‘Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?’ is ‘Selling Well’
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 04.28.08 | 12:11 PM ET
That little nugget is buried near the end of yet another story—this one by Michael Shapiro in the Washington Post—about Thomas Kohnstamm and the controversy surrounding his book “Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?” What “selling well” means in concrete terms, though, isn’t clear. Shapiro writes, “Kohnstamm’s publicist wouldn’t disclose sales figures but says the book has already been reprinted.” Whether the controversy stimulated or possibly depressed sales, then, remains an open question.
An interesting sidebar about guidebook publishers and their policies on free travel accompanies the piece. Fodor’s, Frommer’s, Rough Guides, Moon and Rick Steves all say they allow it if there’s no form of quid pro quo.
Kohnstamm will enter the fray again tomorrow, sitting for an online chat at the Post at 12 p.m. Note: That link now goes to a transcript.
Related on World Hum:
* Thomas Kohnstamm’s Lonely Planet: The Firestorm Around ‘Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?’
* ‘The Worst Guidebook Writer Ever’?
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
Ling 04.29.08 | 9:28 AM ET
Depressed book sales? C’mon. No one had even heard about the book before the flap. But at least it proves one thing. There’s a new niche - navel gazing travel writers writing books about their travel writing…
Michael Yessis 04.29.08 | 1:27 PM ET
Sure, Ling, it’s likely that the publicity/controversy helped sales. And not to get too Rumsfeldian, but given what we know, and what we don’t know, it’s not for certain.
TambourineMan 04.29.08 | 4:11 PM ET
As usual, I give this book a week before it pops up on ebay for 50-cents, free shipping included.