LOS ANGELES, July 19 — The reborn editions of the Frommer’s travel guides will be lighter, quick reads, sold at nearly half the price point of their former incarnation.

Founder Arthur Frommer declared in a particularly exuberant and somewhat hyperbolic blog post published this week that the company’s new “EasyGuides” will spark a “second revolution in the publishing of travel guides.”

Part of Frommer’s excitement comes from the fact that the latest guides are being published after the founder of the company bought back the brand from Google this past spring.

This time round, the new travel guides will be quick reads of 256 pages, feature expert advice from locals and include hotels and restaurants in all price ranges, Frommer said.

And in a significant move, prices have also been slashed by almost half the original price of previous titles, which averaged about US$20 (RM60). The retail price for EasyGuides will be US$10.95.

The first wave of titles is set to hit bookshelves in October. Areas covered will include North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the South Pacific.

The books, meanwhile, will have to stand on their own against digital rivals such as user-generated review sites Yelp and TripAdvisor which provide up-to-the-minute information in handy smartphone and tablet form. — AFP/Relaxnews