Day 3 in San Francisco: How Long Before You Sell Your First Travel Story?

Free Report #3 from The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop San Francisco, CA

Allison, your “Official Workshop Spy,” reporting to you again from the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop in San Francisco, C.A. And what a day it’s been…

As travel writer Roy Stevenson began his presentation today, you could have heard a pin drop in the room.

Just five years ago, you see, Roy sat, just like each one of us, in a crowd of travel writing enthusiasts — eager to learn the techniques and secrets to turning a passion for travel (and other hobbies) into a lucrative income.

We’d all heard the “Legend of Roy,” of course. Of how, within 30 days of attending the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop in 2007, this man had sold 12 articles…and went on to sell a total of 150 the following year.

Now, our ears were peeled. We wanted this guy’s winning formula. And, Roy surely didn’t disappoint.

Just between you and me — since you couldn’t be in the room — I’d like to share some of the things Roy told us today to help us all fast-track our travel-writing careers…and get published within the next month…

** WORKSHOP LEAK: ROY’S TOP TIPS FOR GETTING PUBLISHED IN 30 DAYS OR LESS

1. Draw up a potential story list. Stories can be about anything that interests you on a recent, or upcoming, trip. Brainstorm with your spouse or a friend about what you enjoyed the most on your last trip. It’s likely that if it interested you, it will interest a travel magazine editor.

2. When you travel, you need to compulsively collect all of the tourist brochures and literature that you can find. Between this information, the Internet, and contacting the tourism department where you’ve been, you’ll have more than enough information to write about.

3. Once you have your story ideas and information, you need to match them with potential magazines where you’ll send your queries. This can be time consuming, but it’s absolutely necessary. (Roy says he prepares lengthy “distribution lists” of magazines, and then sends his query letter to them all. His travel magazine distribution lists have 10 to 45 magazines on them.)

4. Editors love it when you tell them that you have photos to accompany your story. So take lots and lots of high-resolution photos (by putting your camera on its highest quality setting). Roy admitted he’s not a particularly skilled photographer, but he has a good quality point-and-shoot camera that has kept his editors happy. He also shoots the attractions he visits close up, far away, and from different angles. That way, he and his editors have a wide selection of images to choose from.

Finally, you need to actually put your fingers on the keyboard and send out your query letters to magazines. This is the first big hurdle to getting started in travel writing and the main thing that deters many aspiring travel writers. Don’t let it scare you. Send out those query letters and see what happens. And send out lots of them, pitching different ideas to many different magazines.

There you have it! Thanks, Roy, for sharing your practical approach to getting started fast. You certainly inspired us all to knuckle down and just do it!

Until tomorrow…

— Allison

Allison Maryan
Great Escape Publishing
Official Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop Spy

[Editor’s Note: Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.]