In 2016 Publishers Weekly gave a prestigious starred review to the author’s To Belém & Back adventure, saying “As in the very best travelogues, the author seamlessly combines the personal, the political, and the cultural.”  Later that year PW’s Bookroom Editor, Drucilla Schultz, interviewed the author.  Here are some highlights: 

“Indie author Ben Batchelder – who describes writing as his fourth (and final) career – says that he didn’t write his second book.  Rather, To Belém & Back ‘first wrote me.’”

“His tale of traveling the backroads of Brazil with his black lab, Atlas, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, with our reviewer describing the book as “insightful and poignant” and praising Batchelder for “seamlessly combin[ing] the personal, the political, and the cultural.”

“When it comes to [direct-to-consumer] publishing, … Batchelder stresses the three Ps: patience, persistence, and prayer.”

“Perhaps most surprising to Batchelder was the positive response and overwhelming support he has received from friends, both old and new.”

[read the entire Q&A here]