His guidebooks were as essential to backpacking students headed to Europe in the '60s as their newly issued passports. He is the guru of budget travel guides, the recognized authority on leisure travel, and after more than 50 years in the industry, Arthur Frommer, 84, is relaunching his brand, his style and his guidebooks. Frommer talked with senior editor Gay Nagle Myers about the relaunch of his travel guides, the changes he has seen in the industry and his adaptation to the new world of print and online publishing.
Q: Welcome back! How does it feel, knowing that books bearing your imprimatur will be back on the shelves of major bookstores all across the U.S. this week?
A: I'm already amazed by the response. I recently spoke at a conference of home-based agents in Orlando. I had several boxes of the books with me, and 260 of them sold in two hours -- and I autographed them all. The agents were so kind and welcoming to me. I'm surprised, delighted and flattered.
Q: Take us through how all this began.
A: I published "Europe on $5 a Day" in 1957, but it started in 1955 with "The GI's Guide to Traveling in Europe." I was stationed in Germany in Army intelligence. Every weekend I'd go to an Air Force base and grab a free seat on any plane going anywhere in Europe. I just wanted to travel.
My Army buddies were scared of traveling -- too many unknowns. I wrote and self-published an 80-page Europe guide in a small print shop in Oberammergau. It sold in PXs in Europe.
I rotated home, went to work in a law firm, got news that the book had sold out and began thinking that maybe I should do a similar book for civilians. "Europe on $5 a Day" became a best-seller. At our peak, Frommer Travel Guides had 340 titles and accounted for 24% of all guidebook sales in North America.
Q: Your guidebooks have been through several owners over the years. How do you feel being back in charge?
A: I sold my rights to Simon & Schuster in 1977. John Wiley & Sons purchased the series in 2001. In 2012, Google purchased the guides, and I bought them back this year. I remained involved with the books under the different owners, and now I've come full circle, back to self-publishing travel books again.
Q: Is there a market for print guidebooks in this heavily digital age?
A: Pauline Frommer, my daughter, is my partner. We share the title of co-president, Frommer Media. We examined the marketplace and concluded there are too many guidebooks today. They're heavy and inundate readers with too much information and clutter, too many recommendations and no author's preferences. Travelers want quality information that highlights the most important facts about a destination. Readers rely on us as curators of fully researched information in a format that's concise and has proven popular and effective for years. We have print books, e-book versions that work with Kindles and such. We're in bookstores, on Amazon, and we're coming out with apps.
Q: How many titles? What's the price?
A: We have 30 titles now, 10 domestic and 20 international. Each book is 256 pages and sells for $10.95. We're coming out with 50 more titles in late 2014.
Q: Are you having fun?
A: Yes. I've never worked so hard in my life. I'm a home-based fledgling publisher, and at my age! All my communications with my authors, designers, distributors, cartographers and our website intern in Kazakhstan has been by email and phone. It's an amazing world today.
Follow Gay Nagle Myers on Twitter @gnmtravelweekly.