Woodes Rogers writes an account of his journey, titled A Cruising Voyage Round the World.

While Edward Cooke, an officer aboard the Duchess, also writes a book, and beats Rogers to print by several months, Rogers' book is much more successful, with many readers fascinated by the account of Selkirk's rescue, which Cooke had slighted.

Among those interested in Selkirk's adventure is Daniel Defoe, who seeks out Selkirk, and fictionalizes the story as Robinson Crusoe.

While Rogers' book enjoys financial success, it has a practical purpose—to aid British navigators and possible colonists.

Much of Rogers' introduction is devoted to advocacy for the South Seas trade.

Rogers notes that had there been a British colony in the South Seas, he would not have had to worry about food supplies for his crew.

A third of Rogers' book is devoted to detailed descriptions of the places that he had explored, with special emphasis on "such [places] as may be of most use for enlarging our trade". (Little, Brian (1960). Crusoe's Captain. Odhams Press.)

He describes the area of the River Plate in detail because it lies "within the limits of the South Sea Company", whose schemes have not yet burst into financial scandal.

Rogers' book will be carried by such South Pacific navigators as Admiral George Anson and privateering captains John Clipperton and George Shelvocke.

Rogers has encountered financial problems on his return.

Sir William Whetstone has died, and Rogers, having failed to recoup his business losses through privateering, is forced to sell his Bristol home to support his family.

He is successfully sued by a group of over two hundred of his crew, who stated that they had not received their fair share of the expedition profits.

The profits from his book are not enough to overcome these setbacks, and he is forced into bankruptcy.

His wife gives birth to their fourth child a year after his return—a boy who dies in infancy—and Sarah and Woodes Rogers soon permanently separate.