About Jan Ross:
Jan Ross has been traveling the world since she was an infant as her dad was a career office in the Marine Corps. She began her career as a full time travel writer in 2009 and continues to travel the world, writing about her adventures in a variety of venues, both print and online. She has over 200 articles published in everything from travel web sites to airline magazines. Her husband is a travel photographer and they often travel together. Their favorite mode of travel is on a cruise ship and they have cruised everywhere from Alaska and British Columbia to the Caribbean. Jan wrote her first book “Pirates, Pralines, and Spanish Moss” as a guidebook about Savannah and Tybee Island after visiting several times and falling in love with this charming location.
What inspires you to write?
I have always written since I was a kid but it wasn’t until the last few years that I began to seriously write about travel. When I have a great travel experience, I just can’t wait to share it with others. I am still amazed that I get to travel to all these fabulous places – and I love to tell people all about it!
Tell us about your writing process.
I don’t write when we travel; I have learned that this really takes away from our travel experiences. But once I am home, I settle down in my office and just let the stories flow. My husband’s wonderful photos are invaluable as they remind me about what we did and help to describe our experiences. I am extremely fortunate in that writing is really easy for me and I love it. You must love writing in order to share your travel experiences!
What advice would you give other writers?
Read as much as you possibly can and then just sit down and write. Don’t worry if it’s good; if you truly love writing, you will get better and better.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I had written so much about Savannah and Tybee Island and had even more to share that I really felt that there was enough information for a book. When I saw other travel writers writing books, it inspired me to write my own. I did a lot of research and decided it couldn’t be that hard to self-publish what I had already written and it really wasn’t! I think self-publishing ebooks is a great way nowadays for any new writer to start as it’s so difficult to break into publishing.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
As a former librarian, I believe that there will always be print books for people to read but I do think there will be even more of a huge explosion of books in electronic form. Because it is so easy to self-publish, it allows authors to get their work out quickly and to keep writing and improving.
What genres do you write?: Travel Books
What formats are your books in?: eBook
Website(s)
Jan Ross Home Page Link
