Shore Love

I mentioned before that I turned down what could have been my second book project. I have a lot of reasons for saying no to what could have been book two:

• I wasn't thrilled with the contract.
• I wasn't thrilled with what they wanted to pay me.
• I'm at the point in my career when I don't have to accept every scrap of work thrown my way. I'm 99 percent sure I'll do better money wise and stress wise by working on freelance projects in the space that would have been dedicated to the book.
• I'm too burned out from writing 75,000 words in a short amount of time to jump right into an 80,000 word project on an even shorter timeline.
  
• I wasn't completely in love with the subject matter.

The last factor is key. A lot of writers refuse to do travel guides because they think the pay is low for the amount of work required. Travel writing won't always make you rich, but for me, writing a book about this area made sense. I already write articles about it, and I like being there. Plus, now that the research is done, I have a long list of articles I want to pitch to magazines about the area that I wouldn't have had without writing the book.

I joked that, after the book was done, I'd go as far away from the Jersey shore as possible because I was sure I'd be sick of the shore. But I'm not. Now that I know where to go and what to do and where to eat and where to stay, I want to enjoy it all. That's why I'm headed to the shore tonight. I can't get enough of it, which shows me that this book was the right project for me. I wouldn't have that kind of dedication to what could have been book two, so I passed.

The weather's still summery even if the calendar is not, so go ahead and head down if you've got the time. I'll see you on the beach.

If you're in Avalon, Jack's Place (3601 Ocean Drive, Avalon, 609-967-5501) is having a "Drink 'Em Dry" party tonight. All drinks are $2.50. That's quite a bargain compared to regular summer prices.