Jules Told Me

Travels from heart and home by a Rough Guide author

by Jules Told Me

How to get your new book noticed and reviewed

It’s easier than it’s ever been to write a book and get it published. First, you write a book. And then second, you publish it on Amazon or another platform of your choice, with a minimal amount of formatting work and couple of clicks. It’s that easy. Even I did it, with Takoradi to the stars (via Huddersfield).

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by Jules Told Me

Travel writers – scourge of the planet?

On Friday 24 May, a record number of flights took to the skies over the UK – more than 9,000 planes in the air in 24 hours (the same day, incidentally, that schoolchildren around the world staged their latest climate strike). That won’t be the last record broken. But it might be the one that forces you to have a serious conversation with yourself as a traveller or, like me, a travel writer.

by Jules Told Me

Takoradi to the stars – paperback out now!

I’m delighted to announce that my book Takoradi to the stars (via Huddersfield) is now also available as a paperback from Amazon.

by Jules Told Me

The truth about travel writing and book sales

51, 10 and 55. Remember those three numbers, because I’m about to tell you the truth about travel writing and book sales.

by Jules Told Me

Not smooth at all – how I wrote the Rough Guide to Sicily

I learned a valuable lesson while writing the Rough Guide to Sicily, which is that: as a foreigner in Sicily, you are Always Wrong and Always Entertaining.

by Jules Told Me

How to launch an e-book – we’re going to need a lot more white wine

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I got roped in by my publisher to help with launching Rough Guides as a travel guidebook series in America. I say ‘roped in’. I mean ‘flown to New York, put up in a swanky hotel and asked to drink white wine with beautiful people’.

by Jules Told Me

So you want to be a travel writer?

The thing with the job of travel-writing is the number of people who want to do it. I am the expert, it seems – by virtue of being an actual travel writer – and therefore must be in possession of knowledge which can help others become actual travel writers.

by Jules Told Me

Travel writers – born or made?

On the birth certificate of Stan Laurel – long before he ever met Hardy – his father’s occupation was listed as ‘comedian’. Actress and singer Liza Minnelli’s mum? Actress and singer Judy Garland. And so on. My father travelled the world as a teacher and educator, and though I’m British I was born in West Africa. Oh, and I turned out to be a travel writer. What are you going to do?

by Jules Told Me

Travel guidebooks and how to use them

Travel guidebooks are useful, insightful, helpful and informative – but they can also be infuriating, misleading, out of date and sometimes just plain wrong. I should know, I write them. So here’s an insider’s view on how to get the most out of your travel guide.

by Jules Told Me

More puppies, less explicit content – or how to take your book straight to #1

Search on Amazon – All Departments for ‘Takoradi’ and I sit proudly at #1, there not being a lot of products in the world with Takoradi in the title (though, at 381, probably more than you think).

by Jules Told Me

How to sell more books than Bill Bryson

You have to jump through all sorts of hoops to publish a book with Kindle Direct Publishing, but in the end it’s fairly straightforward and there are lots of tools to help you promote your book and keep track of its progress. But with a brand new book, there’s not a whole lot they can tell you straight away.

by Jules Told Me

Takoradi to the stars (via Huddersfield)

I am thrilled to say that my new ebook has been published!It’s been a long time coming (thirty years in fact…), but my travel-writing days are now in print and will, I hope, inspire others to take a first step on whatever journey they choose in life.

by Jules Told Me

Six things you should never travel without

What would you never leave home without? Here’s my list – and best of all, they don’t cost a penny.

by Jules Told Me

How to come up with a travel book title

For most of my travel-writing career, coming up with a book title wasn’t an issue. Here’s how it usually went.

Me: I’ve finished that book you sent me to write, on Sicily.

Rough Guide Editor: Great, thanks, we’ll call it The Rough Guide to Sicily.

by Jules Told Me

Writing the right kind of travel book

There is a certain amount of snobbery attached to travel writing, especially applied to those of us at the bus-timetable-and-opening-hours end of the business. In fact, writing guidebooks is somehow regarded as Not Proper Travel Writing.

by Jules Told Me

Travel-blogging – 6 things I’ve learned so far

Here are the 6 things I’ve discovered about travel-blogging so far – excluding the fact that no one – seriously, no one? – calls it trogging.

by Jules Told Me

Off the beaten track, and other travels in Cliché Land

There is a land, far, far away, where travel writers spend more time than they should. Its siren call lures travelling hacks to an oasis where mere everyday words are not enough to describe the awesome wonders that confront them.

by Jules Told Me

Not coffee spoons – measuring out my life in Rough Guides

I measure out my life in Rough Guides. Here’s how it happened, with some travel tips along the way.

by Jules Told Me

A land of contrasts – travel clichés we love to hate

Feel free to play ‘Travel Writer Bingo’ next time you read a travel feature, and see how many of the following crimes against clear, inspiring writing you can spot.

by Jules Told Me

How to be a travel writer

Here, for what they’re worth, are some of my experiences, tips and suggestions after 30 years as a travel writer. The rest is up to you.