Just Not Sure
I’ve been working on a travel hacking book for the better part of a year now. It’s my first book, although I’ve done some independent writing at various times in my life, and it’s been a personal goal of mine to accomplish. The book has taken many hours to write and research, and is roughly 200 pages. It’s been edited by a few friends, and has gone through a few iterations already, and is far from complete. The issue that I’m having now is that I’m strongly considering not publishing the book at all.
Today I learned of a local guy who had his credit cards shutdown by a major bank. We chatted a bit today and he told me the details behind what happened to him. His shutdown got me thinking about my own situation and also how powerful information is. The points community is great because many people share intel about a variety of things, post data points, and learn from each other along the way, ultimately benefiting a larger group than themselves. It’s kind of a selfless community in that way. This book is along those same lines, but some of the information in it is, well, kind of volatile.
You have to admit, that’s one handsome book cover!
Better Left Unsaid
I don’t think there’s any question about whether or not my book could help people better understand many aspects about the points and miles hobby, and also give them solid information to collect more award points for various uses. I’m confident it could produce meaningful results for people. That’ isn’t the question. The question for me is where do I draw the line in terms of what is said, particularly about manufactured spending, and what should be left unsaid. I’ve written a pretty extensive section on MS, certainly the largest and most detailed section that’s been in any book in the world published thus far, but I’m not sure a good deal of that information should see the light of day.
The reason for the concern is that banks, airlines, hotels, consultants and others involved in diminishing the returns of travel hackers can also see that information too via a book purchase. Sure I could go through each person’s name who wants to buy a book and attempt to make sure only the “right” people were buying the book, but that’s not realistic. I know that some people who have signed up for my newsletter already have bank affiliation. So a focused book on travel hacking will probably draw even more attention, and attention to certain aspects of this hobby isn’t needed.
Conclusion
There really isn’t a conclusion yet, as I’m at a crossroads about what to do. I’d like to accomplish my goal and complete the book, but I don’t think putting out a fairly detailed chapter on manufactured spending is going to be a good thing. Certainly for many readers it would be, but for the hobby in general I think it would actually be a step back, as things on a very broad scale could change as a result of some of the information. That is definitely not a burden I want to carry around.
Right now I’m leaning on finishing the book and then keeping it – and not actually publishing or putting it out for purchase. I suppose I could produce a scaled down version of the MS section, but for me that would be a neutered version. I could also just stop the book altogether, which would be great for giving me some free time and the opportunity to work on other things! It’s easy to say just run the red light, go ahead and publish, but I’m not sure that’s very wise (for me and others). Anyway, that’s the latest thing that I’m wrestling with. Not sure which direction I’ll go on this one.