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Issue #399: What Are Your Travel Writing Goals? May 16, 2022 |
| Greetings Fellow Travel Writers! . . . and WELCOME all new subscribers. Thanks for joining us.
WHERE WE ARE NOW
With its classic central, colonnaded Peristyle (courtyard), marble streets, palaces within the palace, gorgeous arched entrances and wonderful sub-structures, this is living history. If you’re lucky, you can engage in a sword fight with the Palace guards! Each room has a themed gallery which include Meeren, Kings Landing, The North, and Beyond The Wall. I found the models of the White Walkers, the Night King, & Three Eyed Raven lifelike & scary! Plenty of photo opps here! Outside the museum, and across the street, you can visit the GoT gift shop which has every imaginable souvenir of the series for sale. Your museum ticket allows you to have your photo taken on the replica throne.
LAST CHANCE TO ATTEND 2022 WORKSHOPSREGISTRATION CLOSES THIS WEEKThis year we’re giving you the opportunity to take both of our comprehensive & exciting travel writing courses back-to-back in the U.S.A!This is your last chance to register for our workshops - registration closes this week.
You'll also learn how to produce quality photographs that editors will love. You’ll practice by making a photo gallery while you’re in Charleston to help you sell and tell your story. By the end of the four days you'll have a completed draft story with photos - ready to pitch to an editor!
Learn more and Register at this link (or click the graphic)
In this exclusive program we'll explore, in detail, every single step of my travel writing, pitching and selling strategy. It's only offered once a year. If you want to learn how to break into travel writing, sell your stories to reputable paying print magazines, and get paid - you NEED to take this course!
Register at this link (or click graphic)
If you’re serious about travel writing, this is the best investment you can make to learn everything you need to know about mastering the art & craft of travel writing, travel photography, using your assignments to get complimentary travel perks, successfully selling your stories, and much more.
Register here (or click the graphic) for The Complete Package
To ensure a personal, quality experience for everyone, registrations is limited. What Makes Charleston An Ideal Destination For Our Travel Writing Workshops? Charleston, South Carolina well deserves its reputation as one of America’s most diverse and interesting small cities. Travel + Leisure magazine has named it the Best City in the U.S. for the last 9 straight years.
Editorial: A Complete Lack Of ConsistencyA mantra you’ll often hear me repeat in my PitchTravelWrite posts and at my Travel Writing & Marketing Master Classes is, “The only consistent thing about freelance travel writing is its complete lack of consistency.”By this, I mean there are no gold standards in freelance travel writing. For example:
To add to this confusing milieu, contemporary travel writers are faced with a turbulent ever-changing field, like careening down a river with whitewater rapids. We can be floating gently along on calm waters one day, and find the next day our regular magazine clients have disappeared. Chaos! Editors move on, magazines and publishers fold, and the Internet continues to test the fortitude of print magazine publishers. As advanced sentient beings we crave stability and consistency. I get this. This is a normal reaction to the rapidly changing world around us. But, if you enter freelance travel writing expecting it to be neatly and uniformly standardized and packaged, you’re setting yourself up to be disillusioned. It doesn’t all go your own way. You won’t immediately bring in a regular and stable income. Your queries won’t immediately be accepted. Even elite travel writers only operate at 25% to 40% acceptance rates for their pitches. How do you overcome these inherent inconsistencies? Be prepared for inconsistency and understand that you’re on a learning curve that could take you several years to ascend. Enter the mysterious world of freelance travel writing with your eyes wide open. Expect the unexpected. Deal with its problems rationally and professionally as you encounter them, and you’ll be fine. If you have the patience to persevere and ride it out with a healthy dose of flexibility and creativity, you’ll find a whole universe of mind-blowing travel opportunities opening up to you. I’ve been on more than 100 press trips and Fam Tours to hundreds of wonderful destinations in 25 countries spread around the world. I’ve never regretted my decision to become a travel writer! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been standing at an exciting destination or attending a special event and had to pinch myself. It was hard to believe I had free entry, personal guided tours, VIP treatment — and that I was getting paid to write stories about these destinations and events. Getting to this level has not been easy. But I’m sure glad I stuck with it. I urge you to stick with it too. Don’t be impatient. Give it a chance. Here’s what you need to succeed in the travel writing game Featured PostWhat Are Your Travel Writing Goals?One of my travel writing goals when I started freelancing was to get paid to travel. I love to travel and writing about it was a way to earn money from something I love to do. So I started up my freelance writing business and got busy selling stories to editors. Getting paid to write about my travels was my sole objective.I used to believe that everyone else wrote for exactly the same reason, but after meeting hundreds of other travel writers, I realize now that we all do it for different reasons. It comes down to knowing your goals and staying true to your vision. If you’re clear about your goals, you’ll know whether to be satisfied where you are — or if you need to do something else to move yourself into a different category and perhaps enjoy some additional benefits. Here are the different types of travel writers and some ideas to help you set your travel writing goals
Upcoming PostsMay 23: The Travel Writing Life in the Office and OnlineMay 30: Seven Travel Writing Mistakes Beginners Make PitchTravelWrite.com Success StoriesBarb Harmon: A Travel Writing Success Story
“After the death of my youngest son, I sank into what appeared to be a dark, ugly, depression. I lost interest in everything, including a successful online business.
