Many fledgling freelancers aspire to become travel writers yet this specialized genre is undeniably a tough one, to get published in as any veteran travel writer would readily testify.
For a start the professional travel writer needs a heck of a lot of stamina and is usually required to do a lot of legwork. A considerable volume of background information has to be obtained, for people who go on holiday want to know about the weather, the clothing they should pack, how much hotels cost, the price of meals, how long it takes to get to the destination, when is the best time to go and a host of other details.
The travel market is generally a very demanding one as regards pictures and illustrations. High quality photos are in demand which means the writer must be a good photographer or at least have access to good pix. The standard of writing to succeed in specialized travel magazines has to be high; the writer more often than not must be specific and needs to develop an authoritative style. The competition is tough and there is a veritable army of public relations offices of airlines, hotels, restaurants, shipping lines, resorts, tourist boards and travel companies bombarding travel magazines with material.
Many newspapers and some magazines have their own in-house staff who write up travel features; others rely on syndicated material from big-name writers of international stature.
Yet despite all these difficulties the market for travel articles is still a big one and some novice freelancers do go on to earn considerable sums from travel writing. They discover that besides specialist consumer and travel magazines, an appropriately angled feature on travel can be sold to a potentially wide range of magazines.
Address of travel and other magazines that use travel articles can be found in major American reference books such as WRITER’S MARKET and WRITER’S DIGEST and their British equivalent’s WRITER’S AND ARTIST’S YEAR BOOK and the WRITER’S HANDBOOK. Small press publications for writer’s should also be consulted for these bring you up to date with the likes of editorial changes, changing market requirements and they often list new markets.
General interest and women’s magazines frequently feature articles on travel, so too do magazines specializing in subjects such as camping, boating, canal cruising, sailing, backpacking and walking.
In flight magazines publish a lot of material dealing with their destinations, and hotel publications are also interested in travel features. Company publications are another market providing a subtle tie-in to their product can be woven into the article and publications for the military and their families also publish travel features.
Travel pieces might also find a niche in youth magazines and in publications such as the American based Country Inns/ Bed & Breakfast. Magazines for motoring organizations are another possible outlet, as too are publications for senior citizens and retirees. Don’t overlook publications devoted to topics such as food and wine, or magazines such as National Geographic. Then there are nature, ecology and conservation journals that may be interested in travel articles slotted to their specialized interests. Daily and weekly newspapers often have travel sections, and magazines catering to educational publications emphasize work and travel abroad for students so a piece on, Teaching English in Japan, or Working in Singapore, might go down well with such magazines.
Don’t overlook online magazines and e-zines quite a lot of whom specialise in travel. Examples include British-based journals such as Travellerseye, Wanderlust and Love 2 Travel and American-based CEO Traveler, Connected Traveler, Traveler Tales, Tropi-Ties and Vapor Trails. In Japan there is Kansai Time Out whilst travel magazines on line from Singapore include Travel Asia, Wine and Dine and Travel Asia Net and from Australia there is Travelling Life.
Self syndication may be quite a good idea for the travel writer. There is no reason why you, should not offer your articles to markets outside the UK. If your feature is first published in a British in flight magazine, there is nothing(provided that you have retained the necessary rights) to prevent you from offering the same article to markets in the US or Australia. Don’t overlook Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and other countries with a big English language press. It is always well worthwhile seeking to expand your markets and your income from writing!
WEB SITES OF ONLINE TRAVEL MAGAZINES AND E-ZINES
TRAVELLERSEYE
http://www.travellerseye.com
WANDERLUST
http://www.wanderlust.co.uk
LOVE 2 TRAVEL
http://www.love2travel.co.uk
CEO TRAVELER
http://www.ceotraveler.com
CONNECTED TRAVELER
http://www.connectedtraveler.com
TRAVELER’S TALES
http://www.travelerstales.com
TRAVEL ASIA
http://www.travel-asia.com
TRAVELLING LIFE
http://www.polnet.com.au