WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 33Travel Books
about its history and people
as its landscape,” Chris
McNab writes in the book’s
introduction, before going
on to depict the local
culture as it’s embodied in
architecture, art, food and
more.
An entry on Icelandic
wool, for instance, shows a
close-up of a colorful array
of knee-high socks for sale,
with accompanying text
explaining that fleece con-
sists of two layers of wool,
tog and pel, resulting in a
material that is both warm
and waterproof, “perfect for
the sub-zero winters.”
Books in the series were
developed to be attractive
gift items, says Charles
Catton, editorial director at
Amber Books, designed in a
pocket-size format so that
the traveler can carry them
along for reference. After
the first titles, books on Canada, Egypt, and Thailand are
planned for spring 2020. “We’re not trying to compete with
Lonely Planet,” Catton says. “We see ourselves as an adjunct.”
For its part, Lonely Planet is taking a selective approach with
its Best Of series, coming to the U.S. in August. Darren
O’Connell, product director at Lonely Planet, says the line’s
“more stylized” covers, which sport Polaroid-like white mar-
gins and a slimmed-down, all-caps font, immediately distin-
guish its books from the publisher’s more comprehensive blue-
spine guides.
Originally called the Discover series when it launched in
2010, the line distills each locale down to the 12 best des-
tinations or experiences. In May 2016, the books were
rebranded as Best Of and given a new look for the U.K. and
Australia. “We’ve made a few choices for the traveler,”
O’Connell says. “People want to know what a place is like,
and the visual content helps them decide where they want to
go.” Such visual storytelling was less important when the
Discover series was being developed, he says, “but it’s certainly
picking up now.”
The revamp resulted in stronger sales in Australia and the
U.K., O’Connell says, so now Lonely Planet is bringing the U.S.
market into the fold. Best Of titles that originated in the
Discover series include Barcelona, Malaysia and Singapore,
Peru, Rome, and Tokyo; forthcoming destinations include
Central America, Iceland, and South America. ■continued from p. 30