Easy.

Someone who likes our products gets in touch with us at the email address publisher [at] inyourpocket.com, and after a brief exchange of mails and a phone call or two, we send out a full information pack that gives people an idea of what it takes to publish an IYP guide.

Interest in publishing a guide usually collapses at this stage, when the realisation of what it takes to publish a city guide becomes apparent. However, those who have been completely bitten by the Pocket bug and who are committed to publishing a guide bite the bullet and go ahead and produce business plans. If the In Your Pocket Council (known as the Pocketburo) is impressed with what it sees, we give the nod and the applicant signs up with us as a licensee for five years.

So what kind of people sign up with us?

First and foremost a publisher of IYP guides has to have a genuine love for their city, and a desire to share both its best and its worst with a wider audience. IYP guides are respected for their insider knowledge and their accuracy. Fierce standards - as laid down in the Editorial Style Book, whose rules and regulations are strictly enforced - have to be maintained. Fact checking and researching can be tiresome, but they are jobs that have to be done. Publishing an IYP is not all about writing witty restaurant reviews (though that is a big part of it...).

If you have a desire to tell the world more about your city, and have the commitment to help us spread our brand worldwide - we ultimately want a guide in every city - then maybe you could be the publisher of the next In Your Pocket. You will need dedication, entrepreneurial spirit, some start-up capital, supportive friends and family, and to realise that publishing of any kind is no get rich quick scheme. As somebody once said, "if you want to make a small fortune in publishing, start with a large fortune."

For more information, contact us at publisher [at] inyourpocket.com. It could be the beginning of something big.