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American Writers & Artists, Inc and International
Living present
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The Write Way to TravelIssue#42 "It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous." -- Robert Benchley TODAY:
Advertisement TAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE TRIP TO SAN DIEGO NEXT THURSDAY! Find out how to make the most on deductions for travel, meals, entertainment, home office, and more. C.P.A. Eric Taylor will be joining us in San Diego next week to explain how, as a travel writer, you can save on your taxes and keep more of what you earn. For more details about The Ultimate Travel Writer's Workshop visit: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/workshop/bb or call Agora Travel toll free at: (800) 926-6575 or (561) 243-6276. Dear Reader, If you're still lolling about and you haven't signed up for our next live workshop in San Diego, you'd better hurry. We always get a flood of last-minute sign ups (just a handful of seats remain, as it is), and next week's program is going to be our best yet. We've got all sorts of great guest speakers and Jen is covering new material, too. Photographer Tim O'Reilly will be there. Tim got his start as a travel writer at one of our first live workshops in Paris. He'd never written an article before that program. 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. Two months after joining us in Paris, his first full-length feature article about travels in the Mayan World appeared in Vision Magazine. Since then, he's written several more cover stories for that publication. And next Friday he'll be with us in San Diego to talk about how to take better photographs and use them to sell more articles. Eric Taylor, a certified CPA, will be there too. Being able to write off your travel expenses is a big plus for travel writers, so we've asked Eric to explain how, exactly, you do it. In fact, he'll talk about all sorts of ways you can keep more of what you earn -- with deductions for things like meals, entertainment, and your home office. Plus he'll reveal a few tax-saving strategies I'm willing to bet you've never thought of. Those are only two of the bonus sessions we have in store for attendees. Jen's new sessions include: How to Avoid Detail Traps and Write Descriptions Editors Will Love. What Editors are Buying: How to Imagine Stories that Will Sell Every Time. Researching and Interviewing: Eight Secrets to Surefire Sleuthing for Incisive Details, Color, and Quotes. and Another Way to Sell More Stories: How (And Why) to Write Real Estate-Related Travel Articles. You'll also hear from travel editor, Tom Schueneman. Tom will be there Thursday night to meet and network with the workshop attendees. You'll get a chance to hear what kind of stories he likes most and how you can write for his online newsletter, The Traveler. We've also asked Wendy Vanhatten to join us. I've mentioned Wendy in past issues. She started as a student just two years ago and now has several bylines under her belt. She's taken our lessons to heart and will be there to help other attendees follow in her footsteps. I hope to see you there. Like I said, we always get a slew of phone calls the week before these events, and I hate to turn our own readers away. If you've been on the fence about coming, I urge you to act now. Call Barb at 1-800-929-6575, and tell her she should save you a seat. I'd love to meet you in San Diego. Take care. 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 Lori Appling P.S. This November we've got more reasons to come to San Diego than you can shake a stick at. Visit http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/workshop/bb for details. P.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 Advertisement Are You Good At Persuading People? Have You Ever Persuaded A Friend To Go To Your Favorite Restaurant Or See A Movie You Wanted To See? Persuasive writers are almost impossible for companies to find. If you have this remarkable talent you could be in big demand. Click here to find out more: http://www.thewriterslife.com/ph/tw89 WRITING GUIDEBOKS: HOW TO GET STARTED AND WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
TO GET PAID An Interview with guidebook writer, Andrew Sanger LA: How do you get started writing guide books? Can anyone write them? AS: Generally, you need to have a track record as a travel journalist with a specialty to land your first guidebook commission. If you've never had a published article, you might start small. Try writing for your local newspaper or magazine. Find an online travel publication that'll publish articles about your hometown. If you already have a few published clips under your belt -- write to the commissioning editors of major publishers (or better still, meet them at press lunches and book launches) and let them know your subject. If you want to discuss your great idea for a book or a series, be sure to put it in writing. LA: Writing an entire travel guide seems daunting to me. How do you plan (and pay) for your travels? AS: A small expenses