So many minor guidebooks out there - tax advantage?

I like where you are going with this! :D
I don't know the tax answers, but I do know some folks probably do want to make a run at the minor leagues in hopes of scaling up? Others just love to travel and eventually build up enough knowledge & experience that they hope to share it. My feeling is that in the 21st century, with the rise of "influencers" on social media, some of the more opportunistic folks will focus on that rather than traditional guidebooks. Those folks hope to get their stuff paid for in advance - travel, hotels, food, etc. - and likely skip the tax write-offs except for equipment or home office?

I must live a sheltered life. I don't remember seeing any of these so called "One-off" travel guides. I know there are people who have extensive travel blogs, some with extensive photos. I always viewed them as a part of the "vanity" movement or self interest. Rarely pay any attention to them. If you have a business of selling travel guides then your research trips would have some tax deductibility .

Tom, the influencer culture thing is interesting. I definitely see this a lot in video travel guides.

Much to my annoyance of course. If I search YouTube for any given city in Europe and then the phrased tourism, the majority of the results I get are influencer types (or at least influencer style) video guides. Nearly always the person has never been to that city before, knows nothing particularly special or interesting about that city, takes the viewer to the top two or three suggestions of a major guide book with no particular insight or helpful information, and more than half the time has the camera pointed at themself. It's all essentially useless.

There are so many videos like this out there that it's getting next to impossible to get to better quality travel guides from well-informed locals, well informed expats, or, God forbid, professional media companies.

So as not a wildly thread drift my own thread on the third response, minor print guide books don't seem to be reproducing this paradigm. But maybe there are some aspects of "influencing" there in different form ....

Frank, here's an example:

https://www.abebooks.com/9780615691893/Cycling-Along-Europes-Rivers-Bicycle-0615691897/plp

I bought this book many years ago. It's almost useless, basically just follows the routes that this rider took on several trips, tells you where he stayed, etc. I bought other similar titles as ebooks that are nearly completely comprised of lists of turn cues pasted straight from GPS tracks. You can barely call these books.

Maybe I see a lot of these because I look for a lot of active travel guides, which might be a subset that produces them more often.

This book is essentially useless, and comes from a voice of "I did exactly this on my one trip down this river, which is exactly what you ought to do as well."

This is not at all to say that there are not quality minor guides! I own Laurel Barton's walking in Val Gardena book and it is excellent.

But it's a curious category to me. I'd kind of like to write a guidebook when I retire, but I'm not exactly sure why I feel like I want to, and I'm wondering what are the motivations for and advantages of doing so ....

Luckily, to some extent, active travel has become easier to research and find online rather than how folks must have had to do it 30 yrs ago. For things like cycling and hiking, apps & websites really help in planning, so often those paper books feel super stale and constrained vs using an app and google maps and being able to tweak things or use street view or rapidly find hotel and restaurant info.

I think there is a place for these smaller guides, maybe relics of the past, as starting points and a few bucks towards them is tiny in the scope of things for a vacation. For example, I bought a book on hiking Mt Blanc which is nice as a physical "tool" while using mostly online sites to plan in full. IOW, there is the "this was what I did" feeling to the guide, but by using it more as a starting point to get ideas in place, it isn't a waste. Since that hike isn't in the hopper for this year, the guide will serve as a placeholder for ideas and plans until the more detailed trip is worked out.

I think some people fancy themselves as writers and self-publish in hopes of being discovered. The internet probably makes this easier.

Not a travel book, but I know of a person who retired from a corporate job in the US, and moved to Paris to write novels. They went so far as to create a "publishing company" to publish their self-published novel.

The resulting first novel was pretty unreadable, and included characters who were easily identifiable as real people in their life. I don't think any other writing was attempted.

I don't remember seeing any of these so called "One-off" travel guides.

Just go to Amazon and do a search for a random country and the words "travel guide", then filter it so the lowest priced books are first. You will see dozens if not hundreds (depending on the country) of self-published books that are usually pretty bad and not very helpful. Most of them cost less than $1 (and it's debatable whether they are even worth that).

