The Bookseller.com

12th October 2008

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Lonely Planet defends its guidebooks

14.04.08

Lonely Planet had to defend its travel guidebooks today, following one of its writer's claim that he was underpaid and that many writers do not check facts, a revelation originally reported in Australia's Sunday Telegraph.

The newspaper reported that Thomas Kohnstamm's "warts-and-all" memoir Do Travel Writers Go To Hell? (Potter Style) includes revelations "that he plagiarised and made up large sections of his books and dealt drugs to make up for poor pay".

Lonely Planet today said it stands by the accuracy of its travel guides following an author's claims that he plagiarised and invented sections of the books, according to the Associated Press.

The publisher was reviewing the books that Kohnstamm contributed to but "has so far found nothing inaccurate", said Piers Pickard, Lonely Planet's guide book publisher. He said Lonely Planet's reputation was built on the integrity of its books and any inaccuracies would be quickly fixed.

Debate is also hotting up on Lonely Planet's online The Thorn Tree forum, where one writer quotes an email from LP c.e.o. Judy Slayter to travel writers in response to the news: "... We are now urgently reviewing all current books Thomas contributed to, using authors on the ground and others. If we find that the content has been compromised, we’ll take urgent steps to fix it.”

According to the forum post, she ended the letter: "This is a shit. None of you deserve it, given the effort you put in."

Sunday Telegraph

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