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Breaking
into Travel Writing
by L. Peat O'Neil
The best tip I can give you: learn to write short.
Whether you plan to write for newspaper travel
sections or glossy magazines with gorgeous photos, editors prize travel writers who turn
in tightly written copy. No matter how well you think you write, you will sell more work
if you write short, especially in the travel market.
Why bother, you might be wondering? Well, one way freelance travel writers break into the
$2-a-word glossy travel and shelter magazine market is through the front-of-the-book
sections. In those sections-- which are made up of a variety of short clever items,
photos, product reviews -- a "story" is really a fast-paced blurb or a
mini-interview, but the writer gets a tag or by-line and usually, a significant check for
little effort.
Magazine editors try out freelancers on these midget league pieces because they'll lose
small if the writer tanks the assignment. Worst case scenario, the editor can write it
herself. Best case scenario for a freelancer is the editor likes how you handle the
short item and listens to your ideas for a full-length story. Next assignment: a longer
piece, maybe with travel expenses. Be aware that many of those little pieces are written
by the magazine's staff. For insight on whether the items are freelance written, compare
tag lines with the names on the masthead.
Those little items can be lucrative. Once you internalize the structure of a 250 to
500 word piece, you can knock them off quickly at proportionately better pay than a longer
researched story. Pitch the idea as you would any other, after finding out which editor
assigns for the "front of the book" department. If you're good, editors will be
calling you and asking if you could dash off 600 words, pretty please, by Tuesday.
If you plan to produce material for websites, you'll have to write the story in
less than 700 words.
You'll also sell to newspaper travel editors if you write tightly. Travel sections are
pinched for space. Long rambling tours of Patagonia or Uzbekistan rarely appear in Sunday
Travel sections anymore. You will see three to five short (700 to 1,000 word) pieces on
specific topics. New Restaurants in San Francisco; Walks in the English Lake District;
Discount Shopping in Manhattan; Taking the Kids River Rafting in France. Sure, there will
always be a North American market for destination stories about New England, Florida,
Hawaii, the Caribbean, but being able to follow travel trends and hook your story idea to
lifestyle changes is an important marketing skill.
I can almost hear you wailing, "...900 words! Travel writing needs space for that
scenery, the people, the food, the colorful markets..." You're thinking about
destination articles that appear in Islands or the Smithsonian Magazine. If you can line
up that kind of work, terrific, but most of us write for bread and butter markets that
need short, tightly written travel stories. Generally, novice travel writers start with
web publications, newspapers and move up to writing for regional magazines and ultimately,
for the big dollar glossies.
Here's what else not to do: travel articles that start with the trip to the airport are
almost always rejected. Another fault in travel narratives is describing every meal, cab
ride or museum. Travel writing isn't just about buildings and landscapes, it's about
people and places. Hone in on what readers can imitate in what you did.
Target your story to the right publication or circulation market. Study where various
demographic groups go for their recreation-- beyond the obvious. Editors know that Santa
Fe is hip, that spa and spiritual retreat vacations have replaced baking on a beach, that
soft adventure and nature tours have replaced racing through six European capitals -- you
need to construct a story idea and a focus that rocks a travel editor back on his heels
and appeals to the publication's readership.
For web publications and newspaper travel editors, the preferred method is to send the
complete story, 800 to 1,000 words including a short sidebar, and photos. Newspaper travel
editors are more interested in your story idea and fast paced writing style than where
you've been published before. A useful sidebar can sell your story: where to stay, eat, a
range of hotels.
Travel stories with a service focus are hot right now. Easy to research because you use
quotes from experts to "tell" the story. Examples might be: taking along a pet,
inter-generation travel, active/sports weekend getaways, leaning a language during
vacation. Service articles about consolidator airfares or internet ticketing are usually
written by staff, because the lead time for a freelance writer to do the piece would
render stale information.
