Congrats to Christopher Baker, whose Moon Spotlight Regional Guidebook to Costa Rica will be released this month.

This is wild: Jacqueline Harmon Butler reports that a publisher in Korea has purchased the rights to the sixth edition of her book The Travel Writer’s Handbook, which will be translated into Korean.  She says, “I’m excited. I can just imagine all those Korean wanna-be travel writers using...

An article about Jay Gordon‘s new travel writing assignment from Examiner.com appears on the top right of page 5 of the Willits Nickel and Dime (click on the newspaper name to go to a PDF of the paper).  Jay tells us lots more about Examiner.com in an article he wrote for this month’s ezine/website...

Katherine Bruce, who is living in Japan, reports that she will be writing for Examiner.com in the new category of Expatriate Travel Examiner, and she already has three articles posted. You can also see some of her other writing at www.breezywithoutborders.com.

BATW member Edward Hasbrouck, who is co-chair of the Book Division of the National Writers Union, sent this very important information regarding “endorsements, testimonials, advertisements and bloggers” (which refers to freebies, discounts, gifts, comped rooms or meals or tours, etc.), which...

The U.S. Travel Association has successfully concluded its third annual Trade Mission to India, which brought double the number of senior executives from U.S. destinations and travel suppliers as last year to meet with Indian travel agents.

Lakshman Ratnapala sent us this good news (which we already knew): San Francisco has been named one of “The World’s Happiest Cities” in an article posted September 2, 2009, on Forbes.com. San Francisco, which ranks seventh out of ten listed cities, is the only city in North America...

[Don and Ann Jackson's article "Mendocino: All’s Calm on the Northern Coast" ran in the October issue of San Joaquin magazine.  Check the magazine itself or its website to see photos, too.] The Tranquil Mendocino has long been one of our favorite places to go for an escape. This iconic village, perched...

[Bob Ecker posted this article about Israeli wine on Examiner.com.] Religion, politics and wine The small but vigorously growing Israeli wine scene is in the throes of full fervor; its rugged spirit striving for success, but still going its own way. With over 200 wineries now up and running, the Israeli...

[Katherine Bruce sent this article from Japan.] I was beginning to think they didn’t exist. The stench of body odor and incense, mingling in an unsavory fusion. The long, scraggly hair with a lingering stink of pot smoke. The ragged, canvas-like clothing and the intricate mandala-esque designs...