Writing about sailing adventures - and the stuff learned?!

[tv195]

Thanks for all this great advice!
To give you some more background and to answer ‘Steady Hands’ questions- our boat is a good old plastic classic, a Columbia MkII from 1973. We picked her up in Portland Oregon in 2008, sailed her on the Columbia and Snake rivers, and then trucked her down to California (long story) where we fixed her up and outfitted her for our cruising adventure.

We left San Francisco in 2013, sailed along the Mexican Coast by ourselves – we missed the Baja Ha-ha cruisers rally by a few days – made new friends and really enjoyed the cruising life. So we decided to go for it and sailed west towards French Polynesia in the spring of 2014. . . we made it but due to weather (5 days of dead calm, headwinds in the doldrums) and our rather slow sailing speed it took us 42 days to see land again. But then we got to explore the stunning Marquesas, Tuamotus, Society Islands, etc . . . so it was well worth it.

Also I should have been more specific in my post, I have written most of the content already and now I am editing it, adding pictures, drawings etc. –so I am pretty much already committed.

I was probably rather naive when it came to writing the book, and I didn’t think too much about target audience, sub-market, printing costs, etc. Looking at it now, I am describing how we got an old boat for 20k, fixed it up by doing most of the work ourselves, and then sailed it across the Pacific. So I think it would be interesting for anyone on a budget who plans/dreams to go cruising.

Reading your comments about the long and expensive process of finding a publisher, it seems that going with a kindle book might be the best way – thanks for that! Well and then it would be nice to get a few printed books, mostly to give them away as bvisailing32 said –also there will be quite some colour images in the book so printing might be too expensive anyway to make a profit :-)

And we have a webpage, so yes advertising the book there is a great idea – and I’ll see if we can get some friends to review it.

Following buzzstar’s suggestion, I checked and some of the magazines like Good Old Boat are printing book reviews - so that’s maybe another way to advertise, well if one can convince the editor to read the book.


Finally, yes it was a lot of fun to write the book, re-living all the memories, researching all the cruising topics and gathering contributions from experts. So even if I don’t sell a single copy it was a worthwhile experience.

[VirtualVagabond]

We completed a circum last year and kept a blog going for family and friends. I was surprised at how many people followed it and enjoyed getting emails out of the blue from total strangers. I've had plenty say "You should write a book" and as flattering as that is, it would most likely be vanity publishing. What I found is that it is not hard to make a bit of pocket money flicking articles off to magazines. I enjoyed writing occasionally for Good Old Boat, Ocean Navigator, and Cruising Helmsman who were helpful and supportive.
On our travels we became good friends with a few folk who have made their writing a serious endeavour and make a living out of it. David and Marcie supply a continuous stream of good articles and blog here https://justalittlefurther.com, and Roger, a member here who has converted a ketch into a schooner (brigantine?) HOME would be good examples.
Of course Bob Bitchin started his own magazines and wrote a couple of books we enjoyed and found motivating before we went cruising.
One tip... avoid the 'it's all about me' syndrome that has invaded our culture. It's not! It's all about your readers and the enjoyment your sailing experiences bring to them.
And lastly, www.windwanderer.weebly.com if you're interested. If nothing else, our site has some wonderful quotes!
Vic

[BandB]

Wifey B: Will it have mystery, sex and violence?

That's what is needed for mass market as the cruising market is limited. Also, Amazon limits you on the sex part.

[nhschneider]

If you're a particularly skilled writer or have unique experiences then I encourage you to pursue writing a book. However, there are quite a few very well written blogs out there - some of them have remarkably detailed content - and it might be worthwhile to read some to see if your writing skills are superior or your content more diverse and/or relevant. Some cruisers monetize their web sites and there's nothing wrong with that. It depends on what your motivation is.

Some of my favorite blogs:
sailingtotem.com
maiaaboard.blogspot.com
svdelos.com
hackingfamily.com

There are thousands of others.

Good luck, fair winds and calm seas.

