course of the (rather discouraging) search for an agent, I came up with a crazy -- perhaps stupid -- idea: Serializing the book into multiple "parts," and publishing on the Web. It would be sort of like a blog, I suppose, except that it would be more polished (and of course all of the events took place a few years back!).

So here are my questions:

First, anyone ever seen anything like this? I have definitely seen people Web-publish entire travelogues, but not in this serial format.

Second, anyone think this is an intriguing idea? In other words, would you read it when you're bored at work? Is this the kind of thing where you'd come back twice a week or three times a week to check out the latest installments? Or is it just sort of "bleah -- another wannabe travel writer and his Web gimmick."

All input is appreciated!

I'm a little confused- is this something people would pay for? Or would they just have to check in from time to time to check out the latest installments?

If it's the later, I really don't see how it's much different from a regular blog, except that the events happened a while ago. If they pay, where would you find people willing to pay for what is essentially a blog if there are so many others out there for free?

I would definitely come back and check in a few times a week if I were interested, just like I do with the blogs that I read.

This could be interesting, jv...what if Bootsnall members make random appearances in it?!

Just kidding of course.

I've started to keep up with some blogs for the tefl logue (to keep myself informed and such) and one of the things that stands out to me is when a blog is regularly updated. I mean, content is pretty important too obviously, but if you have a whole book ready...regular updates would not be a problem.

Keep us posted!

Thanks, guys. Just to clarify, Keppie - it would be free. No subscription fees or anything like that.

And yeah, you're about right. It'd be more or less a blog ... minus the spontaneity, plus a more structured storyline, and published more than a few years too late!

quote:

Originally posted by jv:
And yeah, you're about right. It'd be more or less a blog ... minus the spontaneity, plus a more structured storyline, and published more than a few years too late!

That sounds good! I hope you put the link up when you get it all ready

I've done something very similar to this several times, though your plan sounds much more ambitious/elaborate. ("Structured storyline"? Ish. That sounds like work.)

The blogging phenomenon astounds me. The last thing I want to do while traveling is sit in an internet cafe and write about it. I can certainly understand the types of travel-blogs filled with shorthand entries to keep family and friends updated while on an extended trip, but the folks who do the more ambitious type of blogging just blow my mind. (Then again, I don't take "epic" trips, so simply taking notes while on the road and then writing about it when I get back home is easy.)

So I write travelogue/trip reports when I return. The entries/installments vary from basic travel-related info on a location, to impressions of a place, to little stories or essays of experiences I had. Since it's strictly for my own enjoyment, and that of others hopefully, I write about whatever I want.

I post the entries as a "serial" out of necessity. (I'm too lazy - or busy with other life stuff - to write the whole thing at once, then post it entirely.) In my case specifically, as all the regulars around here know by now, I have been traveling to Mexico a lot lately. Seven trips in the last four years, I think. (Sheesh!) I quasi-pusblish/post the stuff I write on a site frequented by others who share an interest in/affection for Mexico. So I have a "built-in" audience. And yes, it does get read. And yes, when I'm writing a series post-trip, they do check back for installments.

But be warned. Once you've penned such brilliant works as "The Night of a Thousand Ribs", "What Went South, South of the Border" and "The Reluctant Toilet", you too will face the harsh reality of fame.

I currently have a fan base of eight clamoring for my next masterpiece.

I think I know what you mean by serialization, but I am not sure that it is a differentiating concept any more in the travelogue world.

Some people like Erik Trinidad’s The Global Trip and Mom Says I'm Running Away publish every day, which you would obviously be different from. But many people end up with a format that seems to me to be remarkably similar to your “serialization”: they post every so often, in effect dividing their trip into “parts”.

All seem to be contemporaneous with their journey; I can’t think of any that are posterior.

The closest I have seen to your serialization idea is Hector around the world. His website reads like a book, with an introduction and conclusion, and proper chapters on each country in between – very organized! He sent the chapters out to friends and wannabe friends, and also published them on his website - all while he was on his trip, not after.

The few travelogues that have evolved into books that I can remember seem to have a “gimmick”. Honeymoon with my brother, where a groom who was ditched at the altar took his brother instead on the honeymoon and subsequent trip around the world, was about brother love! (I can’t immediately find the travelogue but I am pretty sure it was a travelogue before becoming a book.) Or Kinga Freespirit, where her book was about traveling on a dream and a few pennies (hitchhiking around the world with $600 and a one way ticket!) Elliott Hester was a flight attendant, who used the fame from his first book whose gimmick was travel from the perspective of a flight attendant to publish his second book based on his travelogue.

For question #2, I am not sure. I think people read current travel blogs. I think the good ones establish a readership from a base on a travel site like BootsnAll, Lonely Planet, TravelBlog, TravelPod, plus their friends. Or in the case of Elliott Hester, he was writing a newspaper column. I don’t know how you would promote active readers.

I would read it, so me and Keppie and Kate makes three so far!!!

Good luck.

Thanks for the continued input. Interesting to see your thoughts and suggestions. I’m cautiously encouraged. In fact, I’m even daring to dream that I might once develop a fan base like NTFT’s.

Pepdrug – thanks for all of those links. Some of them I knew (Erik Trinidad’s Global Trip site is a true classic); others, well, now I’m hooked. Another half dozen ways to kill time at the office!

Some of the sites linked above, like Hector’s, are inching toward what I have in mind. But I still have something slightly different in mind. No pictures for example. No day by day accounts. The writing was, like NTFT said, “a lot of work.” Bleh.

Anyway, I’m leaning toward going forward with the project. In fact I’m working on the site right now … will of course post a link once it’s ready to roll. Thanks again for everyone’s input!

I've serialized two travelogues on my blog--one was from the journal of my trans-Africa trip which I discovered among some junk about twenty years later! They make great memoirs for myself, but you'll have to do some promo if you want to build up a readership. It may be a good idea to set up a specific website, so the thing won't get buried among other stuff and remains easy to Google.

Alright. For what it's worth, I'm going forward with the project. The link is in my signature. Thanks again ...

John Scalzi, a SciFi writer I follow, serialized his first novel online. It wasn't published until after some of his other works were picked up, but now it's a real live book. Go here to read John's rationalization behind his approach.

Just reading 'Pigs in the Toilet' (while waiting for photos to upload to Flickr) and laughing out loud!