Edited by Lori Appling in Washington, DC
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." -- John Quincy Adams
Today:
- Write Your Own Travel Guidebook
- Your Honeymoon -- Travel-Writer Style
- Are You Good At Persuading People?
- More Bylines Means More Checks: Two Tips for Selling More Travel Articles
- This Week's Featured Travel Publication: American Western Magazine
- More Opportunities and Resources for Writers
* Highly Recommended *
Write Your Own Travel Guide Book...
This November 2-5, 2005 in the Tropical, Color-Splashed Bahamas, You Can... Learn from professional photographers the techniques they use to shoot pictures that sell for $400, $600 -- and even higher.
PLUS -- Learn all the ins-and-outs of researching and writing travel guidebooks -- including hands-on experience interviewing executives and writing critiques of some of the most famous resorts in the Bahamas.
For details visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/bahamas or call the Agora Travel office at (800) 926-6575 or (561) 243-6276. Seats are limited.
Dear Reader,
Last week I said that one of the best ways to become a great travel writer is to read great travel articles.
Friend and fellow travel writer, David Morgan, wrote in to say that he agrees.
David used to work for International Living (IL) back when the editorial offices were located in Baltimore, MD. He said he learned the most about good writing by retyping the best articles they received -- back then, things were not so computerized as they are today, and many contributors submitted their articles by mail.
Jennifer Stevens (author of our travel-writer course) was the editor of IL back then, and Steenie Harvey (a regular contributor here) was one of those writers whose work Dave remembers retyping. Ah, what a small world it is... and how times have changed.
David is a freelancer now and he uses everything he learned back then to turn his vacations into paychecks by writing articles and selling photographs of his trip. You may remember Dave's story from our photography course ads. He's the one that sold his photos of Asia to a text book company for over $6,000. He's also a pro at selling his pictures at coffee-shop shows and at other local businesses.
Most recently he took his wife on a two-week honeymoon to Mexico and arranged to have all 15 hotel nights comped -- including a hotel stay and parking in the Atlanta airport the night before they left. He lined up five or six publications that were interested in either his writing or his photography, and he left with at least a dozen other article ideas he'd hone when he got to Mexico.
He didn't do anything you can't learn to do. In fact, all he did was follow the instructions we give inside our travel writing and photography courses and inside this e-letter. It's all there.
Well... almost all. We dish up the secrets, to be sure. We can't, however, provide the initiative you need to make those kinds of successes happen. In fact, if you've yet to have an article or photo published, I'm willing to bet it's that initiative that's lacking. It's that "get-up-and-go" that separates the successful writers from the sideline sitters.
Okay then, that bit of prodding behind us, let me tell you about today's issue: I asked David to give me a few tips I could share with you here, and he offered up two ideas he gleaned from Steenie Harvey at our last travel-writing workshop in New York. He said he often struggles with writing great leads (those first few sentences of his travel articles) but Steenie passed him some useful advice that has been very helpful in his own writing. I think you'll find it just as useful. I'll let David explain, below.
If you'd like to follow in David's footsteps (and arrange all variety of travel-writer perks), I recommend you read last week's e-letter in our archives at www.thetravelwriterslife.com as well as issue #56 on how to land the assignment letters that lead to free trips.
I also recommend you check out our programs here at AWAI. They're designed to help:
The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/sh/website
And Turn Your Pictures into Cash: http://www.thephotographerslife.com/ph2/website
And don't forget about The Bahamas extravaganza we have in the works. We're heading there in November to learn about guidebook writing and photography. If you're at all interested in writing your own travel guidebook, I encourage you to join us. You'll learn everything you need to know about writing and photographing for guidebooks as well as what you'll need to do to get your book published and negotiate your fee. Three students will get their pictures (and possibly their writing) published in B. Howard's new edition of his Adventure Guide to the Bahamas.
Call the Agora Travel office on Monday and ask for Michelle or Terri -- (800) 926-6575 or (561) 243-6276. They'll get you registered.
And, as always, remember to keep me up-to-speed on your success. If you have good news to share, send me a quick note at lori@thetravelwriterslife.com.
I hope you have a great weekend,
-- Lori
Lori Appling
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
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MORE BYLINES MEAN MORE CHECKS: TWO TIPS FOR SELLING MORE TRAVEL ARTICLES
By freelance travel writer and photographer, David Morgan
Back in the days when I worked in the editorial offices at International Living, it was my job to rewrite articles to make them publishable. In those times, information on living abroad was sparse. We'd take poorly written articles and rework them - so long as the information they contained was good.
Those days are long gone. With the proliferation of information on the Internet, and with living overseas more common now than it was way back when, editors can be much more picky about what they print.
(A quick aside: IL publishes many articles written by graduates of the Ultimate Travel Writer's Course -- articles which, the editors report with pleasure, rarely need rewriting. The course author, Jen Stevens, used to be IL's editor (and my boss), and she's got an inside track there. As a graduate of the course, so do you.)
That said, back to my story: When I was in the throes of it, sweating in a hot, stuffy Baltimore office, I resented rewriting those articles. But looking back, I realize that it was an exercise that taught me a great deal about crafting sellable pages.
