Author Interview with fictional travel memoirist John Meyer

John Meyer author fictional travel memoir

This week we’re joined by John Meyer who writes travel memoirs with a twist—they’re fictional. I’m an avid reader of travel memoirs. After nonfiction books they’re my preferred reading material, and I read them to get inspired. But there’s nothing more uninspiring than reading a travel memoir with no plot or character ARC.

Too many memoirists assume that just because a memoir is autobiographical it has to be anchored in the autobiographical style of the fifties and sixties. But traditional travel memoirs need to be aligned more closely with fiction to deliver an engaging story and take the reader on a journey (one that they’re invested in finishing).

John has taken the memoir niche one step further and has carved out a writing style for himself by writing fictional travel memoirs. They’re anchored in the truth, based on his own travel experiences, but he uses a fictional approach to have carte blanche with how the story weaves from beginning to end.

He shares the challenges faced by pioneering this alternative niche but also shows how he’s used traditional marketing and promotional techniques to reach his reader. I’ve been facing the same marketing challenges with establishing momentum for my poetic memoirs, as far as I’ve been able to discover there aren’t many authors writing in this micro-niche either. But that hasn’t stopped either of us writing and powering through the challenges.

~~ Jay

Author Interview:  John Meyer

How would you describe the type of books/genre you write?

I had always liked travel books. However, they were always non-fiction stories about a man or a woman climbing a mountain, or building a country home in Tuscany, or simply wandering through a foreign land. What they often lacked was intense drama and colorful characters and even higher stakes. The narrator either accomplished his or her task—or they didn’t. That’s it.

So I wanted to combine my favorite elements of a travel book and add a more personal adventure—even if it was a fictional one. That’s when I came up with my concept for something I called a fictional travel memoir. The fun part was that I would travel to these foreign countries and then use the characters I met, the experiences I had, and the challenges I faced to create a fictional story far greater than my own journey.

John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain — John Meyer, Spain

What motivated you to start writing?

It all started when I was robbed in Rome! Leaving my cramped hostel for a better hotel down the street, a thief somehow—magically—unzipped the pocket of my backpack where I had briefly stored my money belt. When I reached my hotel, two minutes later, the backpack zipper was wide open and the money belt was missing. My money, my credit card, my debit card, my plane ticket, and my passport were all gone!

Obviously, my trip was ruined. And after reporting the incident to the police, acquiring a temporary passport at my embassy, and receiving a cash advance from my bank, I returned home.

Then, as the weeks and months rolled by, I received something of an epiphany. I realized that my “stranger in a strange land” robbery story would make a great start of a book. I was looking for something more substantial to write beyond my regular TV job and I wanted it to combine my love for writing and travel. So I returned to Italy one year later and spent six glorious weeks researching Rome, the Amalfi Coast, and Siena. Then after a few starts and stops, I completed my first draft of my first book, Bullets, Butterflies, and Italy, three years later.

Tell us the journey you went on to get your books published (e.g. direct on your website, self-published, assisted-publishing, traditional publisher)

Well, while I thought I was quite clever in expanding the genre of travel writing, I soon discovered that the book industry wasn’t very receptive. When I first tried the traditional route of publishing and submitted my manuscript to several agents in town, the response was great… but ultimately inconclusive. The refrain was always the same, “So it’s a fictional story set in a traditional non-fiction genre?” “Exactly!” “Yeah, well, that’s going to be difficult to sell.” “Why? Isn’t it unique and innovative?” “Yeah, probably too innovative for us…”

sculptures with John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain — Camino de Santiago, Spain taken by John Meyer

Now what? Well, instead of trying to convince the establishment, I decided to learn how to self-publish my books. I did my research in the fall and by the winter I had calculated that I needed about ten months to go through all the development and business steps in bringing my first book to market.

The benefits (full control, no middle men, no long wait times between writing and publishing, 100% of the profits) currently outweigh the drawbacks (no marketing help, the need & wherewithal to hire an editor, a designer, and a printer)!

However, new problems arose when it came time to marketing the ebooks. No two ebook websites are identical and certainly no two ebook websites share the same categorization. So I slot them the best I can, often writing numerous emails to the website administrators to ask them to file them under both Fiction and Travel. Some website administrators are accommodating. Some are not. So I file them the best that I can.

Camino 4 John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain — Camino de Santiago, Spain taken by John Meyer

What publishing elements do you most enjoy and most like to avoid, and why? (e.g. design, marketing, formatting etc.)

I quite enjoy designing the book cover. My designer, Tania Craan, is amazing and always has great ideas, and we both enjoy the challenge of creating something new…together. For example, most books about the Spanish Camino represent the dreaded Meseta section of the Camino path, “the two-hundred-kilometer stretch of barren plateau that lies in the center of the country.” Why would you want to showcase that kind of scenery for your book cover?

all the books John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain — Books by John Meyer

When I walked the Camino, most of the landscape was green and lush and absolutely lovely. Therefore, I was determined to create a cover that reflected that beauty. So the main front photo and the back cover photo were taken by me while Tania cleverly incorporated the Camino symbols of the shell and the yellow arrow with the green Camino landscape.

