Burgett_travel_writing

Who buys travel writing?

Almost any magazine uses it, as blatant travel ("Visit Volvoland!") or other reporting on a foreign or different setting ("Teaching Kindergarten in Bavaria"). In fact, the latter is far easier to sell because too few teachers with something to share, like kindergarten in Bavaria, see themselves as writers or see much value in sharing their unique experiences or knowledge with others. (No, you needn't have done it. Just get the facts and quotes from others who did--or observed it--as you would for any other piece.)

As you can imagine, those magazines with travel built into their reason for existing, like Travel Today, buy the most. But so do magazines at the side of travel. I used to sell regularly for RV publications though I can't ever remember being in a moving RV. Skiing magazines, where you must go to exquisite locales to do it. Magazines about cars, cycles, boats, hiking, and so on.

Then the regular magazines, with at least one major article every issue. And the vocational magazines with stories set in other locales, as mentioned earlier: "Plumbing in Poland" pieces.

Alas, newspapers are buying less as they  shrink and others disappear, but most of the bigger ones still carry three or four pieces a week and somebody is writing them.

So don't let anybody tell you that travel is hard to sell. It's the easiest form and it pays the best. The demand is high, people have more leisure time and loose cash then ever before, and they want to know where to go, what to do, and how to stretch that cash as far for as long as they can.

There's more in my Travel Writer's Guide.

Gordon Burgett

 

Who buys travel articles at the newspaper?

Usually one of two editors, but if the piece has a travel base, say cooking in Cancun, you can try the other section editors, like food in this example.

The travel editor handles most articles and related shorts (under 1,000 words). To see the volume bought, check the issue on "travel day," usually Sunday, sometimes a week day. If they buy a full piece (usually written by the editor or another editor they know) that may run as long as 3,000 or more words and use both color and b/w photos. Sometimes they also buy "seconds," two or three pieces from 1,000-1,600 words. (I've found 1,200-1,350 words a good submission length.) One b/w photo usually accompanies them. You have a far better chance submitting seconds, and telling of the photos you can send, if interested. 

If the paper has a Sunday magazine (sometimes this comes out on Thursday), much more common in the Midwest and East, that too almost always includes the occasional longer travel pieces. These are almost always regional in focus, the site written about within 100 miles of the newspaper. Ask about length and if all photos are in color.

The most sensible way to tell who the editors are is to check the newspaper's website. Google it and search for "newspaper+city+state." If it doesn't give names, either the paper has no travel or magazine section or you just mail your copy to "travel editor" or "magazine editor." You can complete your address list by seeing who responds.

I go into this more fully in the Travel Writer's Guide or at my travel seminars, mostly given in California. But this will get you pointed the right way.

No travel site is only "great"!

Many years back, about noon, I received a rather frantic call from a woman editor of a regional weekly travel insert section who had shockingly (and artfully) avoided buying any of the many gems I had sent her.

"Gordon," she almost pleaded, "can you go to Morro Bay this afternoon (about 35 miles away) and get me a balanced 700-word piece and call it in (this was before faxes or emails) by 9 a.m. tomorrow morning? We go to press at noon! I have some superb photography but the person used so many superlatives about everything her copy is unbelievable."

The end of the vignette first, then the moral: We laughed a bit, she told me the four photos she'd like to use, plus three more she could also pick from; we phone-wrestled a fee, and I was en route--to the library first to see what other travel writers had also favored, then to the seaside protrusion. (More about the process in the Travel Writer's Guide.) At 8 the next morning I was dictating, newspaper fashion, the words, commas, and paragraph breaks. $350 and four copies arrived within a week--and a steady customer while the insert lasted.      

The point: no site has "five of the greatest restaurants to be found," extraordinary, exceptional, superb, unbeatable, world-best. Not even Rio or Evora! Every superlative must be sternly challenged; too many and heads shake. In fact, two very good seafood restaurants were to be found, the golf course had both an exceptional view in almost every direction and breath-seizing hills, the "Morro" (giant boulder by the sea, remnants of a volcano) was eye-grabbing, and it was a fun place to be, with its human-sized chess board, beach, peregrine falcons, and hiking crannies.

