Become a Lonely Planet Author

Guidebooks

We’re always on the lookout for new talent and we’re currently searching for freelance authors with specific regional knowledge and experience. If you think you’ve got what it takes then read on…

Bare Necessities:

• Specialised knowledge of a city, country or region listed below
• Proven ability for excellent research, in particular for projects of up to six months
• Professional writing experience
• Ability to write vibrantly, with authority and attitude
• Experienced traveller
• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• ‘Tools of the trade’, eg computer hardware and software
• Ability to work independently
• Great resilience and tenacity
• Good boots!

It’s a bonus if you also have:

• Travel writing experience
• Written or spoken foreign language skills (this is essential for some destinations)
• Experience travelling with audio/video recording equipment and writing blogs on the road
• Specific areas of expertise, such as art, music, wildlife, other cultures, food, languages, outdoor activities and other travel-related pursuits

All authors who work on our books are freelancers, hired on a contract-by-contract basis. We do not employ staff writers.

Expertise

At the moment, we’re looking for freelance authors for one or more of the following destinations:
Updated October 2008

Submitting an Application to be an Author

Tell us exactly what you can offer Lonely Planet. Tell us about your travel experience. Are you interested in a certain part of the world, or a particular Lonely Planet series? Do you have an idea for a brand new book or series? Do you want to write a new guidebook or update an existing one? New authors are generally given a small project for their first contract and then take on bigger assignments from there.

If you want to know a bit more about being an Lonely Planet author, you can get up close and personal here where it's just you, them and thousands of kilobytes…

So do you fit the bill? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Please send us a cover letter, your resume and two examples of your published writing work (preferably travel-related), including details on where and when they were published, to:

Or email it to:
recruitingauthors@lonelyplanet.com.au

If we like what we see you’ll be contacted by our Author Recruitment & Placement Manager and asked to complete a writing task. This will require you to provide a sample of around 2000 words on a town or neighbourhood, that is not your home base and is preferably not familiar to you, specifically researched for this purpose and written in the style of a Lonely Planet guidebook. Guidelines are provided.

If we still like what we see, we'll interview you and talk with your referees and successful applicants will be invited to join our pool of authors. But be warned - our requirements are strict, and the bar is set high. We receive a lot of writing samples every year, and many don’t make the grade. We must also emphasise that approved authors may still wait some time before being offered a project.

Please also note that continuous commissions are not guaranteed. Because LP authors work from contract to contract, there can sometimes be long gaps between gigs - especially if you have a specific area of expertise. Having said that, some of our highly skilled and adaptable authors have a broad range of expertise, and DO go virtually from project to project.

Good luck!

Book Proposals

Lonely Planet does not accept travel literature submissions. However we may call, from time to time, for stories along a particular theme, for possible inclusion in our annual travel writing anthology.