Comments on: How do I start in travel writing?

Question: How do I start in travel writing?

punkbitch — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 15:15:55 -0800

OK. Jessamyn (about 3 posts down) asks a similar question BUT . . . I too, am employed as a librarian who makes occasional (shitty) money on the side writing feature articles or whatever comes my way. In May I am moving to Argentina. I plan on returning for grad school in Journalism in 2006 and want to bolster my writing resume. Question: How difficult is it to do correspondence writing if I don't already have an in? Any travel writers out there? What's the secret?

By: jeffmshaw

jeffmshaw — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 16:54:09 -0800

Travel writing is one of the more difficult areas of freelance journalism to get into, since just about everyone wants to do it. It's is possible, though, especially if you have good clips.

There's no real secret that I've found except tons of sweat equity. Pitch good stories, pitch a lot of stories, and pitch to a variety of markets. I keep a Word doc of submission guidelines for various markets, including travel pubs: e-mail me if you're interested, and I'll send it to you.

By: inksyndicate

inksyndicate — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 17:10:40 -0800

Mastering the art of the query letter through a book like this one is the most important pitch skill. Don't listen to people who say you have to know someone to break into the business. Quality is always in demand. And journalism school isn't always the answer.

By: mcwetboy

mcwetboy — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 17:59:08 -0800

A few links to travel writing sites from my del.icio.us thingy.