fee may be offered, or included in the payment for a book. To get the free trips that make travel writing so worthwhile, and earn a little extra cash into the bargain, see if you can write some articles as spin-offs from the book research. Before making a research trip, think carefully what you need to find out. Traveling takes time, so plan an efficient itinerary. Make a checklist of facts you want for each site or attraction. The most important thing is simply to have seen something with your own eyes. Make careful notes: much of the text in my own guides comes straight out of notebooks. Details like when a castle or monastery was built and how much it costs to visit are usually printed on a leaflet or readily available from staff or from a local tourist office. You'll need to be just as meticulous when it's time to sit down and type. Divide up the workload into manageable sections. I like to mark the completed pages on the book's flatplan (a large sheet of paper like a grid showing all the pages and what will be on them) at the end of every day. LA: Who takes the photographs? Do you provide photos or does your publisher hire a photographer? AS: Although I take photographs to remind myself where I've been and what I've seen, they are not usually good enough for publication. In any case, publishers generally prefer to buy high-quality pictures from photo libraries, or sometimes commission a photographer to illustrate your book. LA: I don't think I'd know where to start. Can you offer any advice about turning your notes into a book? AS: These days, most guidebooks - whether slender pocket guides or weighty tomes too heavy to carry comfortably - are part of a series in which every book must be more or less identical. While this perhaps makes for less rewarding writing (and reading), it does mean the author's work requires few difficult decisions. Incidentally, I never start at the beginning. It's better to complete the middle of a book and then write both ends, to conceal any changes in writing style as the work progresses. LA: What about the money? Can you make a decent living writing guide books? AS: It's often said that guide-writing is not well paid. That depends how fast you write them and how well you know the subject. Books in series, published by high-volume publishers, are usually paid with a flat fee divided into half "on signature" (i.e. of the contract) and half at the end "on completion" or "on acceptance." Guidebooks written for royalties are becoming scarce, and likely to be produced by smaller companies. However, don't scorn the idea of working for a flat fee. Most of my recent books have been written for fees of around US$250 per thousand words. OK, that's no fortune, but it looks pretty good when the checks arrive. And you don't have to worry how the books are selling because you've already been paid. More important, while newspaper or magazine articles end up in the wastepaper bin after a day or two, books have a more permanent existence and tend to enhance your long-term reputation - leading to more work, often for better-known publications. They look good on your bookshelves, too. [Andrew Sanger is the author of around 25 travel books and guides, mostly on France, but also Ireland, Israel, the Canary Islands and guides for vegetarians. You can visit his website at: www.andrewsanger.com] Advertisement Got 1 Hour, 45 Minutes? Here's $63,700! This "business in a box" teaches you to create award-winning resumes and offer valuable career services - part- or full-time. Spend 45-60 minutes per client. and bill anywhere from $100 to $1,000 for your services. Includes a comprehensive business plan. powerful resume software. a time-tested questionnaire to give clients. a marketing guide with over 50 methods for getting clients. how to use the Internet to grow your business. and more. For more details about The "New and Expanded" Lazy Writer's Quick & Easy Money Program, visit http://www.myresumebiz.com/tw4 THIS WEEK'S FEATURED TRAVEL PUBLICATION Do you love to kayak? Then consider writing a piece for Adventure Kayak Magazine. The magazines focus is on all forms of kayak touring in locations around the world, but especially in Canada. They want insightful articles that will bring value to the reader. Queries should sell the article. Include a headline, the article's subject, message, and angle, and how it fits it Adventure Kayak's themes. Include the article lead and a proposed outline of the manuscript. Photos are critical to Adventure Kayak articles, especially features, so give information on the photos you will provide with the article. Send queries by email to editor@adventurekayakmag.com. OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES FOR WRITERS:
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. NOTE: If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut and paste the full URL into the location or address field of your browser. CHANGE OF ADDRESS? E-mail us at memberservices@awaionline.com with both your old AND new information in the body of the message. |
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