All Posts Tagged: travel writing
Announcing: At-Home Pitchapalooza Coming to Your Inbox This January
I want you to take your freelance travel writing to the next level next year. How can we do that?
I don’t know about you, but I suck at taking online courses.
Invariably, I sign up for them, I’m very excited, and then I just don’t make time to log in.
Or I do, and then I’m disappointed because the course is (without advance notice) only available in video that you have to watch live on the site one at a time with no transcripts or slides or worksheets to do offline, and that simply doesn’t work with my sporadic nomadic email access.
Our New Weekly Travel Writing Webinar Series Unpacks the Ins and Outs of Professional Travel Writing
In case you haven’t caught the news in our weekly travel writing newsletter (sign up at the bottom of this page and get the beginning of The Six-Figure Travel Writing Road Map for free if you’re not already receiving it) or social media accounts, we’ve started a weekly webinar series covering the inside scoop on travel writing.
Each week, we’ll look at what you need to know to become a pro:
- the most lucrative types of travel writing gigs–and how to get them
- step-by-step tutorials on all aspects of travel writing from pitching to coming up with ideas to writing different kinds of travel articles
- how to set up the work processes that professionals use to get their work done and keep assignments rolling in
Established Travel Writers Share Their 11 Favorite Pieces of Travel Writing Advice
We’ve started hosting focus groups around the globe to tap into the pitching, writing, and organizational processes of established writers so we can share them with you in a series of white papers.
To get the ball rolling, I wanted to share words of wisdom on travel writing success from the writers who joined us in New York City for our first focus group this fall.
Pitch This, Not That: *Much* Better-Paying Replacements for the Usual “First Clip” Travel Writing Outlets
As one of the first assignments of its travel writing program (more on that here), Matador has long had students scour the web to find places that pay for travel writing and then share them online.
For each website or magazine, students list the editor’s name, how to get in touch, and the submission guidelines for the publication.
To Niche or Not to Niche: What’s the Best Way to Freelance Travel Writing Success?
A lot of the prevailing advice to the soon-to-be-self-employed is to pick a niche and brand yourself heavily in that area. Proponents say,
“Who’s going to hire a freelance travel writer with no experience besides her own personal travels? You have to do something and be known for something so incredibly specific that when people really need exactly that skill, they come to you.”
But what new freelance travel writers respond with, very validly, is:
“Okay, but who is going to hire me for that incredible specific thing right now? I need enough clients to earn an income now, not just later when I become famous for my super specific niche.”
Don’t Freak Out! (When Emailing Travel Magazine Editors)
In a private Facebook writing group I’m part of, one of the writers got a huge outpouring of support from the rest of the group after a small melt down.
She wrote an article that was, for her, a big deal. She sent it off to the editor. Early. And then she realized there were a couple typos in it.
Are You Wasting Your Best Writing Hours By Not Energy Mapping Your Day?
I literally track every minute that I spend on my laptop using a time tracker. Not because I am a particularly micromanaging person. But to make sure that what I think is happening or is possible is in line with reality.
3 Ways (You Probably Haven’t Thought of) to Land Your Next Gig at a Conference
Whatever the business occasion, I am all about looking at outside of the box ways to rock it.
- Travel media conference? Get an AirBnB and host a dinner party the day after the conference wraps where people can keep talking to their favorite new people—or finally meet the ones they didn’t get a chance to talk to.
- Trade show rife with tour companies hawking their wares to travel agents? Scout their storytelling, website and other marketing channels and pitch them on how they can improve it to close more deals by next year’s conference even for a fraction of the cost of being an exhibitor.
- Press trip? Chat with, sincerely thank, get business cards from and follow up with the owners of each business exhibited on the trip rather than just snapping photos, eating their food and trusting (or not caring if?) the CVB takes care of those things.
How to Get Yourself an Ongoing Travel Writing Gig This Week
Before we launch into how, exactly, to set yourself up with a steady stream of travel writing work, I want to look at some reasons why having a recurring travel writing job is so, so important. Especially for people who are either:
- just starting out as travel writers
- struggling to have a sustainable travel writing income even after many months or years at it (and with a healthy pile of clips to their names)
Do Travel Magazines and Newspaper Travel Sections Still Pay?
One of the biggest myths about travel writing that I’ve encountered is about the pay for travel content.
For years, people have been going around saying there is no pay for writers anymore. Yet somehow a lot of us still earn a living this way.