One of the questions they asked me yesterday was how six months of book tour travel and speaking had gone and whether or not I’d self-publish my second book. Book Publishing. Book publishing is fascinating. In today’s immediate gratification, fast-paced world, book publishing is on its own time. It took us a few months to outline, research, and write the book. The book came out in May of this year. It took another couple of months for people to read the book and write reviews. We have  no idea how the book is selling. MORE >>

Gatwick Airport recently became the first European airport to use the social network Soundcloud by releasing a series of audio books for kids and parents. ”  This campaign is timed to focus around families traveling during this summer’s school holidays. Authors interested in participating can send their story to  creative.thinking@ gatwickairport.com  – the Gatwick communications team will be selecting stories to feature weekly,  based on criteria that have been set to  ensure it will be appealing to families travelling through Gatwick in the summer holidays. MORE >>

Tweet Often hailed as the top travel review aggregation site,  TripAdvisor launched as an independent company on December 20th 2011 after separating from parent travel booking company Expedia. With almost 1 in every 4 UK holidaymakers using Tripadvisor to research their holiday before booking, the success of TripAdvisor is undeniable in terms of SEO value, word-of-mouth and trusted reviews. And the valuation of  TripAdvisor at nearly $4bn is testament to its success as a social travel site, highlighting the value of social media for the travel industry. MORE >>

There is a war brewing within the online travel agency space over Google’s recent move with Google Flights and Google Hotels. Google  began positioning its new flight-finding feature at the top of general search results for airline booking information earlier this month. And its new competitors in the $110 billion online travel industry aren’t happy about the search giant crashing the party, according to a recent  Wall Street Journal  report. Travel is hot for 2012 and beyond.  An Business travel spend is expected to have grown 6.9% billion. billion). MORE >>

As we bathe in the memory of friends, family and BBQ over this week’s Memorial Day holiday, our minds are now tuned up and ready to hit our favorite travel season – summer. While there are literally thousands of online tools and apps to help you plan the perfect retreat, here’s my top 46 list I hope will make your travel season one that’s effortless, fun and filled with great memories. Trippy – Like Pinterest, but dedicated exclusively to collecting and sharing travel ideas ( Web, iPhone). Tripit - Keep all of your travel plans in one spot. Visualize. MORE >>