I posted a brief blip a few weeks ago about the allegedly scandalous upcoming title from Random House, Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? by Thomas Kohnstamm. Since then, lurid morsels of the sex and sin to come have been dangled in the press, as well as the swift responses by fellow guidebook authors, even though few of us have read the book yet:
–CNN: “Travel writer tells newspaper he plagiarized, dealt drugs”
–BBC: “Lonely Planet rebuts ‘fake’ claim”
–New Zealand Herald: “More sex than Paeroa”
The bloggers respond:
–Brave New Traveler: Do LP Writers Go to Hell? Thomas Kohnstamm Might
–Gadling: “5 Reasons to be Outraged by the Lonely Planet Fraud”
–David Stanley: “Lonely Planet Author Unmasked”
–First mention on the Tranquilo Traveler
Writes David Stanley regarding the plagiarism allegations, “To save money and maintain full control, Lonely Planet often assigns inexperienced office clerks and interns to update their guides. Little wonder that some of these underpaid novices resort to plagiarism. My books have been copied by Lonely Planet writers time and again … Today Lonely Planet updaters get no royalties and must sign away all rights, even moral rights. Thus it’s no surprise that the quality of Lonely Planet guides is so uneven.”
