On March 4, 2014, Misspelled Paradise: A Year in a Reinvented Colombia paperback and Kindle ebook went on sale. I went from being a writer who wrote about her travels to being a published travel author.
No, I didn’t make the NY Times Bestseller list in 2014. But Misspelled Paradise is consistently in the top 50 books about Colombia on amazon.com (and frequently in the top 25) and hundreds of people have bought the book and ebook.
Since publication, I haven’t stopped writing, not have I stopped traveling. I spent the summer in Alaska, the fall in Utah, then took a winter cross-country train trip from Seattle to New York City and visited California, Minnesota, Kentucky, and my home in Washington. This was a year for exploring the United States—though I did spend a day skiing and buying coffee in Whistler, British Columbia.
What does 2015 and the second year of publication of Misspelled Paradise mean?
Maybe this will be the year that Oprah discovers the book and sales fund a trip around the world…but I’m not counting on it. Instead, I am happy that people continue to discover and enjoy the book, maybe learning a little about Colombia in the process. Until I strike it rich as the next Bill Bryson, I continue loving my “day job” as a park ranger, writing at night and dreaming of my next big international trip (Cuba? Iceland? Zambia? Italy? Dominican Republic? New Zealand?).
Remember if you’ve read Misspelled Paradise, I always appreciate hearing what readers think. Leave a review or rate the book on Amazon or Goodreads. Send me a message through this site. Positive or not, I love to hear what readers think.
Thanks all for a great year. Here’s to another year of writing and traveling, and armchair adventures we can all share in.
Bryanna Plog 