I’m in the middle of finishing a guidebook update now. There’s this tricky business of writing for your reader (who uses the book) vs. writing for your editor (who may hire you again).

If you think too much of impressing your editor, you can start making goofy choices–including a restaurant listing because the review you wrote was clever, and not because the food was great, for instance. Or doing slash-and-burn cutting to meet your deadline, instead of pruning words out , so you don’t lose coverage of a cool little village.

And, I’ll be honest, it’s my editors who most often dole out the compliments. As for the readers, I seldom hear from them–it’s like throwing the book into space.

Sooo, this is all leading up to an absolutely wonderful email I received yesterday. And just the day before, I’d been bemoaning how my guidebooks for Moon don’t sell much, and are a bit too much of a labor of love. This email makes it all worth it:

Zora – I just wanted to say thanks for writing the Moon Handbook on Santa Fe, Taos & Albuquerque. It was my Bible during our trip to Santa Fe and Taos. I liked your style of writing like when you described the hippies in “recent history” as those who “fantasized about getting back to the land but had no clue how to do it.”

I don’t always follow guide books to the ‘t’ but your recommendations were so good there didn’t seem to be a reason to stray from the ease of having you be our guide.

Thanks again, great job! What a wonderful place Santa Fe is…

So if you like a guidebook–tell the author! They will love you forever, guaranteed. Also, doesn’t hurt to write an Amazon review too…