Writing An Adventure Travel E-book

Book Extract:

"I stumbled upon travel by accident... It had been quite some time since I had had a road trip. I went on one to the highlands of Kigezi. And it changed my life.

It was that rush of energy that got me hooked to the idea of adventure travel and escape the depressive rut I was accustomed to.

Adventure became a remedy to my depression, I found myself connecting with the slap-up alfresco.

I felt happier surrounded by the wide open spaces - whether in the forests, sailing on the waters or climbing hills - and seeing new places through exciting activities...

...

I aim to fundamentally inspire you to explore bold new ways to travel..."

From forest hiking to safaris on Savannah grasslands, to mountain climbing; to the best places to lodge, chimpanzee trekking and even what to wear while you are at it! 

This is a priceless conduct, not just to adventure safari, but to depression free eudaimonia; titled "The TRAVELING HUNTER'S Tales"

...

After nearly 2 weeks of touring Uganda, I published "The TRAVELING HUNTER'S tales" an eBook which is a compendium of my junketeering.

Not that its proceeds would lead me to that fine house in Bugolobi estates. I published the eBook, not for glamorization but as an inspiration for all the depressed souls out there, and an enticement to the idea that adventure travel could be the answer they're hunting down!

And hey, although not super lucrative, the eBook sales would go on to finance more of my Africa (Afro) travels.

This is how I went about writing, designing, publishing and promoting, "The TRAVELING HUNTER'S Tales"

This obviously isn't a consummate blueprint, but I hope you find it inspirational.

√ Writing it:

Firstly, you've got to write the damn thing. It took me 40 days to start and finish writing this eBook.

Secondly, on this topic I had many an experience to share. If the average nonfiction books runs between 50,000 - 70,000 words, an eBook is ordinarily shorter of about 20,000 words which usually gives you 80 - 100 pages of content. 

So I aimed at 18,000 words.

I indited the outline of the book in a Document, dumping all the travel tales, and then structuring the stories so the book followed a coherent flow.

Note: in terms of content, you don't have the same constraints you have with paper back!

I included some extras like an audio version of the books and some nature videos. I added a thank you page with all of the people who inspired me, or contributed in anyway to the creation of the book.

√ Packaging it:

I needed to make it look nice - I couldn't launch something ugly now, could I!

There are many ways to go about this; personally, I used canva but you could opt for Photoshop to design the cover.

Designing an eBook cover can be staggeringly hard sometimes, choosing something that's simple and eye-catching. So sourcing feedback from trusted comrades during the development phase is super helpful.

After several changes, I was happy with the cover, and I proceeded onto designing the inside of the book.

Page by page design is required for an eBook. I didn't have any of experience and hence decided to take a crack at it the way a true adventure would...

I utilized google Docs... Aye! Its actually superb what you can get done with such a simple tool.

I opted for a simple, common font, added a table of content and voila!

Or so I thought! Had I decided to just distribute the book as a PDF, I would have been through with design, but I wanted to offer it to kindle users.

After extensive research, I ended up using "Calibre." If you want to offer your eBook to people in other formats such as EPUB or MOBI, I recommend Calibre which is free and quite easy to use.

There I was, with different versions of my eBook: .PDF, .KPF (Kindle package format), .EPUB, and .MOBI

And onto pushing it live...

√ Publishing it:

Being new to this whole eBook thing, I aimed for the popular ones and there was one winner:

  => Gumroad:

Most people fervently support Amazon publishing, but here is why I opted for Gumroad;

Pros:

~ You own the customers!

Gumroad gives you access to the customers' email addresses so you can get in touch with them.

~ You can design the eBook as you want and sell whatever content you want; .ZIP, .mp3, e.t.c they accept all digital file types.

~ There is no review process: you can instantly publish your content.

~ Gumroad offers lower fees and you can price your content however you want, from $1 - $1000.

Con:

~ Quite uncommon in comparison to Amazon, some customers might feel more hesitant to feed in their credit card information.

I softly launched by posting the links on twitter and email my newsletter subscribers. The goal was to get a few sales and confirm that everything was functional.

And it did!

I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome.

Remember, whether you're working on a web app, or an eBook marketing is a daily effort where consistency pays off...

I hope this post gave you a good idea of how you could go about writing, and publishing your eBook if you so desired...