However, the necessary marketing part is another kind of challenge. Approaching book reviewers, growing your email list, creating and maintaining your website, making sure your book is listed properly with all the major websites and ebook distributors, feeding new content to your social network platforms, etc., etc., etc., is an exhausting process that takes away from your creative time writing your next adventure. But you do it. And you try your best. And sometimes… a reader reaches out and thanks you for your book. And then, for a moment, you enjoy marketing too.

Camino 5 John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain — Camino de Santiago, Spain taken by John Meyer

With the hindsight of being a published author, anything you would have done differently?

The short answer is “no.” There are well-known steps to completing the journey from concept to outline to first draft to getting initial feedback to second draft to hiring an editor and so on. And after studying several books and scouring many self-publishing websites, I was on target with my steps and agreeable to my initial goals.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have spent so much time chasing down busy agents and reluctant publishers for my first book. But that lengthy runaround of empty promises fueled my desire and sped up my education on how to self-publish and bring my books to market.

Camino 3 John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain — Camino de Santiago, Spain taken by John Meyer

What tips or advice would you give an aspiring indie author who is looking to self-publish?

Find experienced writers in your social circles who can help you with your writing. Friends and family are needed to encourage and support you, but nothing beats seasoned writers who can objectively steer you to the best version your book can be.

And spend good money on a great editor! Budgets are important but be willing to open your wallet a little more for an experienced partner who will catch all your grammar errors. And boy, will you make a lot of grammar errors!

Camino 6 John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain — Camino de Santiago, Spain taken by John Meyer

What marketing or promotional tools or techniques do you use to reach your readers?

I make sure I establish the key selling points of my book, and use those to entice my readers.

First of all, most of my readers are travelers, or at least, people who have a desire to travel and explore themselves while they wander the world. So I try to make the traveling sections as accurate as possible. Or, at least, reflect what happened to me when I visited these locations.

However, the book covers much more than that. It’s also—predominately—a fictional story. And I’ll let my early reviewers speak to that point! “It had a bit of literary fiction, romance, mystery and drama all wrapped into one story.” “If you love travel and history with plenty of drama told with a twist of humour then this book is for you.” “The journey… is interspersed with history, legends and travel snippets – a kind of early history meets modern tourism. If you are not into history don’t worry, it is told with humour and, at times, healthy scepticism.”

Now I’ve read a few other Camino books as well. They were personal. They were (probably) true accounts of the narrator’s journey. Sometimes they were spiritual. But I wanted to create something different. A fun, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes humorous, love story—that reflected my own grueling journey on the Camino path that was recognizable to my own personal challenges with snorers, flies, allergies, and twisted ankles. I even mention my intention on the back cover: “First, get a Camino guidebook. Then get the real story behind the majestic beauty and awesome power of the Camino de Santiago…”

Camino 2 John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain — Camino de Santiago, Spain taken by John Meyer

I created an elevator pitch so that I could explain the concept of the book easily. Basically, I start by asking the person if they’ve ever heard of the Spanish Camino. The answer is usually no, so I explain that it’s this ancient trail that snakes across Spain that pilgrims have been walking for more than a 1000 years. Then I add that my fictional love story takes on this trail where a husband desperately searches for his missing wife. His only clues to her whereabouts are through the personal and surprising letters that she’s left on the trail for him to find…

I also create book trailers for each of my books.

What impact do you want your books to have on your readers?

In general terms, I just want my readers to travel and have their own adventures—and I hope that my books can inspire them to visit new places and experience new things. In terms of my latest book, Shadows, Shells, and Spain, I really want to encourage everyone to walk the Spanish Camino at some point in their lives. It really does inspire you and gives you plenty of time to contemplate your life while you meet many other friendly, likeminded souls marching across Spain—just like you! Sure, you can contemplate your life while sitting on your couch as well… but only by leaving all your distractions behind can you really experience some form of positive growth. Plus you’re going to lose a lot of weight! And that’s a pretty good deal too…

John Meyer Author, Shadows, Shells, and Spain

Find out how @johnmeyerbooks uses his travel experiences to write fictional #travelmemoirs. He dishes out tips and advice that can help you with your own #selfpublishing and #writing journey. Click To Tweet

About the Author

John Meyer writes fictional travel memoirs—unique adventure stories that combine fun facts of history with present-day drama and humor—always revolving around a fictitious love story and always based on his own thrilling journeys. Meyer is also the studio writer for Entertainment Tonight Canada and has been ever since the popular daily show launched back in 2005.