Be a Well-Paid Travel Writer

Here’s an idea that allows you to earn hundreds of pounds, even thousands from every holiday you take.  A friend tells me every holiday he takes pays for itself, and he jets off several times every year to places as far apart as Hawaii and Adelaide, Disney World and Center Parcs. 

His secret is to take his camera and pocket tape recorder with him everywhere he goes, so he’s always prepared to take pictures of unusual and rare events, and he writes about strange things that happen to him while he’s away.

Bill is a part-time freelance writer and photographer but, even he admits his talents are limited and he’s really only playing at something established travel writers and photographers have been doing very profitably for years.

Before he travels, he makes a list of people and firms who might be interested in pictures and articles about the place he’ll be visiting.  Local newspapers and glossy magazines, especially those with a regular travel section, are his first most likely contacts.  Recently, he’s established contacts with picture and photographic libraries specialising in travel. 

‘Photo libraries are pretty hard to break into’, he says.  ‘But they pay enormous amounts of money for the right photos, meaning full-time travel photographers have something of a monopoly on this side of the business.  But I have got one or two people interested in unusual places I intend to visit soon, like Easter Island and Mount Everest.’

There’s nothing to stop you from capitalising on the exact same ideas, although you may like to start with smaller, less profitable markets first.  For example, you could try targeting readers’ letters pages in national magazines which are always on the lookout for good photographs, especially with an unusual or humorous slant.  Then there are local newspapers to consider whose budgets are generally low, and the chance of photographs and news from outside the region are generally beyond their reach.  So as a newcomer you won’t earn a fortune from your early travel writing and photography efforts, but you won’t face high rivalry either.

Our associate tells us he also profits from items brought back from his travels as ideas and inspiration for British businesses.  “There’s a hotelier close to where I live who always asks me to look for unusual menus and recipes from places I visit.  And I know an import agent who tells me to search for advertisements for products sold in one country which he might import into Britain.  It’s all a question of lateral thinking, really!”

How Travel Writers and Photographers Can Make Their Work Unique

Writing is easy, anyone can do it, but the greatest success for travel writers and photographers, as for writers and photographers of all different genres, is to make their work different, preferably unique.  Anyone whose work is different, better still unique, will find it much easier to break into print very quickly, and earn high commission right from day one.  Read on to see how it’s done.

*  Focus your work on myths and beliefs that can be challenged and thereby create a truly unusual article for magazines large and small.  For example, the Swiss pride themselves on being one of the world’s cleanest nations, where really hefty fines are handed out to litter louts.  At least that’s what the outside world thinks, and to be fair it’s almost certainly true.  But if you find a particularly litter-ridden Swiss location, you could take photographs and perhaps shoot a litter lout in action, and create something very different from the mainstream view of how the Swiss people live.

*  Being one of the first to report on some new and interesting development will find you selling your articles and features many times over.  Changes and variations from normal to look out for include new leisure and tourist attractions; the removal of long-standing monuments or eyesores; new transport systems, and so on.

*  Instead of writing about a place in its entirety, look for a small but very interesting part.  Most towns and cities, for instance, in our own country and abroad, have areas that most tourists never see unless someone points those places to them.  And these are the kind of subjects that can attract high commissions from travel editors.   As examples, look out for and photograph shanty towns, slums, ethnic communities with their own special brand of homes and shops, and so on.

*  Check what other writers have submitted already about the location you are travelling to, and focus on a different subject or an unusual approach to a common subject.  So if you are a woman who hardly ever goes into pubs alone, how about writing a daring piece, personally researched, on the chances of a lone woman enjoying a drink unhindered in a male dominated location?  

*  Instead of writing about nationals in the country you visit, try seeking out expatriates who have made their homes abroad.  The more unusual their lifestyles, the better.  You should also seek out and feature unusual characters to use as their central theme for a travel related article. 

*  Think about looking for slums and ghettos in the middle of one of the world’s most glamorous locations!  A number of places have squalid shanty towns situated virtually yards from the most densely populated tourist areas.  Tourists don’t see them of course; they’re often hidden from view by large office blocks, walls or trees, and whatever else might protect national pride from wealthy tourists’ eyes. 

Trying all these various techniques ensures your work is always very different, and provides your very best chance of being published.

