Independent Travel writer

article 1 - travel writer myths

article 2 - how to be a travel writer

article 3 - does it pay

http://www.infoexchange.com/Guidebooks/DoesItPay.html

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Travel Literature

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_writer

Travel literature is literature which records the people, events, sights and feelings of an author who is touring a foreign place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary.

To be called literature the work must have a coherent narrative, or insights and value, beyond a mere logging of dates and events, such as diary or ship's log. Literature that recounts adventure, exploration and conquest is often grouped under travel literature, but it also has its own genre outdoor literature; these genres will often overlap with no definite boundaries. This article focuses on literature that is more akin to tourism.

Types of travelogues

Some travel writers are people who travel and make their livings by writing about it. The Americans William Least Heat-Moon (b. 1940) and Paul Theroux (b. 1941), the Welsh author Jan Morris (b. 1926), and the Englishman Eric Newby (1919–2006), come to mind, although Morris is also known as an historian and Theroux as a novelist.

There is a point, too, where travel literature interesects with essay writing, as in V. S. Naipaul's India: A Wounded Civilization (1977), where a trip becomes the occasion for extended observations on a nation and people. Rebecca West's (1892–1983) work on Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941) is another example.

Travel and nature writing merge in many of the works of Sally Carrighar (1895–1985), Ivan T. Sanderson (1911–1973), and Gerald Durrell (1925–1995). These authors are naturalists who write to support their great passion. Both Durrell and Sanderson can be quite funny. Charles Darwin (1809–1882) wrote his famous account of the journey of HMS Beagle at the intersection of science, natural history and travel.

Literary travel writing also occurs when an author, famous in another field, travels and writes about his or her experiences. Examples of such writers are Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), Charles Dickens (1812–1870), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930), Rebecca West (1892–1983), John Steinbeck (1902–1968), and Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966).

We might also include fictional travelogues such as the mythical journey in Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th cent. BCE), or the allegorical journeys of Dante's Divine Comedy (1321), Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726), or Voltaire's Candide (1759).

Travel writing is also available online. Unlike published works, online travel journals, or travelogues, are often written on the go with frequent updates.

Travel Guides

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_book

A guide book is a book for tourists or travelers that provides details about a geographic location, tourist destination, or itinerary. It is the written equivalent of a tour guide. It will usually include details, such as phone numbers, addresses, prices, and reviews of hotels and other lodgings, restaurants, and activities. Maps of varying detail are often included. Sometimes historical and cultural information is also provided. Different guide books may focus on different aspects of travel, from adventure travel to relaxation, or be aimed at travellers with larger or smaller travel budgets. Guidebooks can have factual problems, information may be out of date (especially for regions undergoing rapid development), the author may have a hidden agenda (for example free meals or rooms in exchange for inclusion in the book or a favorable review -- compare tout). Guide books are generally intended to be used in conjunction with actual travel, although simply enjoying a guide book with no intention of visiting may be referred to as "armchair tourism".

Origins

The first modern tourist's guidebook was separately invented by Karl Baedeker in Germany (1835) and by John Murray III in England (1836).1 Baedeker and Murray are responsible for the impersonal, objective guide - works prior to this were what would be seen today as a strange combination of factual guidebook and personal sentimental reflection.1 In fact it was Baedeker and Murray who unwittingly helped sharpen and formalize their texts opposites, the personal travelogue, which was freed from the guidebook burden.1 The Baedeker and Murray guidebooks were hugely popular and would have been found with most travelers well into the 19th century. As William Wetmore Story in the 1860's said "Every Englishman abroad carries a Murray for information, and a Byron for sentiment, and finds out by them what he is to know and feel by every step." Eugene Fodor wrote mid-20th century travel guides that introduced English-reading audiences to continental Europe. Arthur Frommer, with his Europe on $5 a Day (1957), introduced readers to options for budget travel in Europe.

Internet guide books

With the advent of the Internet, much of the content traditionally included in paper guide books has also been made available in digital format. Websites such as Tripadvisor and Schmap, as well as traditional guide book incumbents Lonely Planet, Frommers and In Your Pocket City Guides are now offering travel guides for download in a digital format on the Internet. Digital guides have also been formatted for viewing on an Ipod by companies such as Wcities and Rough Guides.

Guide book publishers

This list is a select sample of the full range of english language guide book publishers - either contemporary or historical.