Chocolatour Goes Indiegogo

Thanks to everyone who’s been with me on this wonderful journey of chocolate exploration over the past 3+ years. We have a lot more chocolate to discover!

This will be the backdrop for the cover of Chocolatour. Thx to Mike Adam Photography.

As most of you know, I’ve been writing the first edition of “Chocolatour: A Quest for the World’s Best Chocolate” over the past year. I had no idea at that point in time that the book would take so long to write, or the breadth and magnitude of the research I had accumulated.  I soon realized that this was much more than one book, and so the plan was transformed into a trilogy that would be published in a series of three distinct volumes that would divide the world up geographically.

The 1st edition of Chocolatour will focus on Europe and the UK. Within that region, I have spotlighted six European countries that to me, epitomize the best that Europe has to offer in the world of chocolate. I have chosen Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Holland as each of these countries has played an important role in the modern evolution of chocolate. And I’ve included the British Isles (UK) in this volume as it is my opinion that Britain is making the best chocolate on the planet, and that Scotland and Ireland aren’t far behind.

Chocolatour has selected a small number of chocolatiers, chocolate makers and chocolate companies to profile from each of these countries. My goal has been to give you some travel tidbits on each location, and then introduce you to the men and women of chocolate who are doing something special. Those who are the most innovative. Those who are worth checking out –whether you decide to plan a trip and head overseas, or whether you decide to order some fine artisanal chocolate online and open your chocolate-loving taste buds to the world.

In addition to these profiles, Chocolatour takes you to some of the world’s finest cocoa growing regions including Peru, Ecuador, and St. Lucia, where we also had the pleasure of attending the Jade Mountain Chocolate Festival. We have a full chapter on chocolate events and attractions around the world, in addition to chapters on the health benefits of chocolate, the personalities of chocolate, and a global A-Z Guide for Chocolate Lovers.

Because I am a travel writer, and visuals have always comprised a huge portion of any stories I have written, Chocolatour will contain more than 50 full colour photos in the 1st edition to help you become immersed in the stories and feel that you have truly met these masters of chocolate and cocoa farmers from around the world. But as you can imagine, producing a quality book with a magnitude of full colour images is an expensive undertaking.

I therefore am launching an Indiegogo.com crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to cover the cost of a professional editor, designer, and printer to bring this beautiful book to you. If you have been enjoying this blog over the past 3 years, please consider donating a small sum or passing word about the campaign to others. If you are involved in the world of fine chocolate, please know that you are as much a part of this book as I am, and please consider supporting it in any way you can.

If you are a strong supporter of the arts and independent publishing projects, please consider supporting my campaign with a generous donation here. And if you are a philanthropist with considerable means, please blow my mind with a contribution that is beyond my wildest dreams to help me bring Chocolatour to the world.

Together, we can make this artisanal publishing project about the world of artisanal chocolate a reality.