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Passport to Romance: The Ultimate Travel Writers Course

The Write Way to Travel

Issue#32
Edited by Jennifer Stevens in Bethany Beach, DE.
August 28, 2004

"A metaphor is like a simile. -- Author Unknown

TODAY:

  • How to Find the Best Places to Publish Your Articles
  • Analogies as Bad as a Blue-Cheese Milkshake (stolen from John Forde)
  • Are You Good At Persuading People?
  • This Week's Featured Travel Publication: Dirt Rag
  • More Opportunities and Resources for Writers

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Dear Reader,

thought we could start this week with a little humor.

I stole these analogies from freelance writer/copywriter/friend John Forde's e-letter article titled: "Analogies as Bad as a Blue-Cheese Milkshake." He sent out the sequel, "Analogies as Juicy as a Wet Hamburger," earlier this week. But John doesn't post his archives online. To benefit from his words of wisdom, you must subscribe to his e-letter. You can do so for free here: http://www.jackforde.com ...

*****
On natural beauty: "She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again."

On buoyancy: "The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't."

On confusion: "Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake."

On fine cooking: "The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease."

On fate: "John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met."

On fate, the sequel: "Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like 'Second Tall Man.'"

On star-crossed love: "Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other leaving from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of
35 mph."
*****

Funny guy that John.

His e-letter focuses primarily on copywriting secrets, but every week he offers sound advice for writers of any sort. As a travel writer, you'd surely benefit. Check it out: http://www.jackforde.com And you can meet John in person in San Diego this November 11th-14th. (Details: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/workshop/bb )

Speaking of milkshakes, e-letters, and travel writing.

If you've been keeping up with The Write Way to Travel, then you know I just returned from Belize with lots to write about: swimming with sharks, corn ice cream and sour sap milkshakes, fresh-caught lobster dinners, night cruises, hotels, B&Bs (really, I should say B&B since there's only one on the island where I stayed) and I even took Jen's advice about writing real estate articles (see issues 16 and 17 in our e-letter archives: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com ), and I checked out some of the local property listings.

We get questions all the time from readers of this e-letter who want to know exactly how to go about getting published. So I'm going to tell you.

The thing is, it's not something I can explain in one issue. Instead, over the next few weeks I'm going to take you step-by-step through the process I go through to get my Belize articles on paper.out the door.and into print.

I'll start this week with how I found the best places to publish my articles and why I did the research before I left. I hope you'll find my experience helpful in your own endeavors.

And don't forget to keep me up-to-speed on your travel-writing success. If you have a story to share, send me a quick note at lori@thetravelwriterslife.com.

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

PRE-TRIP RESEARCH 101: FINDING THE BEST PLACES TO PUBLISH YOUR ARTICLES
By Lori Appling, Director AWAI's Travel Writer Program

Start thinking about article ideas with a specific publication in mind. Sure, once you get to the destination you'll be writing about you may find that you need to tweak the idea a bit, given what you find on the ground. But you have to start somewhere.

1) The very first thing I did was make a list of publications where I know I have a foot in the door. I have an "in" -- as do all our written course graduates and workshop attendees -- with the editor at International Living and also with the editor at The Traveler. In fact, I already have their writer's guidelines because they're published in our course books. We also have an in with Escape Artist, so I'll keep that in mind when I write my real estate articles.

2) Next I went one-by-one through the listing of publications in the back of the second edition of The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course (http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/kp/tw4. (If you have the first edition, one with a yellow cover, you can purchase an upgrade by calling 561-278-5557.) I added to my list every publication I thought might consider publishing a Belize piece. I noticed that some of these publications don't pay much, but they will publish something that has already appeared elsewhere. This will come in handy later when I want to resell my articles. (See Chapter 11 of our Business of Writing Guide to find out more about selling rights and reselling articles: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/bizcd.)

3) Then I broadened my publications search. First I considered my local publications. But Belize is a hard sell for Delaware since we're so far from a major airport. I probably won't waste my time here.

Instead I checked out publications in larger cities -- those with airports. The Baltimore Sun (www.baltimoresun.com) offers free access to their archives online. I found that they've featured travel articles on Belize in years past. but nothing recent. I emailed the editor for their writer's guidelines, and I added this to my list of places I might possibly publish something. I printed out a few articles they've run recently so I could read through them and get a better sense for the style and content.