Photos can sell your article. Send snapshots, slides, transparencies, black and white or
color, but select images that have strong contrast and distinct close-up subjects -- no
sunsets, fuzzy beachscapes or minuscule shepherds on faraway hillsides.
Think regional. Your expertise about a region or city is an asset. Offer stories
about your hometown to papers and regional magazines that view your home ground as an
attractive destination. Editors will be interested in your local expertise, so mention
that in your cover letter (with completed manuscript to newspapers) or query letter (to
magazines). Don't pitch the obvious, give them an insider's perspective.
Aim for realistic markets to start. Sorry, but you're probably not going to start your
freelance travel writing career in Travel & Leisure magazine. Find your level and work
your way beyond it, using those newspaper travel clips to convince editors at magazines
that you can handle assignments on contract. If you enjoy wasting time and stamps, go
ahead, send your work to the New Yorker or Atlantic Monthly.
In the long run, you'll earn a steadier part-time income and advance your career
faster if you focus on regional, trade and special interest magazines. Find those
magazines on newsstands, on the internet, on a friend's coffee table. Almost all special
interest magazines are hungry for stories with a travel focus that addresses the
magazine's stated purpose, e.g. antiques, chocolate, glass collecting, railroading,
whatever. I've even seen a travel article in the Masonry Institute Magazine -- a tour of
the great monuments of the world made of brick.
Regional magazines are another break-in travel market. Many states, cities, recreational
regions put out magazines aimed to attract tourists or promote local business. Sometimes
the state economic and development commission has a hand in producing those magazines.
Local writers have an edge. Remember that regional travel magazines come and go rapidly.
Evaluate the magazine's finances carefully before sending a query or working on a
story.
How do you break in? Send a smart query about a place
within the scope of the magazine's stated objective, then follow up with a phone call and
have three other ideas you can discuss casually. Show how you know the region.
Scale back your expectations. The travel writing genre has particular stylistic demands
and you probably aren't going to hit the pages of the Los Angeles Times or New York Times
first shot. Pick medium sized papers that use freelance material. Seek out the smaller
suburban papers near large urban markets. For example, in the Washington, DC area, the
Journal Newspapers and the Gazette Newspaper chains are zoned to suburban counties, but
the feature sections (Food, Travel, Arts) serve the entire region. Every week,
those editors need travel articles and weekend getaway stories.
Sometimes you can break in to a difficult market by having a story in the bottom drawer of
your desk, my journalist grandmother used to say. And it's true. A news event can make
your unsold travel story suddenly timely. For example, a story about hiking in the Italian
Alps would easily sell when that ancient iceman was discovered a few years back. Travel
editors at large papers sometimes are confronted with a hole - a planned story that didn't
work out or a story pre-empted by other news events -- if they have your story, and it
fits (i.e. short enough), you could get a break.
Which brings me to another point. Submit work on many fronts. Travel writers who only have
one story circulating aren't likely to succeed. Designate some of your travel stories for
self-syndication, that is, send the story to multiple newspaper markets in non-competing
circulation areas, advising the travel editors what you are doing. If the travel article
is particularly unique -- unusual subject, great story line -- then send the piece to one
paper at a time.
One last tip, you must forage for fresh ideas about the same old places. As a travel
editor here at the Washington Post told me when the "Escapes" column started
years ago, "Every travel story has been done already, we just have to think of new
ways to tell it." This translates to research or lucky finds. Dig deeper into the
historical society archives for a travel story hook. Talk to people. Read small town
papers for regional ideas you can blow into travel stories with broader appeal.
And now, I better quit, because I'm over my assigned word length!
Copyright © 2000 L.
Peat O'Neil, all rights reserved. A version of this
article appeared in Writing for DOLLARS!,
April, 2000.
L. Peat O'Neil is the author of "Travel
Writing: See the World, Sell the Story," published in 2000 by Writer's Digest
Books. A completely revised 2nd edition was published by Writer's Digest Books in
2006.
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