Thank you! I've never read Mayle's famous book, A Year in Provence, but given than it got 4.5 stars and 150 reviews on Amazon means that it's quality to aspire to.Francis: Please sign me up to be a Beta reader. I always liked what you were doing, but never read much of your writings (too busy doing other things). I just read the Finland chapter in your Hidden Europe draft. I’d love to see some more countries through your eyes.
My feedback on the cover is: In some ways what you write about the countries is a) a reflection on the US, and b) has similar value/content as what great publications like the FT (Financial Times) and economist provide in a country report. Hence reading your chapters gives travel information, entertains, but certainly also informs with current information that can help update a reader’s knowledge about a country beyond what may have been learned from a famous movie, a visit some 20 years ago etc. I think your dust jacket doesn’t do justice to that aspect of your writing. Your writing also is less dense than what a Lonely Planet type publication provides. It has aspects of Peter Mayle’s (Toujours Provence etc.) writing style to it.
I agree with your observations about the dust jacket, although I'm not sure how to improve the words. I'm think about it....
I also agree that the book reflects current events and not life 20 years ago. It's meant to be fresh, packed with info, and entertaining. I hope the cover ends up capturing that.