This chilly sunny morning is reminiscent of an autumn day, not long ago, in Henley-on-Thames. Our publishers Bradt had chosen the town for their annual staff day out, and they kindly invited us to join them, as well as Gail Simmons, the author of a new Chilterns travelogue.
We were regular Bradt customers long before we pitched to write a guide to our own area, as part of the Slow Travel range. We enjoyed the process of shaping our words into a guidebook (with the occasional touch of anxiety that all authors experience!) The Bradt team has a clear vision of what it’s trying to achieve, but there is room for the author’s views too.
It’s a true collaboration. Without us, Bradt wouldn’t have had the content; without Bradt, the final result wouldn’t have been nearly as good, and we wouldn’t have had access to Bradt’s formidable distribution network and promotional muscle.
So we were concerned to learn from Bradt that the current coronavirus crisis is hitting the firm hard. There’s no giant parent corporation to dip into its pockets and bail the company out. It has to stand on its own feet – and, as for many companies in the travel industry and elsewhere, that’s extremely challenging right now.
There are plenty of excellent causes to support during these difficult times. For our part, we’re proud to support a local firm which has made good, and done good, globally (see Hilary Bradt’s comments here). Bradt enabled us to achieve our dream of publishing a guidebook to the Chilterns. We hope they will be around, to help more authors and travellers to realise their travel dreams, for many years to come.
Bradt is currently offering a minimum of 50% off all books, e-books and gift vouchers on its website. To claim your discount, enter code DREAM50 at checkout.
Pictured: Henley-on-Thames