Most of what I learned came from copying a particular writer's articles word-for-word (merely retyping so we'd have the text in the computer for layout). Though much of what we received in the mail was barely readable, often we'd receive a gem. And from this writer, always.
I'm referring to the work of Steenie Harvey, who I met for the first time face-to-face at AWAI's last travel writing workshop in New York.
Steenie is a master of the written word. She is also one of the most sought-after writers in the travel business. (And she never finished high school, I should tell you in the interest of making an important point: If she can learn to do this, so can you.)
Anyway, Steenie gave two extremely helpful tips, which I jotted down in my notes in New York. They have stuck in my head ever since then and proved remarkably helpful. I hope they'll serve you just as well...
STEENIE TIP #1: Be Happy.
Don't write about how terrible your last vacation was. No one wants to read about where not to go. People pick up a travel magazine to read about where they should go instead.
Try, then, to stay upbeat. Stick to recommending the things that will make a trip to your chosen destination a positive experience should a reader try to duplicate the activities you cover in your article.
Just because you got bed bugs in Bangladesh doesn't mean the next person will. We certainly don't want to hear about where you were bitten. Instead, make a recommendation of a better place to stay. Or tell your readers to bring their own sheets so they can rest up for the next day's rickshaw ride through colonial Dakka.
STEENIE TIP #2: Write Strong Leads.
While you're studying the articles in your favorite travel magazines, pay attention to the first few lines.
You'll notice that the editors at different publications prefer different types of leads. Some prefer serious and complex leads. Others like light and whimsical leads. Still others prefer human-interest leads, even starting out with quotations.
Be sure that the lead you write for your article is in line with the leads already in print in your target publication. Don't try to dazzle them with a lead you think is brilliant and "never been done" before. Stick to what works.
You may also find that you can "recycle" your same article by putting different leads up top for different publications -- and thus, boost your profits.
Here's my advice to new writers...
Study some travel publications. Notice how they stay positive in their recommendations. See how each magazine or website prefers certain types of leads over others.
Now take an article you've been working on. Are there any ways you can rework it to make better recommendations for your readers? How might you make your lead stronger, based on the articles you've read in those publications?
You can always do what I did: Copy strong travel articles word for word, until you get the hang of it. Psychologists call this "flow." Take that article and start plugging your own information into it. Slowly change the other writer's words into your own. This is a great exercise. But never pass off someone else's work as your own.
[EDITORS NOTE: If you missed the travel writing workshop David attended in New York, the Ultimate Travel Writer's Virtual Workshop is the next-best thing to being there. The virtual workshop includes 11 CDs plus 5 FREE bonus discs. You'll also get plenty of writing exercises in the two-volume workbook to hone your skills and get your name in print. The best part is, you'll hear straight from the industry experts in their own voices. It is like being at the workshop - only you can start, pause, and rewind at your own pace. To find out more, visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/virtual
Or...if you'd prefer to join professional photographers Rich Wagner and B. Howard, as well as travel writer Jen Stevens to learn how you can add professional-quality photography and guidebook writing to your bag of travel-writer tricks, join us in The Bahamas November 2-5, 2005. Simply click here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/bahamas for more details or call the Agora Travel office today and ask for Michelle or Terri -- (800) 926-6575 or (561) 243-6276. Seats are filling up fast.]
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THIS WEEK'S FEATURED TRAVEL PUBLICATION
American Western Magazine is currently accepting articles on travel topics. Your articles must tie in with the American West. Articles should run 1000 to 2500 words. All submissions must be made through the magazine's online submission portal: http://allthewest.com/contactAWMsubmissions.php. You can view the full submission guidelines at: http://www.americanwesternmagazine.com/cowboy/about/guidelines.shtml.
OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES FOR WRITERS:
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF WRITING -- Learn how to find the best story ideas and places to publish them...how and when to follow up with an editor...what you need to know about buying rights, contracts, and agreements...how to use syndication to increase your exposure and boost your earnings...and more. You'll find The Business of Writing Guide: A Practical Guide for Travel Writers (and Other Freelancers) Ready to Turn Words into Profits here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/biz/website
THE AWAI FORUM FOR TRAVEL WRITERS --You'll find this excellent online resource at: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/forums . It's a place to get answers to your questions, discuss your story ideas, find readers to review your articles, and stay connected to a community of writers.
TAX SAVINGS EVERY FREELANCER SHOULD TAKE
Find out where you can save... what the IRS really needs to know... how to make the most of those deductions for travel, meals, entertainment, home office, and more including practical worksheets you can use to make sure you're paying as little as possible to Uncle Sam. You'll find The Writer's Tax Guide: A Money-Saving Manual for Travel Writers and Other Freelancers here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/tax/website
MAKE MONEY AND SAVE THE WORLD -- What if something you wrote could... Help 3 million people in 29 countries get access to clean drinking water... Provide safe, secure housing for 5,400 families in the U.S. ... Protect 160,000 acres of timberland in Tennessee and Oregon... Put 23 new computers in the elementary school down the street... http://www.thewriterslife.com/fundraising/tw89
The Write Way to Travel is a FREE weekly newsletter from the American Writers & Artists Institute, available to AWAI students and friends.
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