Thanks man, this is helpful stuff in terms of what to aim for and what themes and exposition to emphasize. The sad thing is that Haiti probably is every bit as broken and suffering as people imagine it to be. Maybe worse. But there is also a LOT more to it than that. Both things need to be emphasized.
re: the article, I didn’t shop it aggressively really. Once Longreads published it I felt it was mission accomplished. But weather.com picked it up for an interview (very brief, clickbait-y stuff unfortunately), and then it was added in the Best American Travel Writing 2019 anthology by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. So I definitely felt like it got a fair distribution, given I didn’t really do that much (I = lazy).
Anyways, I’ll stop hijacking the thread now. I’m really interested in your project, given my near obsession with Mexico. I’ve always said I could easily spend 3 months traveling in Mexico, and continue seeing amazing things the entire time. A major exposition of a lot of the aspects that don’t get enough attention in contemporary Mexico (the patchwork of ancient civilizations that still shines through to this very day) would be awesome. It blows my mind the level of history they have, which in the US has been systematically destroyed.
An editor can help you with vocabulary and diction. I’ve often done nothing but that because the writer is good at everything else but cannot grasp this one thing. And that’s okay! Because they’re good at things that may as well be literal magic for me lol. It’s just beyond me.
An editor can also help you explore and articulate weird takes you never thought to capture. I’ve had a bunch of authors where my work amounted to weekly one hour phone calls about their project just to be the board they bounce stuff off of that knows their story better than they do. They’ll say okay but what if I do this, and I’ll walk them through the various implications that decision would have on the rest of the story.
But no one can hand you your own way of seeing things. Well, they can, but that’s called ghostwriting. I like that you share a compelling and accessible point of view.
You are already doing a bunch of great storytelling stuff, I suspect from your stand-up background. Good use of visceral reactions to evoke emotional context, consistent and subtle setups/payoffs so that we intuitively understand you’re in control of the story and the elements are all working together.
For me, readers need to feel like the author is providing them with a deliberate experience. You are already doing this even if you can’t explain how. You will get a better feel for which aspects you want to lean into, but just wanted to say you can relax if you’re anxious over whether you’re a good storyteller.
If you have not yet heard of this, you may find kinship and inspiration on this podcast.
Well we’ve come a long long way from the clueless OP. This is by far the biggest solo project I’ve ever done.
I am officially done with Honduras and off to Nicaragua. I always had in my mind this would be a huge milestone, since it’s where I had my big adventure, and the impetus for writing the book.
My biggest problem right now is too many words. I’m up to 195k and probably have 40-50k words to go. A reasonable first book is around 75k. 100k is pushing it. Bill Bryson - At Home, the thickest book I could imagine trying to get away with, is 156k words.
I’m already paying a writing coach and a fact checker. I plan to finish the first draft and do the first cut myself. I already cringe at some of the stuff I was writing in the beginning. After that I’m going to approach a travel writer/podcaster who I really like to see if he’s interested in helping me make the tough cuts to trim this thing down.
The story has a good overall arc and no obvious place to split into two books. I’m pretty committed to one book.
Then I have my sister who is an editor for a company that mostly does self-published memoirs. So that works out pretty well.
Because if you give someone a relatively normal-sized book, they thank you. If you give them War & Peace they get pissed at you for putting a burden on them to read the thing.
Also apparently I need to shoot for the $19.99 price point or something. But I’m malleable on that.
Good news everyone! It’s been a 2 year grind, but I’m back with a new first chapter that may not be great, but I can promise it’s infinitely better than the crap I was posting in the beginning of this thread. If anyone’s bored, I’d love any and all feedback.
The context is you’re browsing the travel writing section and Barnes and Noble, and the cover below catches your eye. So you pick up the book and start reading at the first chapter.
My main question is: “Based on the first chapter, is this a book you’d want to read?” I feel like most people on this forum are curious about the world, which is basically the audience I’m shooting for. Bonus points for any Bill Bryson fans.
Also anything else that stood out as funny, interesting, confusing, dragging on, etc. And any comments in general. Feel free to blast away. Thanks!
Not a huge fan of the cover. I can’t really put my finger on what I don’t like about it, but it seems like the kind of cover on a book I’d never spontaneously pick up in the first place. I realize this isn’t particularly useful information.
I think the chapter reads pretty good and it’s an interesting enough teaser. The light tone and autobio style makes me think it’s a book I’d read by the pool in the summer.
My biggest ask of any storyteller is to start with an emotional hook. You have to hook the reader with the visceral experience that foreshadows the rest of the book.
Great job doing this from the opening lines. Also really like how you transition from the opening moment to the rest of the book.
Make sure you get a POD and an e-book version so that the e-book on Amazon/Kindle can get that wonderful graphic showing an instant discount compared to the print copy. That graphic alone moves units!!!
I love the cover but to me it’s missing an anchor element. The cover as is functions as a background but doesn’t have an anchor.
It needs some sort of central element that hooks you into the imagined motion of the image, even if that’s just a visceral feeling compelling the reader to open the first page.
The road is the counter element, and a crude anchor would be to add a car bursting through the foreground from the POV from behind the car.
Or a planet bouncing down the road like a beach ball.
Thanks for the detailed write up! I actually like the way that globe tricycle looks a lot. I’ll think about something as visually appealing/arresting that I could put in there.
But I think it would drive me nuts if it was heading towards the reader. Since the whole idea of the road trip is driving off into the unknown not coming from the unknown. But maybe I just need to get over that.
For the author photo I want to show something with me eating, since food is a big part of the book that isn’t called out on the cover, and looking like a fun guy to have a beer with. Not sure if I pulled that off. That’s me attempting to make a DAYUM face btw.
I like the cover! But having some middle aged guy about to house some large food item as the author photo is unappealing to me. That doesn’t feel like someone who’s writing a well researched book, it feels like someone who’s going to tell me about wild drinking stories and the late night hooker spots in Jaco.
