We were lucky enough to run into Lesley Reader, the co-author of the Bali-Lombok Rough Guide whilst we were traveling in Lombok. If you are not familiar with Rough Guide, click on our Major Sponsors link above. We've always wondered what the job of a travel book writer entailed and if it was all the glitz and glamour that we thought. We were excited to ask Lesley all of the questions that had entered our minds at one time or the other over the years.

When we met Lesley, she was currently doing research for the 5th edition of the Bali-Lombok edition and the 3rd edition of The Rough Guide to South East Asia. She was swamped by a sea of paper at the breakfast table of a hotel on Gili Air island in Lombok. "I have a series of more dates than I care to remember," she explained in response to when her work is due. Maps and chapters have to be ready to go for both books on certain dates, no excuses. She fits this in with her other position as a psychologist in Britain.

Lesley "fell into" writing for the Rough Guide through a 400-word writing competition that she won. One of the judges just happened to be the owner of Rough Guides and offered her a job. Three years later she decided to give the job a try and the rest is history. After the original editions were completed, the job now requires her to travel for only two months every other year and then write up her research and maps over the next six months. So in total the job lasts around 8 months. Now you can see that even if you have the latest edition of a guide book whilst you are traveling, the information will still be several months old. She stresses that if travelers see a place that's not in the book, it does not mean that it's not a good place, it might just be new. "Look at a new hotel, look at a new guesthouse, it will be gleaming and clean... if you see a new place go and look at it!" She's the first one to admit that the Rough Guide is exactly that, a "Rough Guide" and not a bible where all information and prices are set in stone.

As to whether she could do this job full time, she says 'no'. "To be truthful I don't want to write full time. I did it for two months and I became a recluse." Half time work, and half time writing works for her best.

So are you cut out for this job? Lesley says that she meets so many different types of people who are writers for travel books. She has no idea who is the ideal type of person to be a writer for Rough Guide. If you at least understand the style of writing that Rough Guide uses, "more literary... longer descriptions," then give it a shot and send in an example of your work via the website. At the Rough Guide Christmas party every year, she always meets lots of new people that she would not have expected in the least to be a travel writer, such as a barrister! But at the end of the day, if you like writing, travel and meeting new people, perhaps its something you should look into.