Readers want to be verbally entertained with the truth, word views painted with steady, measured strokes. Let the photography show the magic. Help them enjoy the locale. Sort through the many choices and highlight the best, things they might also consider, and what is a waste of time. Not an editorial but a 700-word view of a village vying for visitation near San Luis Obispo among many other attractions. Be honest, praise as earned, and avoid the big superlatives unless one thing absolutely demands the accolade. But two? Or six? Really.

Want to hear other writers talk about writing?

This diverges from the usual travel writing info I share in my blogs, but I was doing the usual publisher check-up to see if my books are available at the digital bookstores and I stumbled upon an interesting feature at barnesandnoble.com, under "Meet the Writers."

It's a chance to hear writers (alas, almost all are fiction and mystery writers) talk about the trade. In the podcast section, for example, I heard Terry Brooks for about 10 minutes describe how he has matured in the sci-fi field. And in the video short (about four minutes) I heard and saw a funny piece with Alan Alda. Just good stuff, inspirational, and it reaffirms that writing is a special kind of magic. It also shows how little the genre matters: it's all that blank sheet of paper with a million words trying to get on. You're the gatekeeper, and what results is your choice.

Is it hard to get these to play? Do you need special techie set-ups? I didn't. I just pushed the link and both played through my Windows Media Player. (iTunes works the same way.) No need to subscribe, either: just hear/see what interests you. Then if you like it, subscribe!

It was a good break and a self-directed way to talk with a fellow tradesperson.

Does anybody know if there's a similar outlet to hear/see travel writers?

Should I register as a writer when visiting a foreign country?

I never have when I was anywhere abroad for a short visit (under 2-3 weeks) just to freelance, mainly because it creates new hoops you must jump through when you leave. Those vary to filling out another form to needing a statement of clearance from the police. Sometimes they also require you to register in a different locale within 24 hours, so they can watch you, I guess.

The only time it was ever an issue was when Paraguay threw out the dictator, Stroessner, and "opened up the borders." I came a week later and the ever-vigilant Paraguayan police found my note taking and camera use excessive. But when I spoke Spanish to them and told them what a great opportunity it was to visit their country at last, and I wanted to share everything with folks back home, they didn't probe farther. (But I'm certain I was followed for two weeks. I just wish the guy had helped carry my pack!)

It never prevented me from getting key interviews either (five times with presidents in South America), so I think if you stay out of trouble, just do your business, and avoid anything unduly inflamatory or sensitive, you are fine.

If I did get in trouble? I'd contact the cultural attache of a nearby U.S. embassy or consulate. They are your friends, and they deal directly with U.S. journalists (which means they are also great finding hard-to-get maps, like in Paraguay, or getting difficult interviews).

See more about planning the travel writing trip abroad in my book, the Travel Writer's Guide.

Where do you find the first words in your travel article?

When I started offering travel writing seminars about 25 years ago, I was set back by this question. Yet it persists and is even more frequent now. So let me try to answer essentially too broad a question by defining it differently.

A travel article, as all articles, begins with a lead, which "leads"--it's the opening statement that tells what you are writing about (and why the reader should want to read more). Keep it short, a sentence or two, and make it "jump" with something interesting, informative, amusing, shocking, or just different.

But it also has to logically tie into what you will describe or explain in the many paragraphs that follow, so it can't just be bizarre or goofy. Plus is has to show some mastery of the language. It should at least be spellled wright!

What I do is gather up all the material at hand and figure out in my mind what is the purpose of the piece, then write it in a sentence. (Well, I think it in a sentence.) And that tells me the nail the leads hangs on. What it must address.

If I'm on the Island of Blink and the locals are renowned for being red-headed giants (meaning tall people), I will very likely describe a very tall, red-headed Blinker doing or saying something different. Or a group of Blinkers having to crouch under trees to hunt or gather. Or the marriage of a lofty Blinker with a regular-sized mate and the fun or problems that provokes...all in a couple of sentences.

The next sentence (and paragraph) might be the transitional paragraph, like "Being too tall and having too much red hair is a particular problem on the Island of Blink, near ______ ."

Then I will develop that theme in paragraph three, and so on, until the reader has a good feeling for the issue, the people, maybe relevant research, perhaps how migration is changing the demography--whatever else adheres to the subject and makes the editor want my words and insight in front of his or her readers. Accuracy is the norm; good writing, your tool of trade.