My grief counselor pronounced a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I was shocked but relieved when she assured me she could help me cope with the symptoms.
She asked, "What do you want to do with your life?" Without hesitation, I replied, "I want to be a travel writer." The first step was to gently dip my toes in the water by creating a new blog. I was writing again and it felt good. I spent hours online reading masses of information on travel writing. I didn't know if anyone would be interested in my stories, but I was determined to write them. An editor mentioned she might like a roundup story about Guadalajara in the future. She asked if I was interested. Of course, I said, "yes." But what’s a roundup story, I wondered?”
Pitch Travel Write: Most Requested Links About Specializing vs DiversifyingShould you specialize in one genre or diversify into many? I recommend you do both. Start out by writing in one genre then expand out.When you increase the specialty areas and genres you write in, your potential market increases exponentially. Writing in multiple genres expands your writing bandwidth and prevents you getting bored with one subject. And, financially, you’ll be better off because it’s easier to sell more stories when you write in multiple genres. Write in as many genres as you can. If I had just written in one genre, I wouldn't have had anywhere near as much success. By writing in multiple genres, I’ve sold more than 1,000 stories to 200+ regional, national, and international magazines, newspapers, trade journals, custom publications, specialty magazines, in-flights, on-boards, and online travel magazines. Although you’ll obviously pitch and sell more stories about your interests and passions, you should always strive to get your stories published in as many different genres and magazines as you can. Here's more reading on this subject:
Inspirational Travel Quote
RESOURCES FOR TRAVEL WRITERSFeatured Bundle : The Creative Pack
This bundle already is discounted 10% from the price of single books. For the next few weeks you can get an additional $10 off by using Promo Code AMTEN at checkout. Get all three of these books for only $24.95! Here's how these reference guides will help you. The Art & Craft of Travel Writing is a handy reference guide to make your travel stories sparkle and help you become a more successful writer. The tips and techniques packed into the 170-page book will help you develop your craft, hone your skills, and work smarter. In Find Your Niche you'll learn why it’s important to write in a variety of genres. It explores the multitude of opportunities available to travel writers and other freelance writers. You'll learn to identify the niches that are most interesting and meaningful to you. And you’ll find out how to hone in on the most profitable niches. Full of tips, advice and inspiration, this 85-page book will help you find your niche! Story Ideas that Sell guides you along the highly creative path of inventing and discovering potential travel stories to pitch and sell to travel magazines. Conjuring up viable story ideas are the very bedrock of every successful travel writer today. In this 76-page book you'll learn my winning system to generate story ideas that sell. Master this first step - and combine it with a great pitch - and you’ll soon find yourself immersed in exciting experiences with fascinating people.
Note: Don't forget to use promo code AMTEN at checkout to get your $10 discount during this month.
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, Indonesia 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 2021 and they're getting to know the group and participate in writing activities.If you missed out on the opportunity to join earlier sessions, you can get on the waiting list for the next session starting later this year:
Did You Know . . .Our Complete Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers is ranked #1 on TravelWritersExchange.com’s Top Ten Travel Writing Workshops.Your next opportunity to attend these classes will be in Charleston, South Carolina in June, 2022. There are still a few open seats in these workshops, so sign up while we have space. Our travel writing & marketing workshops are highly informative and a blast, socially.
At Your ServiceCoaching
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Consulting 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.
Awards and AccoladesWe're thrilled to announce that www.PitchTravelWrite.com is once again on The Write Life’s list of 100 BEST WEBSITES FOR WRITERS!You can see the entire list by visiting their website - click on the graphic to view the list now.
We're proud to announce that our travel writing website has made Writer’s Digest Magazine’s 2016, 2020, and 2021 101 BEST WEBSITES FOR WRITERS. Writer's Digest Magazine also lists us on their Best Genre/Niche Websites for 2021. Writer's Digest doesn’t bestow these awards lightly. And we’re the only travel writing website on their lists!
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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Also within the old town walls, Split’s Game of Thrones (GoT) Museum is a fun little exhibition displaying back-up costumes, props, set photos, models of Winterfell and Castle Black, and life size models of actors from the popular HBO TV series.