Image Source: Gumroad

7 Awing Lessons I Learnt From Traveling On My Tour Of Uganda: Day 11

Eleven days into my first tour, ever! Several things had happened; I had hiked through forests, studied birds and, observed chimpanzees and elephants, among others.

The experiences came from the different locales I visited. In retrospection, while on the bus heading back home, I explicated a list of some of the lessons I learnt while traveling.

Lessons learnt while on the road:

√ To leave my comfort zone and try new things:

If I wanted to boom in life, I had to get out of my comfort zone and embrace the unknown.

Setting off to travel, I left behind all that was familiar; my tiny bedroom, that had become "my self-made" cell, my addictions, my family and all that I regarded as the norm; and took on a world of new things.

The lesson usually was through new cultures like the tenacity of the Bakiga or the hospitality of the Batooro... New friends and foods.

All these sparked excitement, or even fear but never boredom.

√ To be patient:

Whether it was facing the long, uncomfortable bus rides, or the tiresome forest hikes, I came across several small foilings. 

These defeats were actually priceless lessons in patience. In my travels, I managed to overcome them and bred resilience.

At the end of my Ugandan tour, I felt confidently capable of contending with almost anything.

√ To be humble: 

For a traveler humility is unavoidable... I quickly discovered how small my footprint was in this gigantic world. 

Try measuring up your footprint to that of an elephant or hippo.

I encountered kindness and generosity from total strangers while on the road. 

Several kind souls offered guidance when I was lost. One, I vividly remember, offered me a free meal when my cash was tapped out.

I came to a realization of how lucky I was and how much I took for granted.

√ I learnt to never take nature for granted:

Throughout most of my tour, I explored natural beauty and promptly learnt to appreciate every natural wonder.

The beautiful, evergreen Kibale forest, the steel slopes of the Rwenzori mountains or the meandering Kazinga channel and all her jewels.

Nature in all her majesty!

√ To enjoy experiences over things:

I worked my way through some of Uganda's tourist attractions, formed strong bonds with people, learnt new  skills like how to carefully track a Rhino, and created lasting memories.

And I needed very little to be happy! A pair of boots, a cap, binoculars but above all my experiences!

√ I learnt how to make friends with strangers:

Be it at Kibale forest National park or at Mweya Information center; meeting fellow travelers or exchanging stories with locals, I opened up myself to world of human interaction.

I encountered plenty of people, who were open to chatting.

And last but not least,

√ You never stop learning:

"Learning keeps us young and travel is the best teacher of all."

I explored forests and studied lots of birds among other activities; my Ugandan tour inspired a sense of wonder and discovery... 

And there still is an entire world of things to do and people to meet.

All throughout my travels I never stopped learning.

Do you travel?

Image Source: Instagram

My Travels Through Africa's Wild

Back in the early 2000s, when pen pals were still a thing, I had a pal,  a beautiful, young lady named Carol hailing from Toronto, Canada tell me that she would love to come visit me in Africa.

"Where in Africa do you live? Are you near cape town?" She inquired.

Delving deep into that conversation, I later came to a realization that to her Africa was a single nation with cape town the capital.

On correcting her, she told that all her friends, back in Toronto, shared similar thoughts. Even though my African adventures were none existent, I tried my best to correct her.

"Africa isn't a single nation" all you beautiful people out there! She's a vast continent, with 54 states; home to thousands of people of different ethnicity. Diverse cultures and languages, but above all blessed with lots of gorgeous scenery.

Snow capped mountains, heavy flowing rivers and thick impenetrable forests just to mention a few.

On 11/11/2011, my brother passed away and I fell into deep depression. The whole nine yard, extremely quiet, antisocial with a touch of insomnia. It wasn't long before I started using drugs.

Ten years passed, with all hope lost; and one day, out of God's grace, a friend invited me to a trip he was heading on to the highlands of Kigezi in the south western part of Uganda. Now, even though, I was just escorting him to check on his gigantic tea plantation, that small taste of adventure; out of room and onto the road, through thick vegetation, the breath of fresh air, and a glance of nature in all her grace, was all it took to bring me back to life.

So I made a life altering decision to always travel to wherever and whenever I can, and encourage people to do the same... Take a gander at Africa's wild through my eyes.

God bless you!

Image source: Pinterest