The Washington Post lists their writer's guidelines in Writer's Digest's Writer's Market (http://tinyurl.com/2d99w), and their website (www.washingtonpost.com) also offers free access to their archives. I did a search there and learned that they ran an article on Belize this past March and sent one of their staff writers on a jaunt around Central America just this month. I decided that the likelihood of them publishing a piece on Belize from me would be slim. I figured my time would be better spent elsewhere.

That got me thinking that I should also check publications in areas with direct flights to Belize. Continental Airlines and American Airlines are the only two carriers that fly to Belize City, so I figured I'd start with their hubs: Cleveland, Newark, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, and Miami. I found a listing of each city's print publications here: http://www.newspaperlinks.com/voyager.cfm

My list was starting to get a little long (a good problem to have) so rather than research each of these right off the bat, I started with the publications that offer free access to their archived issues. (At least this way I can get a feel for the publication without spending a lot of money. And I can always go back to the other publications later if I find I need to.)

Finally, I turned to the airlines' publications. Continental Airlines and American Airlines both have in-flight magazines.

4) Next I looked up each of my target publications in Writer's Market and created a chart much like the chart we recommend our readers use for tracking query letters (see Chapter 9 of our Business of Writing Guide: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/bizcd). I included details specific to each publication, like: do they have a regular travel section, do they accept freelance articles, how many words do they want, are their travel stories typically written in first person, do I notice any trends in style or format? If I didn't find the answers in Writer's Market, I searched the publication's website and archives.

(The airlines magazines' guidelines aren't listed in my Writer's Market, but I lifted a copy of Continental Magazine on my flight back. Inside I found the name of the magazine's publisher and went to their website in search of guidelines. I finally found them here: http://www.pohlypartners.com/work_for_us/continental.html)

American Way Magazine, American Airlines, in-flight magazine, isn't accepting unsolicited articles, so I've scratched that off my list.

All this might sound like a lot of work, but I did it in just two evenings, and I picked up a lot of good article clips as I read through the publications I was researching -- articles that were written well and that I might use as models for my own.

I felt like this was enough to get me started, but I realize I left out a lot of online publications as well as international newspapers and glossies.

My goal is to leave no stone un-turned. So now that I'm back home, I'll be sure to research them. (See Chapter 1 of our Business of Writing Guide: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/bizcdfor a listing of the international publications freelance travel writer Steenie Harvey recommends.)

[Don't forget, I'll also be able to take a tax deduction on a great deal of the expenses from my Belize trip. Visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/tax/tw4]

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THIS WEEK'S FEATURED TRAVEL PUBLICATION

Dirt Rag is a magazine for anyone and everyone who loves to bike off road. If you have a travel story to tell that involves off road biking, then Dirt Rag would love to hear from you. They often include a travel narrative as one of their feature articles. These pieces run under 200 words and pay $200. You can query Michael Browne at editor@dirtragmag.com. View the complete submission guidelines at http://www.dirtragmag.com/contribute.php.

OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES FOR WRITERS:

  • AWAI students are entitled to two free issues of Writer's Digest magazine at: https://secure.palmcoastd.com/pcd/document?ikey=0768PIW08
  • THE BUSINESS OF WRITING GUIDE: A Practical Guide for Travel Writers (and Other Freelancers) Ready to Turn Words into Profits. 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: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/bizcd
  • THE WRITER'S TAX GUIDE: A Money-Saving Manual for Travel Writers and Other Freelancers. 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: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/tax/tw4
  • THE AWAI FORUM FOR TRAVEL WRITERS -- You'll find this excellent online resource at: http://www.awaionline.com/forum/. 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.
  • RETIRE THIS YEAR.WRITING -- Imagine a writing job in which you set your own hours, and live wherever you please: at the beach, in the mountains, in an apartment in Paris, London, or Berlin. As a copywriter, you can: http://www.thewriterslife.com/ph/tw89
  • If you have what it takes to write a powerful "report" that sells vitamins or alternative health therapies you could make very good money in a specialty field that desperately needs you... that will give you as much work as you can handle... and that routinely pays $8,000 and up - with royalties - for each piece you write? Find out more: http://www.thewriterslife.com/health/tw4
  • You could make $100,000 a Year as a Graphic Designer -- Best of all, there's no daily commute... no boss breathing down your neck.and you don't even have to be able to draw a straight line (the computer does everything for you). In fact, what used to be a very complicated profession can now be done on a standard computer -- even if you have little or no "artistic" ability at all. Lori H. makes a six-figure income while raising three children at home! And.if you decide this career suits you. We might even give you your first job. Here's how Lori did it: http://www.thedesignerslife.com/lh/tw4

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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