Back to Back Book Deals: Get Your Stories & Tips In!

I'm thrilled to announce that I’m getting back to back book deals with Travelers’ Tales. Humor books are working and demand calls for doing them sooner rather than later. One will release Fall ’05 and the next Spring ’06. But in book time, that means that one is due yesterday and the next is due tomorrow. Or just about. So spread the word like wildfire and submit your most outrageous and bizarre stories and tips.

Yep, the first one I’m going to annouce is a tip book. Not only does this book have the chance at being the most laughable book we’ve done yet, but you just wait till I release my marketing ideas. Oh, baby.

Cheap Stingy Bastards
How to Make the Most of a Thin Wallet While Traveling the World

Are you someone who will do just about anything to get something free? Are you embarrassed to travel with your dad because he won’t accept the first three rooms that a hotel offers? What do you do when there’s a small curly hair in your salad? If you get your lunch from pilfering room service remains, step right up. This will be an advice book for how, where, and when you can travel on the cheap–how to turn every last dollar, euro, peso, ruble, rupee, shekel and baht into more days on the road. Each chapter will be peppered with the first hand quotes from tightwads with a story to tell and wisdom to impart.

I’m collecting small quotes and anecdotes (from 75 to 250 words) about the obnoxious, strange, and creative things you’ve done while trying to stretch your travel budget. They don’t have to be successful–stories of abject failure can be instructive too. General themes will include shelter, transportation, food, traveling with other cheapskates, finding ridiculously cheap gifts that make you look generous, travel gear, what to wear, romance for tightwads on the road. But don’t let that limit you. While I will be writing practical advice, I want the zaniest stuff to come from you.

In the spirit of thrift, the authors of any quotes that get used in the book will receive no money whatsoever but WILL get, besides being published, a free copy of Cheap Stingy Bastards AND 50% off all Travelers’ Tales titles for life. The first 25 submissions will also receive a free copy of the Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel by Joel L. Widzer.To turn in your submission, please email your name, address, and phone number to jen at jenleo dot com

Deadline is December 15, 2004 unless I let you know about an extension.

The Next Women’s Humor Book

You asked for it, so we’re giving it to you — another underwear title!
If you happened to miss the post “The Question Everyone is Asking…” the word on the street is that fans want another women’s travel humor book. And they won’t take anything less than a third underwear title! Due to this feedback and demand from the recent tour, I’ll be getting right back to work on book three. I know, I know, you want to know what the title is going to be. Well, hold on to your hats and glasses!

The Thong Also Rises

This is the lead title and the one that is cracking us up over here at Travelers’ Tales. What does this mean? It means you need to GET WRITING! We need stories. Crazy stories. I want to see misadventures that are more outrageous than the last two books. Surely, you’ve encountered the truly bizarre. No whiners, just damn hilarious, TRUE stories, please.

Here’s the thing, we need them fast. Real fast if we want to get the book out next year. I’m going to put the deadline at December 15, but I’ll be able to let you know in a month if there will be an extension on that. The stories that come in sooner have a better chance. Especially if they are not quite perfect.

Travelers’ Tales submission guidelines can be found on their website. To add to that, I prefer humor stories to be shorter rather than longer. Preferably under 2000 words. We pay $100 for a story with a copy of the book and offer you 50% off all TT titles for life. While it might look like we don’t have a format, we like them to be first person, no journal entires (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3) . Most formatting that would break up the story into several segments doesn’t usually work, though we do take submissions with elipses in them. If you have a question about formatting, just ask me. But do not query your story ideas, just turn them in to submit@travelerstales.com or by sending hardcopy to:

Travelers’ Tales
ATTN: women’s humor
330 Townsend Street, Suite 208
San Francisco, CA 94107

Ok, lets get laughing! Unfortunately, this book is only open to women.