This week we’re joined by travel writer David Tucker, who took his family on an adventure through Asia. This book isn’t a straight-forward travel book, it also ventures over the line with elements of memoir to delve into David’s experience of being a dad, and to inspire others to task risks and do more with their lives.
This dual writing niche approach is something I’ve been using in my Cambodia Travel Guide. When I first started writing, it was a traditional destination guide, but I wanted to bring something new and different than the travel guides already available. I began to include narratives comparing my experience of solo backpacking around Asia in 1996, and returning more than two decades later as a flash-packing baby boomer. By focusing on this angle I’ve narrowed my niche audience down to baby boomers, but have widened the appeal to travelers who are looking for inspiration as well as information from their travel guides.
If this hybrid writing approach piques your interest, you can learn more about defining your travel guide theme and angle in this article. Now let’s find out how David approached his writing, and self-published his book. ~~ Jay
Author Interview: David Tucker
How would you describe the type of books/genre you write?
My book is a story about a Dad who has a healthy sense of his own mortality and a passion for adventure. He decides to take his young family through Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Cambodia. He loves it, but sometimes his family see things very differently. Whilst this is a story about independent travelling with a family through Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Cambodia, it is also about family life and being a Dad.
What motivated you to start writing?
I once met a girl at a festival. We swapped addresses and wrote to each other and we fell in love. I was so happy! When she finally met me, she was so disappointed by my looks that, at the end of that day, I was told our love was going nowhere. Still, she said my letters touched her heart and she loved my writing, just not me in person – ouch! I realised, then, that I could put words together to make sentences that people liked to read.
Tell us the journey you went on to get your books published (e.g. direct on your website, self-published, assisted-publishing, traditional publisher)
A few years ago I wrote a love story based in India. I sent it to agents and whilst I got some great feedback, the common theme was that I could not get published unless I was already published, famous or notorious. It knocked my confidence and so I decided to leave that story and start again, but this time I would self-publish. Now I have self-published, I intend to revisit my Indian love story and publish that also.
What publishing elements do you most enjoy and most like to avoid, and why? (e.g. design, marketing, formatting etc.)
I am quite a creative person and so I enjoyed working with the designers for the travel maps and the front cover. However, the marketing is a bit of a discipline because there is no guarantee of any sales at the end of that effort. I also am a bit frightened of promoting my book and contacting journalists because I fear rejection!
With the hindsight of being a published author, anything you would have done differently?
I would definitely have hired a copy editor. Before I published, I asked a few friends to read it with the purpose of getting them to identify any grammatical or factual howlers. Whilst they told me that they loved the story, they missed nearly all the mistakes. Next time around, I will use my friends to see if the story is any good and then hire a copy editor to review for typos, grammar and facts.
The end result of this mistake was that I published a book with numerous typos and grammar errors.
What tips or advice would you give an aspiring indie author who is looking to self-publish?
If you feel that you have a story to tell and you believe people will like the way you say it then go for it!. As a writer who loves to travel, one thing that is universal across all nationalities is the pleasure given and received through storytelling. If you can contribute to that pleasure then keep going and get your story published.
What marketing or promotional tools or techniques do you use to reach your readers?
I read somewhere that ‘local newspapers love local authors’ and my experience is that this advice is very true. My local newspaper gave me a double paged colour spread about my book and it has definitely raised my profile in the locality. I think it is definitely worth giving time to ‘realistic’ media opportunities like the local newspaper. The key marketing battle I am fighting now is selling my book to people who do not know me. I have found that blogging and sending links through social media to my blogs through interest groups has helped to raise my profile, also running Amazon advertising campaigns is becoming fruitful.
What impact do you want your books to have on your readers?
I want my stories to inspire people to take more risks and do more with their lives. I also want to make people laugh.
What’s your book’s elevator pitch or key selling points?
After his Dad died, David saw the importance of living life to the full. He decided to take my family to Asia for an adventure because I loved the place. Sometimes, though, his family saw things differently.
What’s next on your writing journey?
I am currently writing a sequel to my book based on adventures in Greece, Albania and Israel. I am hoping to have this published sometime next year. I also want to publish my love story based in India and also plan to get that published next year.
Find out how @DavidTucker74 combined elements of a destination guide and #travelmemoir to write and #selfpublish his book Of Sweat and other Joys, in this month's #authorinterview. Click To Tweet
About the Author
David was wired for travel at an event run by his local church in Australia when he was nine years old. The Reverend was running a slide show one evening about his recent trip to the Holy Land and Europe, and for a boy who only knew the bush and sandstone canyons in the Blue Mountains, to see places from the bible in full technicolour opened his eyes to a beautiful and diverse world. His passion for travel started at this point.
Soon after, he moved from Australia to the UK where he grew up, went to University, formed bands, had a job as a life model and met his wife Zoe at a cheap vodka night. It was her who got him organised, and they travelled the world together and spent many months in Asia and seven years living in Australia.
Getting married, playing in bands and seeing the world were great adventures, but the greatest adventure is a journey that he is still on – he is a Dad to three children, a husband to Zoe and a follower of Jesus. Of sweat and other joys is his first book and is about taking his young family to one of the loveliest places in the world – Asia.
Website: www.davidtucker.online
Facebook: @davidmarktucker
Twitter @DavidTucker74
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It is a good boost for something novel like writing a book of your trip . The author makes it more easier to do this . Also the questionnaire was more helpful which contained the same doubtful questions that comes to our mind while thinking about to do it.
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