TRAVEL WRITING TIPS

1.      Collect magazines that take travel articles.  It's very difficult to hit the major travel magazines, but fortunately there are many smaller publications out there that use travel articles.  Retirement magazines, for instance, often feature at least one travel article an issue.  I once worked for a magazine called Outdoors, the company magazine for Mercury Motors.  I could sell them almost any article on a major recreational lake if I included pictures of boats with Mercury engines. I look for magazines everywhere--in the grocery store, in doctor’s offices, the library -- everywhere.  Here is a website you need to look at.    www.magazineyellowPages.com 

2.      Look for an angle.  Your trip to San Francisco is not the story, but the San Francisco Chinatown that tourists never see might be. This is a mistake that beginners often make.  I frequently tell myself, look small, San Francisco is an impressive city, but right across the bridge is Mt. Tam a mountain with impressive views and a great trail system.  Written right, this might be an article for a retirement, or RV magazine.  Or you might try an article on the San Francisco that tourists never see.

3.  Take lots of pictures.  I always take pictures of a lot of things that interest me. Maybe it's the outside displays of the Chinatown shops, kids sailing sailboats, or one of the lakes in Golden Gate Park, or people jumping on and off the San Francisco cable cars.  Remember too that, you can often get some pictures from the Chamber of Commerce -- ask them for other sources.  In addition use the Internet to see what you can find.

4.  Focus on a magazine.  Don't just write an article and then look for a publication that might buy it.  Start with a magazine and figure out what subject they might buy, written in their style.  Look for anecdotes and other article devices.  Too many times I've had people say that something is a great article for me then get insulted because I don't follow up.  No one seems to understand my explanation -- if I don't have a magazine to put it in.  I don't write it. 

5.  Send for, call, or e-mail for the magazines writer’s guidelines.  In many cases these are very useful.  Sometimes, however, they are not very helpful.  But they'd often give me the magazine’s direction.  They also offer not to write about.

6.  Be sure and read some back issues of the magazine you want to appear in. I don't just read the magazine I look at the ads, what the editor says, and the columns and then try to get the feel of the magazine.  Do most the articles have one particular point of view?  In Cosmopolitan, for instance, you can't miss their point of view, how to find men and upgrade yourself.

7.  Always have something specific in mind when you call or query an editor. I know writers who will query and say "I'm going hiking in Montana, would you like something?"  Never do that.  Query with a very specific idea for instance, you might suggest a very specific article such as trails for handicapped seniors in western Montana.

8.  If you intend to write articles about your travel, don't expect to be a casual tourist. There's too much to do.  In researching an article on California’s Gold Country I took my family and our car and my camera and started driving down Highway 49 -- the main route up and down California through the Gold country.  I took pictures of all the old churches and hotels, poked around the trailer parks and took pictures everywhere.  I talked to people panning for gold.  I came up with pieces on "Christmas Means Churches in California's Mother Lode ",  "Camping California's Mother Lode",  "RVing California's Mother Lode",  "Striking it Rich in California's Mother Lode” and "Old Gold Rush hotels of the Past." 

9.  Always write for your audience.  Magazines are in business to please their readers.  As a result, all articles are focused on the reader.  There's a different focus for seniors than there is for young people and even a different focus for housewives or businessmen.  Often I will mention that reader by name.  For instance, if you're a senior buying your first motor home, I might say, "As a senior you must use some caution."   As you go along build up a group of magazines in which you can sell virtually the same subject with a different slant.  My Gold country articles for campers, and RVers is a good example.    This saves a lot of time and made my writing career more efficient.