Genevieve and I had a chat about working together on her book Boldly Go: Confident Copywriting for Travel, Tourism and Hospitality.

I’d been working in the travel industry for a year, and already I was seeing the same issues over and over again: bland, generic content that did nothing to get me excited about booking. I wanted to produce a handy, affordable guide on writing copy for travel and tourism professionals because I couldn’t see that anything similar existed. I also felt that, as a newbie to the travel and tourism field, a published book would boost my credibility.

All the writing projects I had done to date (as an English Language Teaching writer) had benefited from editorial services. There is just no way I would write a book without getting it professionally edited and proofread. An editor is always going to pick up things I haven’t noticed.

⁠I wrote the main prose completely myself. I used AI to help me generate ideas for some of my fictitious case studies though.

Of course not, I’m not daft.

Perhaps they’re worried about the cost? Maybe they are already paying writers and think they can’t afford another layer of expense? But, probably more ⁠⁠importantly, they don’t realise what editorial skills bring to a piece of work. They think they can ask their friend, colleague or partner to read it over for them and that will be enough. They don’t understand what an editor does and why it is so important.

I loved working with you! This was the first time I had gone solo on a book, before I’d always had a big publishing house behind me, a strict brief to work to and although that was creatively stifling it was also safe. This was a very personal project, and so it was a bit more nerve wracking handing it to an editor.

I loved the way you interacted with the anecdotes I told, the way you were able to identify the positives of the book while also flagging inconsistencies and things that weren’t properly explained. I felt you got what I was trying to do with the book and that gave me confidence. I also liked the way you brought a fresh perspective to some parts of the book, at times asking me big questions (that ultimately influenced the book’s content). Lastly, but not least you always stuck to your deadlines. I’ve had great feedback about the book – just the other day I bagged a new client who’d read the book on a plane journey and decided she wanted to work with me as a result. Were it not for your skilful editing, I doubt this book would be bringing new clients into my world.

Get your copy of Boldly Go: Confident Copywriting for Travel, Tourism and Hospitality.

Curious about working with an editor? Get in touch for a chat about how we could work together.