Santosha Guides is the next Indian Ocean Islands travel guide books series and advertising solutions for the local Eco, Sustainable & Sports Tourism Industry in the Indian Ocean Islands. We are currently looking for freelance authors and photographers to contribute to our next volumes: Seychelles, Reunion, Madagascar, Maldives & Zanzibar respectively. You need to have travelled to the destination, be a keen surfer, kite or windsurfer. You will need to have a good maritime knowledge of the popular attractions, be a good communicator, have some knowledge of the local language and be a cuisine enthusiast. Live and breathe the local life is what Santosha authors are all about.

Our ideal author is a traveller who will be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in a tropical destination. You will also have an eye for unique photographs and special moments which you will capture and save for our unique travel guidebooks and our Santosha Guides readers.

Santosha is myth, "It's more than just an island. It is many islands, and it is this island Earth on which we live. It is a state of mind, a state of being and a land of forgotten dreams. An island bound by the spirit of the sea and living within the spirit of man". The words of Larry Yates spoken back in the groovy days of '74. It might sound a bit New Age for today's corporate global village, but for all of those caught up in modern life and so very far from Santosha, the echo of these words might be more relevant than ever before" – Literature taken from THE ECHO OF SANTOSHA.

Our Writing Guidelines

Travel writing is all about the way you live your life, our guides are written with passion, enthusiasm, determination and focus. Thorough research and a willingness to go the extra mile all help. It's crucial you keep the reader in mind and the publisher's guidelines. We are after an original work and photographs not duplicates. You'll need to combine perseverance with perfectionism to ensure that you obtain full contact details and prices, and then add in a basic understanding of maps, which need to be compiled as you go along. This job is about passion, sharing vital local information with the true traveller. It's time consuming, poorly paid and very hard work – but it still suits some people like yourself.

Our advice is to read as many travel writers as you can find – from newspaper articles to travel narrative, from travel guides to biography, of course travel to the destinations itself. Getting your work published is the next stage. We'd need to see and pass a sample of writing, and would then consider any proposal that you would make.

In regards to updating, you will be asked first, in the case where the author doesn't have the time, and in that case we would commission someone else to do the work. When this happens, we're looking for someone with a proven ability to write, and ideally a prior knowledge of the islands.

What to Do Next

If you'd like to join us, please send us any writing and travel experience, together with a brief summary of your proposal(s), your cv and any photography you may wish to share in Flick R. Send to the attention of This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Do your research and tell us why we should publish your work? Should we be interested, we will ask you to supply an unedited sample of writing of around 500 words on a tropical destination preferably in the Indian Ocean. From there, we would work with you to compile a formal proposal and an outline of contents and a list of maps before committing to any new projects. We're a friendly and dedicated team, and there are always openings for the right people, so please don't hesitate to contact us. Remember to sign up to our Santosha Guides e-newsletter, signup can be found below.

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