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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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So
You Want To Get Published? The November sun streamed in through the windows. Eleven pale and hopeful faces turned to the speaker for information and, just as importantly, inspiration. What was I doing there? For some time I had been looking for courses which might explain the mysteries of how to get travel articles published. A browse round the website of Bradt Travel Guides led me to the website of Travellers’ Tales (www.travellerstales.org), a new series of travel writing and travel photography courses for beginners. I booked a place on “Travel Journalism”, a course running on two consecutive Saturdays on the top floor of The Old Ship Inn, a pleasant pub in deepest Hammersmith in London. The lovely views over the Thames, and the raucous noise from the ground floor as drinkers cheered on England’s rugby and football teams, were not enough to distract the would-be travel writers. We were there to see if we had what it takes. Leading the course was Jonathan Lorie, editor for the past seven years of Traveller, a glossy travel magazine published every two months. He was joined on the second Saturday by Alex Ninian, a retired businessman who took up travel writing and has had 90 articles published in seven years. They kept the group’s attention by dint of their own expertise and a few handouts, and without any Powerpoint presentations or other technological aids. By his own admission, Alex pursues travel writing “for fun and vanity” rather than as a lucrative second career. He does not make much money, if any. The reason for this is simple. Travel writing is not that well paid. As Jonathan explained, the specialist travel magazines will typically pay between £200-500 per 1,000 words, while the travel sections of the national newspapers may pay up to £700. A typical published article is between 1,000-1,200 words. Add to this the fact that travel editors, apparently, reject anywhere between 15 and 70 articles for every one they publish. This does not, of course, cover the world of writing travel books, but even there, in Jonathan’s words, “Unless you are Bill Bryson, you won’t get rich.” In our group of eleven, nobody appeared to be older than 50 and the youngest was probably John, a 28 year old photographer originally qualified in oceanography. Rob worked in financial services, while Alice and Anna were history teachers. Every face was white and - judging from the various conversations during the tea and lunch breaks - nobody on the course came from a poor or difficult background. It seemed clear that the aspiring writers were all, in their different ways, looking for an escape: something new and exciting in their lives, a chance to express their creativity or even a new career. I hoped that, at a minimum, the course would give some hints for improving my writing skills, whether they were then put to use for pleasure or for money. Jonathan estimated that 40% of the battle to become a published travel writer lies in the writing, so considerable time was devoted to that. The specific focus was on writing features or travelogues. (Freelance writers are rarely if ever asked to write any other aspect of a travel publication: travel news, opinion pieces, editorial, interviews and other content are created by inhouse staff or are sometimes written by that bane of modern life, the celebrity.) While there was not enough time for this to be a fully fledged creative writing course, the group did have the opportunity to consider some key aspects of the art of travel writing e.g.:- * “So
what?” Travel articles are written for someone else who may know
nothing about the place or subject - you have to gain and retain their
interest This ordeal was the final act of the course and I had the dubious honour of reading my travelogue first. The consolation was that I could then relax and listen properly to the efforts of others on subjects such as a day in Kathmandu, a historical journey around York and a gap year imprisonment in Tanzania. Nobody’s efforts were slated too harshly. There was some criticism of minor or major faults such as inappropriate vocabulary, insufficient focus on the chosen theme, insufficient structure and excessive use of exclamation marks. Partly, no doubt, the generally kind feedback was in the interests of the mutual preservation of fragile egos, but also partly because some of the writing was very good indeed. The style and panache of one or two others’ efforts was enviable. The other 60%, in Jonathan Lorie’s estimation, of becoming a published travel writer lies in the obstacle course which is the building of relationships with the key personnel who will publish your work. This may be the editor for a travel magazine, or the features or travel editor for a more general publication. According to Jonathan, 70% of published travel articles are “destinations” articles with a consumer angle - how to visit a place and what to do when you get there. The remaining 30% are travelogues, narratives which explain what happened when the writer visited a place. Sometimes these are issue-based features. As a travel editor, Jonathan was able to give much useful information and advice. For example:- * Research the market for travel articles. There is quite a range, including the glossy expensive style of Conde Nast, the independent adventure of Wanderlust, the family-friendly accessible holidays covered by Sunday Times Travel, inflight magazines and the many other publications which include travel sections. * Find out whether your target publications accept unsolicited articles, what subjects they generally cover, what guidelines they offer contributors and their house style. There is no point in writing 3,000 words on a Club 18-30 holiday in Ibiza and offering it to a magazine which typically publishes 1,000 word articles on holidays for retired people! * Before going on a trip, try to think of several angles for articles, so that you could sell different articles to publications. * You could contact an editor before going on your trip, to find out if he or she would be interested in publishing an article on an aspect of your chosen destination. The editor won’t promise anything at that stage, but he or she may agree that you can contact him or her when you return. Even a negative response (e.g. they have recently published something similar, or are already planning something similar) will be helpful as it saves you wasting your time. Keep a contact list and details of all your approaches. * Check your facts, to avoid embarrassing the publication and yourself. * Write to the required length. Above all, editors want to deal with reliable writers who can deliver the required text (and sometimes photos) within the publication house style, on time, and who can provide something original - an offbeat subject, a topical or new destination, or maybe a fresh angle on a familiar place. Some publications plan several months ahead, so you need to be pitching your idea even further in advance. Otherwise, your beautifully crafted article may be rejected, simply because you sent it at the wrong time of year. Editors do not want diary style text, long emails which haven’t been formatted to the house style, your opinions (unless you are an expert), content which is written inhouse, content they’ve already covered or they are already planning, or content which is out of date. This all represents a formidable challenge for would-be entrants to the travel writing trade. The majority of our group who braved the rowers and joggers along the Thames to attend this course may never become published travel writers in any significant way. However, whether some or all of us take the travel writing plunge or not, we’ll do so with our eyes opened. First published in VISA issue 67 (June 2006) |