[Gocamino] Thinking of writing a book about your camino?

[Sil]

As much as I love reading camino stories, and am passionate about the
camino, some of the books I've read are becoming exceedingly boring!
After reviewing 4 new camino books in 8 months, I'd like to appeal to
potential writers to find a new approach or a different focus to their story
to avoid the formulaic, almost write-by-numbers style of camino story.

You know the kind I mean - "I felt called to walk the camino; I climbed over
a mountain and got blisters/shin splints/tendonitis; slept in a room with
100 snoring strangers; got up early; packed, walked, arrived, washed, ate,
slept - ditto, ditto, ditto, blah,blah, blah - met amazing people; arrived
in Santiago, cried in the mass and now I am a changed person - Amen.
The End."

Remember, thousands upon thousands of pilgrims walk the same landscape,
through the same towns, face similar challenges and learn similar lessons
and experience the same highs and lows as you do - and many, like you, now
have an urge to hit the keyboard and turn their journal into a book.

Find an original theme. Not everyone can walk with a donkey, or lead a blind
person, or walk in the dead of winter, but there has to be new, fresh slant
to a camino story for the book to have any appeal.

And please, get your spelling right and be consistent (you can't have
hosteleria, hospitaleria, hospitalero etc).
And, check your geography. You can't meet up with old friends you first met
in Triacastela when you arrive in el Acebo!

Last year we visited a book shop in Pamplona. The owner told us that over
400 new camino stories had been published between June 2008 and June 2009.
The market is becoming saturated and unless you self-publish, you will need
to have something original to say to persuade a publisher to add your book
to the many hundreds out there.

Sil
http://amawalker.blogspot.com/
www.2009pilgrims.blogspot.com
www.vfpilgrims.blogspot.com
www.csjofsa.org.za