I bought a "guidebook" on Amazon that was absolutely worthless. It was one of the "Greater Than a Tourist Series", specifically "50 Travel Tips from a Local" for Portsmouth and Hampshire. I'm guessing the "author" paid more in publishing costs than she made in sales.

http://www.czykpublishing.com/p/greater-than-tourist.html

Hank, I usually start trip planning with a visit to my local library, looking in the “914” Dewey Decimal section. Rick Steves is prominent, of course, as well as some others you mention, plus Moon Guides (very good, compatible recommendations), and stalwart Fodor’s and Frommer’s guidebooks. DK seem to be the least helpful “main” books for me.

Your example of a cycling book is interesting. I’ve collected several others that were cycling based. They all provided some level of inspiration, but in 15 years, I’ve never followed any of their routes. There was a Website in the early 2000’s from a gentleman who had biked many places in Belgium, and put them together on a rudimentary Website. It was extremely basic by today’s standards, but it was useful for our 2008 tour through Flanders.

Out of curiosity, I just googled Michael Lyon, the name of the author of your biking book example. I wondered if his book, or his author provenance would pop up in the search. I don’t think he’s any of the Michael Lyons who did come up … several musicians (all American, except for a Brit who now lives and performs in the U.S.), and a former Realtor in California who was ordered in February to pay $21.4 million to women recorded in a sex tape. That last one, I hope he doesn’t do any guidebooks!

Yes let's hope. No need for mentoring programs in that arena :)

Yes let's hope. No need for mentoring programs in that arena :)

I bought my beloved Salsa Cutthroat online from a bike shop in Wheat Ridge by the way, a lot of good bikes on that website for all different kinds of endurance riding and touring.

I think, in the US, you can only write-off expenses to the extent of profit you make on a business. So you'd have to sell a ton of e-books to pay for a trip abroad.

I know people who have written e-books of their experiences or memoirs, and have self-published them on Amazon (Amazon promotes this) as a way of making them available to friends and family, not expecting to make a big splash in the public. In the old days it was called "vanity press". You just can't limit sales to select persons on Amazon.

Hank, thanks for the compliment!

I can address a few of your questions, I think.

Why? With the Val Gardena book, we saw a need for English-language, detailed information. In 2015, we took a hike that a local book of marginal quality called "easy" and safe for children. Perhaps if you've been climbing mountains since you were 3 years-old and the children are mountain goats, it would be easy. It was horrible and I told my husband "We should write a book." It was a passion-project of sorts, although I never thought of it that way. And yes, we are retired so we have time.

...can you write off parts of your trip if it's taken for your "travel book writing business"? Why yes, you can! After I had the "We should write a book" thought, I immediately wrote to our accountant and started taking detailed notes for said book. While I did not publish it until 2016, the allowable expenses for the 2015 trip did carry forward. Each year, certain expenses can roll forward. Of course, one can only take deductions up to the amount of sales. Our sales do not nearly cover the costs of our trips, so it is still a passion-project, as you put it.

Similarly, we wrote a book on the Berner Oberland because we could. It has been more popular than the Val G book in 2021 and 2022 since we all got back to traveling.

We have updated annually except for 2021 and we do try to update our website with errata so those who have purchased prior versions can find out about changes. We will endeavor to update the books every-other-year from now on. It is just too much work editing and formatting on my own. The research is a heck of a lot of fun, though!

The definitive answer(s) about what one can or can not do tax wise, can be found in Section 183 of the IRS Code. Be careful.

Laurel thanks! Very helpful.

I dig your Val Gardena book, and totally agree that there's a gap sometimes in hiking guides for sensible hikes. Sometimes it seems like everybody who writes hiking guide books are mountaineers or ultra hikers :)

Hmmmm? As a librarian I can say that vanity press publishing has been around a very long time. And I feel sorry for folks who fall for those TV ads that supposedly will help them publish their books. I suspect the potential authors are being scammed.

Unlike Laurel, many who try this have neither done any research nor had any life experience that actually would inform their writing and make it useful for others. Most of all I fear that they, like those already alluded to, think they're going to make more money off what they write than is realistic. At best what they have to say might be worth a magazine article. In 2 cases in my own family, I asked if the writers had done any kind of research on their topics that led them to believe that they had a unique perspective or information to add to what was already available. They both gave me blank stares. I took that as a no.

Having said all that, websites and blogs can bring in money through lots of ads, so more eyes, more dollars. The owners can also get kickbacks if people click through the ads or their recommendations to buy something. So "influencers" could possibly make a living that way.

