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Issue #339: How I Deal With Rejection January 25, 2021 |
| Greetings Fellow Travel Writers! . . . and WELCOME all new subscribers. Thanks for joining us.
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Editorial: How I Deal With Rejection
Pick up any writer’s magazine or “how to” book about freelance writing and there’s a strong chance it’ll have a story about how writers can deal with rejection from editors. These grim little articles are usually accompanied by depressing graphics of dark storm clouds hanging over the dejected writer’s head.
I’ve always been puzzled by this phenomenon of “writer’s rejection”. I’ve never experienced it. I’ve never felt that awful sting of rejection that I’ve read about in so many books. The symptoms of “writer’s rejection” apparently range from disappointment to devastation. And from damage to one’s self-esteem to a bruised ego. The list of reactions to “writer’s rejection” goes on . . . anger . . . pain . . . bitterness. You get the idea. In our workshop in Seattle, one of my travel writing peers, James Ullrich, gave a presentation to the writers I coach about his experiences breaking into travel writing. He touched on the subject of writer’s rejection. James is one of the ten elite travel writers featured in my eBook, Rock Star Travel Writers. He’s been well published in top shelf magazines and has other streams of income including as a psychologist, and as a tour guide for Rick Steves. Curious about my lack of emotional response to “writer’s rejection” I asked James if he thought I was a sociopath because I don’t feel rejection. James didn’t even blink as he answered, “You were a fully formed adult when you entered travel writing (I started at age 53), so you handle rejection better than most younger people.” He added, “You’ve been a professional writer right from the start, and you expected rejection to be part of the process.” And finally he told me, “You’re not a touchy feely kind of guy, so you don’t take it personally when your queries are rejected or when you don’t hear back from editors.” My lack of an emotional reaction when I see a rejection email from a magazine editor finally made perfect sense to me when he explained all this. And I sure was happy to hear that I’m not a sociopath! How about you? Do you feel devastated when an editor rejects your pitches or doesn't respond to your queries? Or have you, too, come to terms with rejection, and accepted that it’s simply part of the process of the freelance writing game? This Week's Featured PostSimultaneous Queries: 12 Query Letter Mistakes and How to Fix ThemYour query letters showcase your very best side to editors. Successful queries take your compelling story ideas, your solid writing background, and persuasive prose and convince editors that you have what it takes to provide exciting and interesting stories for their readers.Being a few inches off the mark with your query is as bad as missing the target completely. This is unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. Plenty of books tell you what you should be doing to craft a killer query. But none of the books tell you what should not be included. I’ve put together this checklist. Make these query letter mistakes at your own peril!
Upcoming PostsFeb 1: Why You Should Pitch Print Publications FirstFeb 8: 9 Ways To Sabotage Your Query Letters (and How To Avoid Them) Feb 15: When Travel Writing Stars Align: Articles and Publications Destined for Each Other PitchTravelWrite.com Success StoriesJed Vaughn: How I Found Travel Writing Success
I told Roy I wanted to do exactly what he was doing and how impressed I was with his 1,000+ published articles. After returning home, I received an email from Roy indicating he was going to start offering a personal coaching service. With great excitement, I immediately got my name on the list. As a result, I became Roy’s very first travel writing coaching and mentoring student. This was a turning point for me. Everything I’d been studying and trying to implement was beginning to make more sense. Having this support and knowing the exact steps to take really got me on the right track. Soon after, I was pitching up a storm, and getting results!"
Pitch Travel Write: Most Requested Links about How to Land Press Trips & Fam ToursOnce you’ve established your reputation as a prolific writer in your region—or around the world—and you have a good relationship with several travel magazine editors, you’ll find a whole new world opening up to you - that of FAM Tours and Press Trips.These press trips and Familiarization Tours will provide you with free or low cost travel, if you have assignments. Our Press Trips Resource Page gives you 16 free, full length articles on how to land these free travel assignments and cushy press trips. They show you, step-by-step, how I’ve scored more than 100 press trips around the world.
Inspirational Travel Quote
RESOURCES FOR TRAVEL WRITERSFeatured Book: HOW TO LAND PRESS TRIPS AND FAM TOURS
Who doesn't like press trips to exotic and exciting destinations?
Since starting my freelance travel writing career, I’ve been on more than 100 press trips & fam tours in 25 countries. Places like Belgium, Wales, England, France, Germany, New Zealand, Bali, all over the U.S.A., and many other exotic and exciting destinations. I tell you this not to brag, but to tell you that you can get regular press trip & fam tour invitations, too. Books about travel writing might mention that press trips are available to travel writers, but they fall woefully short when it comes to telling writers how to get press trip invitations. Most veteran travel writers keep this information to themselves. My manual, How to Land Press Trips and Fam Tours, tells you exactly what you need to do to get invitations to press trips and fam tours, and how to organize self-guided press trips.
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.
Live WorkshopsPeople have been asking when our 2021 workshops in New Orleans, Louisiana are scheduled.Here are the 2021 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
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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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