Introducing Julie and Mike Neal
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Introducing Julie and Mike Neal
Julie and Mike Neal are a husband and wife writing team that recently released their second book, The Complete Walt Disney World: The Definitive Disney Handbook. In a market saturated with Walt Disney World travel guides of all shapes and sizes and target audiences, The Complete Walt Disney World has quickly built a name for itself as one of the best. It consistently ranks among the most popular WDW guidebooks on Amazon.com and has garnered praise in the Chicago Tribune, the Orlando Sentinel and elsewhere.
We at LaughingPlace.com are very pleased to welcome Julie and Mike Neal to our list of columnists. Starting in September they will be bringing regular columns on various aspects of visiting Walt Disney World to LaughingPlace.com readers. Below are a few questions we asked the Neals to help introduce them to you. We look forward to bringing you much more from them in the future.
Is this your first book?
No. Our first book was "Sanibel & Captiva: A Guide to the Islands," which we
first published in 2002. It's a travel guide to the two side-by-side islands off
the coast of Fort Myers, Florida, where we have lived for many years. We'll have
the third edition out next spring.
Why did you decide to write The Complete Walt Disney World?
After we published the first edition of our Sanibel & Captiva book, we wanted to
tackle something larger for a second book. Mike at first wanted to do a book
about Cuba, but Walt Disney World seemed more feasible.
What was your target audience when you began and did that change while
writing it?
From the start, our target audience has been people who are already planning to
spend at least a few days at Disney and truly want to have a good time while
they're here. For example, those who really want to enjoy their experience
riding It's A Small World, not just sit there while their kids are having fun.
How long did it take you to write The Complete Walt Disney World?
Five years. We thought it would take one.
What has the response been like so far both in terms of success and feedback?
The feedback we have gotten so far is about what we were expecting, that readers
really like all the depth and all the photography. That didn't surprise us. What
has been surprising, however, is just how well the book is selling. It's really
heartwarming.
What differentiates your books from the myriad of other guide books out
there?
Actually, we don't see it as much different than other travel guides in general.
For example, it's easy to find a book on Washington D.C. that has hundreds of
color photos and a lot of detail on each particular thing you can do there.
What's different, I think, is that we are the first publisher to give Walt
Disney World that treatment. So, as far as Disney World guides go, it's the only
one with hundreds of color photos and it has a lot more depth on the theme parks
and the other things to do.
For more information on The Complete Walt Disney World: The Definitive Disney Handbook see The LaughingPlace Store.
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-- Posted August 30, 2007