Edited by Lori Appling in Paris, France

"There comes a moment when you have to stop
revving up the car and shove it into gear."
-- David Mahoney

TODAY:

• What Two College Professors, a TV Producer, and a Goat Farmer Did to Transform Themselves into Travel Writers in Just a Handful of Days
• 7 Places to Sell Your Real Estate Articles
• Do You Have What It Takes to Write for This Market?
• This Week's Featured Travel Publication: The Good Life magazine
• More Opportunities and Resources for Writers

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Get the answers to the hundreds of questions and concerns commonly asked in specific, step-by-step details by clicking here: http://www.awaionline.com/bib/tw891/

Dear Reader,

Last week's workshop in Paris brought students together from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, Austria, England, France, and the U.S.

The attendees’ backgrounds were varied -- college professors, engineers, travel agents, a massage therapist, a doctor, a goat farmer, a retired architect, business consultants, a TV producer, a realtor, an office manager, and a nurse among them.

The students heard from travel writers Jennifer Stevens, John Forde, Steenie Harvey, Adrian Leeds, Thirza Vallois, and Polly Platt and, in addition, had the opportunity to work in small groups each day to try their hand at writing travel articles they could publish as soon as they got home.

If last year's track record is any indication of what we can expect this year, we can look forward to a slew of new student success stories.

Take last year's Paris attendee Tim O’Rielly…

Before Tim came to one of our live Paris workshops, he’d never written an article in his life. But as a freelance photographer he has occasion to travel, and he was looking for a way to get more mileage (and more money) out of his journeys.

As soon as he got home to California, he put the lessons he learned to the test and sat down to write.

Two months later, his first full-length feature article about travels in the Mayan World appeared in Vision Magazine. Since then, he’s written two more cover stories for that publication.

Barbara Bode took our Paris program, too, and she sold two pieces she wrote during it to In Touch, an upscale membership magazine for women. Now she writes a regular column for that publication. A recent transplant from Washington to Malta, Barbara sold a story about her new home to Transitions Abroad. And then, in the market for a refresher course -- and some fun -- Barbara joined our Travel Writer cruise down Mexico’s Pacific coast. While on board, she wrote a piece about swimming with dolphins and has since sold it to another women’s publication.

If you're considering attending our next workshop in Chicago (June 17-20), you should sign up before Tuesday, May 18th. We can only hold our discounted hotel rooms until that date, and after that you'll pay nearly twice as much per night. Visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/workshop/bb for more details.

In last week’s e-letter, Jen Stevens gave us three reasons why we should add writing for the real estate market to our travel-writer tool belts and eight guidelines for mastering articles with a property focus. If you missed her article, you’ll find it in our archives at www.thetravelwriterslife.com.

This week, as promised, I'm including a list of seven places to publish real estate articles. (We’ll return next week with a full-length issue.)

Take care,

Lori
Director, AWAI's Travel Writer Program

P.S. Know a friend or two who'd enjoy the freedom and independence of a writer's life? They, too, can sign up to receive this free e-letter weekly at: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/eletter

P.P.S. Again, if you've been hemming and hawing about signing up for the Chicago workshop, now's the time to give Agora Travel a call at (800) 926-6575 while you can still take advantage of the discounted room rate. For details: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/workshop/bb I'd love to see you there.

SEVEN PLACES TO SELL YOUR REAL ESTATE ARTICLES: By Freelance Writer Jennifer Stevens in Paris

This past Wednesday, my colleague Steenie Harvey and I conducted a special bonus session on writing about real estate for the many would-be travel writers in attendance at our Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop.

Steenie seconded my contention that you really don’t have to have a background in real estate to write proficiently about it -- neither she nor I has any formal real estate training. You do need to keep in mind the guidelines I outlined last week. And, as you’d expect, the more real estate articles you write, the more perspective you gain, and the more credible you become as a “specialist.”

I poked around recently and came up with a few publications you might consider as outlets for your own real estate-related articles --

• International Living -- Writer's Guidelines at http://www.internationalliving.com/index.cfm?page=write4us
• EscapeArtist.com -- http://www.escapeartist.com (See today's featured publication below for advice about writing and submitting articles.)
• Coastal Living -- Writer's Guidelines at http://www.coastalliving.com/coastal/magazine/writers_guide.html
• The New York Times "Escapes" Travel section, which appears on Fridays -- Writer's Guidelines at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/travel/escapes/index.html
• Global Perspectives in Real Estate Newsletter -- Writer's Guidelines at http://www.realtor.org/cipshome.nsf/pages/writersguidelines
• International Real Estate Digest -- Writer's Guidelines at http://www.ired.com/info/guidelines.htm
• AARP The Magazine -- Writer's Guidelines at http://www.aarpmagazine.org/Articles/a2003-02-21-mag-writers_guidelines.html

[Jen Stevens has spent the balance of the last seven years gallivanting through Latin America and the Caribbean -- to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize and beyond reporting on and writing about the best locales for overseas travel, retirement, and investment. She is the former editor of International Living and Island Properties Report, and she was a writer and editor for several years at Trade & Culture magazine. Jen is the principal architect and writer of Passport to Romance: The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course, published by the American Writers & Artists Institute: http://www.thetraelwriterslife.com/sh/tw4]

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THIS WEEK'S FEATURED TRAVEL PUBLICATION: The Good Life Magazine

The Good Life magazine publishes pieces centered around Central Texas, including adventure pieces, and pieces that focus on whatever is unique or of interest in that area… a good fit for a travel writers passing that way. Find out more about their guidelines at http://www.goodlifemag.com/writersguidelines.htm.

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The Write Way to Travel is a FREE weekly newsletter from the American Writers & Artists Institute, available to AWAI students and friends.

© 2004 American Writers & Artists Institute

To ADVERTISE in The Write Way to Travel or to send comments, news, research, or story ideas, e-mail Lori Appling at lappling@awaionline.com.

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