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Practice and have
fun...
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Each publication will handle the query process
in their own way. In general, magazines like to have clippings
of any stories you may have published as well as the story angle
you are proposing. Again, the easier it is for the editor, the
more chances you have of getting a response. Editors need to
have confidence in you and that needs to radiate off the page
since it may be the first time they have heard from you.
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Writing what you know makes you the expert. Your
own backyard is interesting to someone, somewhere. And who better
to write about Banff National Park than someone who lives and
works there. Ditto, if you are are, for example, a weaver. Imagine
the interesting article you could write about the wonderful
woven goods in the markets of Guatemala.
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Travelling free is sometimes possible if you are
the writer chosen for a familiarization trip or if you are convincing
enough to get the tourist authority to pay for your expenses
in exchange for a story. Again, have your great angles ready.
You will also be asked for clippings of your work. However,
if you are both professional and organized in your approach,
they may agree to help finance your trip without proof of publication.
But beware, word travels fast if you take free trips and don't
publish. Your free travel will end very abruptly if you don't
follow through on your end of the bargain.
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Like any skill, writing takes practice
and dedication . Travelling as a writer is very different from
travelling as a traveller. You must learn to record the sights,
sounds and smells of a country. Your reader wants to feel like
she is travelling alongside you. |
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What really caught your
eye in a bustling Vietnam market? Have you ever tried to describe
the sound of the ever-present wind on a mountain top or to write
about the wonderful aromas wafting from the kitchen in an out-of-the-way
Italian trattoria? |
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Finally, organization is key to making money as a freelancer.
Successful, full time freelancers have an extensive database
of potential markets for their stories. Do your research,
too. Start building a database of your own. Getting your story
into multiple publications is the way to see a return on your
travel investment. Happy writing!
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She reads more
about writing...
Here are several book titles
dealing with the art of travel writing. Perhaps one of them will
serve as the catalyst -- that extra push to help you put your Journeywoman
experiences down on paper. You go, girls!
Teach Yourself
Travel Writing by Cynthia Dial
How to Make a Living As a Travel Writer by Susan Farewell
Travel Writing by Louisa Peat O'Neil (Paperback)
The Travel Writer's Handbook by Louise Purwin Zobel
(Paperback)
Travel Writer's Guide by Gordon Burgett (Paperback)
2003 Writer's Market by Katie Struckel Brogan (Editor),
Robert Brewer (Editor) (Paperback) |
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Women's words on
being a writer...
Everybody can write; writers
can't do anything else.
(Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1963)
Writing is the only thing that...when
I'm doing it,
I don't feel that I should be doing something else, instead.
(Gloria Steinem, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, 1983)
I write in the first person
because I have always wanted to make my life more interesting than
it is.
(Diane Wakoski, Trilogy, 1974)
The role of the writer is not
to say what we can all say,
but what we are unable to say.
(Anais Nin,
The Diary of Anais Nin, 1974)
 Making
a decision to write was a lot like
deciding to jump into a frozen lake.
(Maya Angelou, Black Women Writers, 1984)
If the thought of taking off
all your clothes
in the middle of the Washington Mall during a school holiday makes
you blush,
you haven't even begun to dream what it feels like to publish a
book.
(Nancy Mairs, Voice Lessons, 1994)
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If you enjoyed this article, we're
sure you'll like, Her
Travel Journal -- Her Great Memories just as much...
Home...
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