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Issue #349: Do You Play The “What If?” Game? April 06, 2021 |
| Greetings Fellow Travel Writers! . . . and WELCOME all new subscribers. Thanks for joining us.
Editorial: Do You Play The “What If?” Game?
If you’re a novice travel writer, it’s typical to worry about many things. After all, you’re entering a new arena and you have far more questions than you have answers. Questions like,
“What if my query letter is too long?” or
“What if my story isn’t good enough for the editor?” or
“What if more than one magazine editor wants the story I just pitched?”
If you’ve found yourself wondering, “What if (something) happens?” you’re not alone. When I was starting out, I’d often overthink things and worry about what I’d do if they actually happened. But playing the “what if” game paralyzes you. I know aspiring travel writers who never get any query letters out the door because they’re paralyzed with worry. The reality is this - most of the things you worry about will never happen. Worrying about “What ifs?” wastes your time and distracts you from your real job of dreaming up travel story ideas, writing solid query letters, and crafting well-written travel stories. If you're straying from these travel writing tasks and worrying about things, you're wasting your precious time. Don't obsess over things that are not likely to happen. And, if they do happen, you can use your common sense to devise a solution. Having a set of business policies helps you strategize your moves when those infrequent “what if” things happen. If you don’t have rules (or policies) then someone else’s rules will dictate how you do business. It’s better to create your own rules. You need to have policies about travel, policies about writing, and policies about getting paid. If you don’t have your business policies defined, here are four business policies you need to establish now . . . This Week's Featured PostFive Golden Rules For Selling Articles And Getting Travel PerksIn my role as a travel writing coach, I field numerous questions from my writers. And it’s not surprising that I hear the same questions repeatedly.The most frequent topic I get questions about is selling articles to print magazines. The second most frequent topic is how to parlay assignments into travel perks. Here are five golden rules about pitching story ideas to editors and landing those travel perks. I follow these rules with my own travel writing. And, when I share them with my coaching clients they consistently meet with success.
Upcoming PostsApr 12: How to Sell Your Articles Without A Query LetterApr 19: Simultaneous Submissions: Strategies For Multiple Acceptances Apr 26: The Art Of Reselling Your Travel Articles PitchTravelWrite.com Success StoriesRey Waters: With Travel Writing, My Life Cannot Get Any Better
“I enrolled in a travel writer’s course and published my first article in Travel Post Monthly.
It was not long after, that I discovered Roy Stevenson’s travel writing books.
His first book that I read was Get Published Now. It had a section that mentioned getting started in your own back yard. At the time we were living in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. My wife and I walked a two-mile hiking trail around a lake every day for our exercise. During these walks we met all types of very interesting people. I pitched a story idea to our local newspaper and I guess you can say the rest is history. That’s how it all began. And here’s Rey Waters’ success story about how far he’s taken his work . . .
Pitch Travel Write: Most Requested Links about Productivity & GoalsIf you want to sell more travel stories, maximize your time, & wring as much money as possible from your freelance writing, here are three articles packed with advice and ideas to boost your productivity.Seven Ways to Increase Your Travel Writing Productivity and Take Control of Your Time Six Ways to Increase Your Travel Writing Productivity and Create More Time It’s important to sell multiple story angles about a place. Here are four reasons it makes sense to do so. Inspirational Travel Quote
RESOURCES FOR TRAVEL WRITERSFeatured Bundle: Advanced Travel Writer’s Two-Pack Reference Guides
In How to Land Press Trips and Fam Tours you'll learn about how to use your assignments to request free and low-cost travel. You'll also get all the resources successful travel writers have at their fingertips to network with the right people and have DMOs clamoring to invite you to visit their region. If luxury is your preferred style of travel our manual, How to Break into the Luxury Travel Writing Market will help you move quickly into this market. And it gives you a huge ready-made list of magazines and websites interested in publishing luxury articles. When you purchase both these books together, you automatically save 10% off the price of the individual books. And this month only, if you use Promo Code AP5 you can get an additional $5 off!
Group Coaching Mastermind CommunityOur first Group Coaching Mastermind Community kicked off in October, 2020, and we’ve got a global group with members living in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Vietnam and the U.S. We're very excited about this group of writers and our new community! We added new members to our community in early January and they're getting to know the group and participate in writing activities.If you missed out on the opportunity to join this session, you can get on the waiting list for the next session starting in May . . .
Live WorkshopsPeople have been asking when our 2022 workshops in New Orleans, Louisiana are scheduled.Here are the 2022 dates: We've had lots of interest already. You can sign up for our no-obligation interest list for these workshops and receive our substantial early bird discounts when we open registration: GET ON THE 2021 LIVE WORKSHOP NO-OBLIGATION INTEREST LIST HERE Did You Know . . .Our Complete Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers is ranked #1 on TravelWritersExchange.com’s Top Ten Travel Writing Workshops.You can access the list of the top ten travel writing workshops at the link below . . .
At Your ServiceCoaching
and
Consulting email: pitchtravelwrite@gmail.com
If you know someone who will enjoy this newsletter, PitchTravelWrite.com, is our information-packed website for travel writers. This e-zine, a series of travel writing books and reference guides, coaching programs, and our workshops all work together to give you guidance in this field. Our aim is to provide you with practical, nitty gritty information to help you gain entry into the travel writing realm and all the enjoyment that comes with it.
You can see the entire list by visiting their website - click on the graphic to view the list now.
Friend me on FacebookMy Facebook page is about freelance travel writing. I frequently post about:• links to other well produced travel websites and blogs • links to my travel articles • magazine cover stories and back stories • links to resource pages • links to coaching and mentoring resources . . .and plenty of other useful information to get you up to speed Link to Roy's Personal Facebook page That's all for now. Until next week - just keep pitching! Roy Roy Stevenson |
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