Tips

*  Read as much as you can before you travel so you know the best places to go for quality illustrations. Get information from tourist boards and travel agents. This way, you’ll know the type and style of pictures the travel trade prefers, and you can supply them accordingly. Look out for unusual places, interesting events, popular myths, and so on.

*  Check your photographic equipment before you go.  It’s no fun discovering your camera is faulty once you arrive at your destination! If possible, take a spare camera with you plus several rolls of film.

*  Remember, not everyone likes being photographed, sometimes for cultural, religious or superstitious reasons.  So don’t photograph people without their permission, unless you are doing so from a distance and won’t be noticed. And don’t expect all your subjects to smile; some cultures view smiling at strangers as rude and potentially dangerous.

*  In some countries it is absolutely forbidden to take photographs of military installations, docks, airports, religious shrines, and numerous other sites, and doing so will attract the attention of police and military officials. Make sure you know in advance what you are prohibited from photographing.  Ask at tourist offices; buy a selection of good travel guides that make it perfectly clear what you can safely photograph and what might find you facing prison or even worse!   

*  Travel writers, even newcomers, will find their work in demand from a wide section of industry, business and commerce.  They will also discover people in commerce and industry willing to fund their trips in advance.  Most new travel writers start by writing travel articles and features, even snippets, also fillers and photographs, all of which sell well to local and national newspapers and magazines, and publishers of travel books and periodicals.  But there are many, many more sources of work available to travel writers. Restaurants, for instance, are interested in menus and features on eating establishments abroad; hotels are on the look out for much the same information about their foreign rivals; businesses want to know more about products available overseas but not in their own country and which might make a profitable import, writers need research data, and so on.

*  Your target destination will depend heavily on the type of articles you want to write.  Writing general articles for the travel industry and other clients might take you to all corners of the world.  Writing on specific subjects, for instance religion or famine in the Third World, will obviously restrict your choice of destinations.

*  Because they are in such high demand, travel writers should agree the amount of money they’ll be paid up front and on delivery, and aim for just a few clients to fund their entire travel costs, including flights and living expenses, and leave a nice cash sum awaiting their return.

*  Long before you travel you should make a list of prospects and contact them with your proposals, as well as requesting a deposit on your work with a specific amount also being payable on your return. 

*  Be sure to send detailed ideas and synopses to people with authority to commission your work and offer you a deposit.  This usually means speaking to the person in charge of advertising.  For small companies ask to speak to the owner or manager.

*  Editors and publishers are the best people to approach first, along with travel firms, and others publishing travel guides and newsletters.  But you should also contact academics, historians, genealogists, import/export agents, and other individuals and businesses that frequently need travel articles and photographs.

*  Do not make the mistake of seeking purely well-paid assignments such as for travel books and travel catalogues.  Instead consider all potential money-makers, even the odd few pounds likely to be earned from a simple readers' letter or filler or photograph in your local newspaper.

*  Learn as much as possible about your chosen country or group of countries before you travel.  This helps you decide which areas to visit and what subjects to write about, and ensures you don’t waste valuable time looking for ideas on arrival. Contact Embassies, Consulates and government tourist offices. Most addresses will be in the capital.  Get details from Yellow Pages for major towns and cities and write for further information on the country concerned.

*  Chambers of Commerce, in your own country, and in the country you intend to visit, are excellent sources of background information.  Learn as much as possible about the people, customs, geography, history, politics, traditions, culture, sport, famous personalities, transport, national dishes, fashion, health, education, and so on concerning your destination country.

*  Always have pen, paper, and if possible a laptop computer and pocket recorder with you as you travel.  Collect information as you travel; pick up any literature you can lay your hands on; interview interesting characters; photograph them (with their approval); look for unusual subjects and angles to focus on.  But don’t start writing proper until you get home, or you’ll waste valuable research time.  So while you are away stick to taking notes and photographs, and looking for even more markets for your work.

*  When you arrive home, first fulfil your commitments to clients who paid in advance or otherwise funded your journey. Then consider potential clients you may have overlooked previously.  Continue seeking new clients while your information remains current, and remember one trip can be a source of income for many years to come, so continue seeking markets for your material no matter when or where it was acquired.