Hank, a couple quick (well, quick for me) follow-ups:

I recalled the name of the author of that Belgian rides Website from more than 15 years ago, long before the term “Influencer” had been coined: Dan Gamber. For old-time’s sake, I tried searching Online, to see if the Website still existed, with all the Tik Tok and other clutter out there. I didn’t find his Belgian Rides Website, but as proof that it wasn’t just my imagination, here’s a snippet from an Australian tour company called Brighton Travelworld, that currently offers a Bruges-to-Paris 15 day cycle tour. To help sell their tour, they include this gem:

In Belgium we’ll cycle through relatively flat country and a large part of the tour will take place along tow paths that were best described by Dan Gamber on his website: “If you like to ride on good pavement but away from car traffic, the towpaths of Belgium offer some of the best cycling in the world

Dan’s the Man! There was no charge for his website back then; I believe he created it to help others enjoy navigating their way around western Belgium, and maybe also for his own amusement. Financial gain wasn’t part of the equation.

Second, did your Salsa bike come from Wheat Ridge Cyclery, by chance? There are other bike shops in town, but WRC is the preeminent one. You may already know, but German-born Eugene Keifel opened his small store on W. 38th Ave back in 1973. His son, Ron, became one of the stars on the 7-11/Motorola American pro team, years before the US Postal Service/Discovery Channel team with Lance Armstrong, et. al.

Ron was a Giro d’Italia and Olympic Games winner, and Davis Phinney, Bob Roll, Andy Hampsten, and Greg LeMond were teammates. The tiny shop expanded a few years ago, then expanded again, and the entrance had to be moved well around the corner, as the frontage along 38th Ave. wouldn’t accommodate the expansion. Ron sold the store a couple years ago, but many of his competition bikes from 30-40 years ago are still on display now inside the shop.

I hope you’re enjoying your bike. Winter lasted so long in Colorado, riding season has barely had a chance to get started here, except for the really hard-core roadies.

I'm seeing many, silent walking tours of cities, on Youtube. I like them, but there is no way you could justify a write off, as there is very little effort put in them. Its just someone walking with a camera and a huge SD card. :)

Aren't travel book writers given an extension on Schengen 90 day rule? Isn't that how RS goes for 100 days?

Aren't travel book writers given an extension on Schengen 90 day rule? Isn't that how RS goes for 100 days?

I suspect he can get a visa to do his work in the EU.

I use Spotify to download podcasts from natives of the city and country.

I've never understood what an influencer is nor why so many people care. I do know the Kardashians are involved.

Todd Packer from "The Office" has some good travel podcasts, but he tells a lot of off-color and politically incorrect jokes.

I've never understood what an influencer is nor why so many people care.

In order for there to be an influencer, there have to be influencees, and apparently there are plenty of those nowadays. Business cards probably aren’t used as much as they once were, but does anyone have a card that says “Influencer?” Or a sign saying that on their desk or office door? Will there ever be a Cabinet-level position, Secretary of Influencers?

And if you text one of those people, asking what they’re doing, maybe the response is, “Oh, I’m just influencing right now.”

Cyn I did buy my Cutty; from the shop you mentioned. I had no idea it had such long and outstanding cycling history. Thanks for walking me through it 🙂

Rick spends a hundred days a year in Europe not a 100 days at a time. He makes 2-3 trips. Being a travel writer will not qualify you for an extended visa.

Remember, Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, Moon, Rough guides, Frommers, Fodors and all the other popular travel series started with one book. Many of today's travel writers are trying to make a buck writing their own although I'm guessing younger folks will be more interested with postings on Instagram or Tic Toc.

Its very difficult for my wife to take any sort of work related tax deductions on our trips. She has to tease out professional activities from the recreational ones. These can be mixed, in a very convoluted manner. She HAS to go to certain sites, and save all the receipts, which clearly could be a write off expense, but some sights are a mix we both want to see. And it gets down to, what did you eat and what did I eat. Recently, we just do entirely separate billings for everything we can. :)

Hmmm … can gelato be written off if you’re conducting research on flavors, with an intended guidebook as the result? There would, understandably, need to be a lot of research.

Hmmm … can gelato be written off if you’re conducting research on flavors, with an intended guidebook as the result? There would, understandably, need to be a lot of research.

I like the cut of your jib Cyn We'll title the book Best 1525 gelato shops in Paris

Mark,
A gelato book covering several countries: what a great reason to research!

Good photos and it could make an appealing coffee table book ....