Cast a wide net for emerging markets and channels when pitching travel story ideas. Photo by: Dennis Jarvis
The thrill of getting bylines in magazines, books and websites is one of the reasons many of us got into travel writing in the first place. Seeing your name in print is exciting for any writer.
Increasingly, the broader you search for travel content opportunities, the greater your chances of seeing your name on more bylines – and more checks.
To succeed in the travel marketplace, you’ll want to become familiar with its various markets, and the best ways of engaging with them all.
Magazines:
Traditionally the bread and butter of the travel writing marketplace, magazines remain a primary income source for travel writers.
To expand your earning potential, look for travel writing opportunities beyond the consumers travel magazine space.
Travel is a great conduit, and parallel markets such as food, technology and the outdoors have plenty of steady travel content needs.
City and regional magazines often have annual travel (or local “best of”) issues that need contributors.
Inflight magazines (such as Delta Sky) and loyalty titles (American Express’s “Departures”) aren’t sold widely at newsstands and don’t get as many travel pitches.
Don’t shy away from approaching the major magazines in the travel space, like Sunset or Travel + Leisure.
Anthologies:
Antholigies are collections of stories by different authors that often center around a specific theme, such as solo traveling or world cuisine.
Anthologies don’t pay very much, but they make for great prestige pieces in your portfolio.
When you land a story in a curated collection of articles, such as Best American Travel Writing or Traveler’s Tales, your piece stands alongside other great work that’s been vetted and earned an editorial seal of approval.
Guidebooks:
Nothing beats having your name on a guidebook as proof of your travel writing qualifications. Guidebook authors can stake legitimate claims to destination expertise based on the sheer depth of research that goes into their work.
You can break down travel guidebooks into two main categories: destinations and travel activities.
Destinations:
The place-specific city, regional and country guidebook sector is dominated by brand names (eg DK, Lonely Planet, Frommer’s), but they face strong headwinds in the consumer shift from print to digital content.
Guidebooks need updating, printing and distribution, but fewer books are being sold.
Travel activities:
Niche travel interests are the long tail of the travel publishing space – there’s always a subculture that you can focus on and target. Specialty travel guidebooks cover topics from food and drink to the outdoors.
If your beat expertise lies in a specific subject, like architecture or skiing, look into niche publishers.
Simply go to a bookstore, look at the travel section and see which publishers are producing content you like. Then look them up online to learn more.
When you land guidebook work, you not only gain a strong platform for pitching yourself as a travel expert. By doing a great job, you set yourself what could become a return gig.
Some guidebook updates involve on-the-ground research, others are desk jobs. But either looks great in your portfolio.
Online Markets:
Consumers are paying for paper less, but they’re soaking up media on so many devices. The online marketplace for paid travel content has matured in turn.
Many sites have travel content needs, and writers who want to quickly establish themselves with published clips can find work online. The pay for online content can run somewhat lower, but the market is robust.
Traditional media players like Outside and National Geographic Traveler are increasingly focused on digital and mobile content.
Emerging players like Atlas Obscura and Roads & Kingdoms push content and design envelopes.
Sites with localized markets, like Thrillist, Curbed and Eater publish travel and lifestyle content for major metropolitan areas. They need content fairly regularly, especially for “Best of” and other annual issues. Think time pegs when approaching these
For a list of travel blogs (in an easy-to-scan visual layout), visit travel.alltop.com. Apple guru Guy Kawasaki’s site pulls together indie travel blogs along with major media travel sites, and is a great resource for markets, and story idea generation.
Newspapers:
The demise of the once-vibrant newspaper industry aside, there remain two key areas of opportunities for travel writers at newspapers: local weekend getaways (staycations are evergreen content now), and, ironically, online content.
Newspapers get much of their travel content from columnists and staff writers now, but may need more local content for the weekly travel and lifestyle sections. Some papers have expanded online offerings with needs for slideshows and video.
Offer these and provide specific angles on local travel attractions. Once you’ve written a few of these for an editor, you may become a local go-to source.
Check your local paper for writer guidelines – unlike with magazines, many newspapers prefer full pieces submitted, not pitches.
Freelance Marketplaces:
The need for web content and spawned an industry of independent content providers, who offer the work for hire on jobs from SEO-optimized web copy to proofreading to logo design on freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr.
At Upwork, you create a profile and bid for jobs posted on a huge range of projects. Wages are mostly hourly or on a per-project basis. Freelancers receive a feedback score for their work on past projects, which over time can elevate strong performers to the top of the list.
With Fiverr, you create a “Gig” for hire, build a profile and post your work for hire. Fiverr features a clever $5 entry point for work, but with upsells for enhancements like quickness of delivery, longer length etc.
For example you can say “I will write a 300-word blog post on any topic for $5.” But your rate may increase to $10 for $600 words, or $20 for a 24-hour turnaround.
The key to success working with these sites is to not overthink the articles, and just deliver the contracted content. Don’t compromise quality — your feedback rating is key to future success, so it’s better if anything to over-deliver when first starting out.
But streamline your process by using templates or other standard formats to help you turn clean copy, quickly.
Content Marketing:
Companies will pay to sponsor online content, and travel is a common theme used to deliver these mixed-media marketing solutions.
By attaching their brands to popular travel activities, companies look to establish loyal customers and are willing to fund neat content that’ fairly objective and provides value to the end users.
For example, see this summer travel guide to Austin, New York San Francisco and Seattle, on Mashable sponsored by Paypal.
Ask your editors about custom publishing and content marketing opportunities. By establishing yourself as a writer who can develop and work to a creative brief, with input not just from editors but often from clients, you’ll set yourself up for (potentially plush) repeat gigs.
Self-Publishing & eBooks:
The keys to independent publishing are widely available to writers now, with the emergence of the eBook marketplace and the Amazon Kindle Store. EBooks have grown to account for 24% of the total book marketplace as of 2014, up from 2.7% in 2009
Anyone can publish a book on Amazon, and having your name on a title there can do wonders for your page rank.
When self-publishing, authors assume the bulk of the workload traditionally done by the publishing house: proofing, layout, formatting, marketing the title. They set the prices, plan promotions and decide on the look and feel of the cover logo.
If you don’t want to design graphics or mess with ebook formatting, check Fiverr or Elance for freelance help.
Online custom publishers like Blurb and Lulu offer options for eBooks and printed ones, a nice option to offer for sale on your site, or at a book reading.