So I think the answer is found by working in reverse, from the bulk of facts to that core of singularity. The first words aren't the issue, rather the purpose of those words. Once found and stated, everything else falls in place. And if it doesn't, go back and adjust the lead and the transitional praragraph (or two) until it does.

My book, the Travel Writer's Guide, explains more about this. It's all part of the magic of wordsmithing. You can design that magic by choosing well the first words you share.

Gordon Burgett

 

   

Who do you interview for travel articles?

First, you must interview, or at least include commentary from others that is fresh and legitimate, to sell to newspapers and magazines. How many? Check earlier, similar articles in your target publication to see how many different voices are included. And see how they are related to the topic being covered. That will give you an idea of what the editor likes to use.

Three or four people quoted? About right. As important is that those people have initimate knowledge about the subject.

Doing a barn burner about the giant Schloss in Heidelberg? Try to contact the top official on site, maybe a tour guide for a few words, a local German architect showing something to his students, and maybe a quote from a reputable text or guidebook. Even a tourist is OK if the comment is funny, sharp, or insightful. Get the names and a contact address of each person quoted (or the biblio info from printed sources) in case the editor wants to check. (Do they? Yep. Particularly if they think you created some strawperson and put words in their mouth!)

Must you pay those quoted? Nope, but you can offer to send a copy of the article with quote to them (so get an address to do as you promise, even if the quote isn't used). Being in print as an "expert" is enough 90% of the time.

More details in my book The Travel Writer's Guide. Quotes are critical, easy to get, and only take a few minutes each.

Figure out what you need to know to make the article interesting and complete, make a list, and ask from that list. Then add in, "What's new (or different) about his (topic) that others aren't likely to know?" From that you often get a hook or new slant that others haven't covered.

Do travel writers get freebies?

That is the most frequent question I get at my "Writing Travel Articles That Sell" seminar.

Yes and no. But mostly no, in part because newspaper (sometimes magazine) travel editors ask if anything was free, and assume, if so, you sold your objectivity in the process, so they won't buy your submission. (Can't you just lie? Sure, but they may well check and then you are out of their orb forever.)

Yes in that knowing you are a travel writer (who else would you ask so many questions?), the answerer wants a positive article so sometimes they ask if you'd like a drink or a sandwich or whatever's appropriate to the situation, and if it would be impolite to say no, say yes. (That's not worth reporting to the editors!) But don't count on anything being offered free. Just go about your business.

If you stick in there long enough you will get enough by-lines, some recognition, and accepted by travel writers associations, then you'll find out about travel writing jaunts and so on, where a lot of the stuff is free. I'm a bit vague here because most of my 1,700+ freelance articles in print are travel-related but I'm not much of a joiner and have never been on a jaunt of this nature.

Just pay your own bills, earn money from article sales, resell them again and again, and gather points into writers' heaven

If you want details about reselling or more about freebies, I cover both in my Travel Writer's Guide, which may be in your library, hopefully in the third edition!

Manuscript guidelines for a travel article

There's not a lot of mystery about how a submitted article should look, but there are some dead giveaways that identify the amateur before a word is read!

When I give my "Writing Travel Articles That Sell!" seminar I haven't time to dwell on the physical composition details so I include a two-page section in the workbook that touches the bases. You can see those pages at http://www.gordonburgett.com/manuscriptformat.htm.

Mostly, remember that editors read all day long, so anything that is too small, confusing, involved, or mysterious won't be read much beyond a few opening lines. Nothing too bizarre either--wild red paper, arrows and underlinings, lace or perfume--or the editor will doubt your sanity, or surely your objectivety. Just good sharp prose that jumps a bit and makes the reader want to keep reading.

The clues that you are a novice? Too many (or any) semicolons. Misusing the em dash by inserting a space before and after it or just using a pair of hyphens for it. Worst of all, using just one hyphen for a dash ! And endless paragrahs; stop at two sentences, if you need two.

Read the guidelines and you'll get the idea.

A last, often-asked question: "Do I need to use the ____ Style Sheet?" No, but be consistent. The best style sheet is another article or two in the publication you're trying to sell. How does that copy read? That's how yours should read. (More about the content in the Travel Writer's Guide.)

Anyway, you can violate almost every rule if the copy begs to be used. The editor will make it work. Alas, 90% of what the editor receives doesn't beg, it just sits there. Work mostly on having valuable information or insights the readers can't be without.