[daga]

May I suggest that, if you have a website, add it to your Cruisers Forum profile details. At least it will show up when someone queries your profile.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by sailorman7225

I used pubgraphics: I was very pleased with them and will use them again. The first link is to the job they did for me; the second link is to their homepage. Have fun with your project.


https://www.pubgraphicsdirect.com/books/safe-in-harbor/


https://www.pubgraphicsdirect.com/

Looks interesting but have you sold enough to make it worthwhile?

[BandB]

The question is why are you writing? If it's to make some money, you'd likely be better off being a Walmart greeter for those hours, but I doubt it is that. So, assuming I'm right and it's the pleasure of writing perhaps combined with sharing the story with a few who might enjoy it, then it's either Kindle or Blogs. We have several books we've written, none we've published. We enjoy capturing the moments, the emotions, as life goes on.

[toddster8]

As far as running off a few bound copies at minimal cost, I think there is some facility for doing that within Apples iBooks Author ecosystem. I haven't really kept up with it because of the stupid DRM that attempted to keep everything within the "Apple-Only" universe. However, I understand that they've finally given up on that moronic strategy and it now can output content to the rest of the world. It was a beautiful tool but with sort of a dead-end. May be worth revisiting now.

[Mike OReilly]

Bah... there's virtually no money in books for the vast, vast majority of authors. And without a unique hook, or some well established but effective tropes (sex, pirates, sex with pirates...) yet another 'sailing around the world' book ain't gonna sell well.

So yes, definitely do it for your own enjoyment. But do not expect any return on your investment. And yes, go the self-published route. It's almost a no-brainer these days.

As a professional writer I'm convinced traditional book publishers are doing everything they can to put themselves out of business. The value they bring to the table these days is virtually nil (unless you're Oprah, Springsteen, or Obama), but they still demand the lion's share of the royalties. Since the average author has to do almost all the work and foot much of the costs now anyway, self-publishing is a far better economic deal.

Final suggestion; if you're just doing this for self and friend gratification, then write a blog. Cheaper, easier, and as widely distributed as an Amazon book with a lot less hassle.

[VirtualVagabond]

I think Mark J nailed it, as he usually does.
When he completed his circum he said "I'm going to be the first one to do a circumnavigation and NOT write a book about it..."
Vic

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by tv195

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I was probably rather naive when it came to writing the book, and I didn’t think too much about target audience, sub-market, printing costs, etc. Looking at it now, I am describing how we got an old boat for 20k, fixed it up by doing most of the work ourselves, and then sailed it across the Pacific. So I think it would be interesting for anyone on a budget who plans/dreams to go cruising. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Nice trip, wonderful memories. I wrotre mmy material to, as I told my friends, remember it before I forgot it and every day blurred into the next or last.

As far as this ^^^^ paragraph of yours, think Hal Roth. Same deal.

Do what you think makes sense, but if you want to do a real book, my personal impression is that it is a vanity project. You want eyes on your story, go digital. I'd love to read it.

Good luck.

[maxingout]

I recommend self-publishing in Kindle ebook format through.

Kindle is a great choice because Amazon will help you format your book and they will sell it for you.

I have twelve ebooks unrelated to sailing on Amazon, and it is an easy way to get your stuff out there without great expense.

If you sell lots of ebooks, then paper publishers would possibly be interested in your writing.

It's a low risk, low investment method of testing the waters.

Go for it.

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

I think Mark J nailed it, as he usually does.
When he completed his circum he said "I'm going to be the first one to do a circumnavigation and NOT write a book about it..."
Vic

Over 12,000 posts ain't writing about it?

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

Over 12,000 posts ain't writing about it?

Funny...!
Mark is a counter puncher, comedian, smartarse, master of the one liner, all round hell of a nice guy with a ton of experience, and no doubt a graduate of the Australian college of Lightning Repartè. Not at all surprised by his post count!
Vic

[Julian Alcorso]

A someone new to cruising I have tried to read a few of the 'books' on line and have generally found them so badly written that the great tips and tricks learned by the writers, are lost or so well hidden that it is not worth the effort of uncovering.
My advice, for what it is worth, is to try to publish the 'lessons learned' in a simple website format. You can still make money from this by offering a few free glimpses and then charging a fee for a deeper look.
Good Luck!
I know that if I liked what I saw in the 'freebies' I would certainly subscribe.