As you’re putting together an article on your travels, it’s important to keep the wide variety of travel markets you can be published in on your mind. Blogs, magazines, even books can provide you with an opportunity to share your work and maybe even bring in a few bucks.

It’s easy to become focused on just one type of market — for one thing, you can get used to writing in a particular style. Spending a lot of time on one style or structure can be a good thing for your writing career. If you can get really good at that approach, even to the point that you write very quickly, you can actually increase your earning potential. At the same time, though, it’s useful to be familiar with a few more options. I’ve outlined a few here.

• Travel Features: For most writers, feature articles — or long articles, complete with pictures — are where the money is at. Depending on the magazine, payment can range from a few cents a word to past a dollar a word. Some websites also publish feature articles, but usually with lower pay rates.
• Blogs: The number of blogs written by a hired writer is on the rise. While paid blogging is typically more of a long term gig, it can translate into some serious dollars, especially if you can perfect the art of writing short posts quickly.
• Travel Essays: While perhaps not the best paying travel writing, an essay describing even a small part of your actual travels can bring in a few bucks. Short essays can even find a place as front of book pieces with bigger publications.
• Guidebooks: If you’re planning a longer trip, check out which guidebook publishers don’t already have a book on your area. Even if you’re only putting together what amounts to a short booklet, you can get a pretty big check.
• Travel Books: There are a wide range of travel books, from coffee table photography pieces to educational guides to in-depth research into historical pieces. That means that you have a lot of options for writing a travel book. It’s worth looking into the books already available on your destination before you start traveling. You may find that you can pitch a book before you embark on your travels (and even land a contract).

Remember that you don’t have to limit yourself to markets that really focus on travel, either. If you’ve got a truly funny story to share, check out magazines and websites that publish humor. Plenty of lifestyle magazines run travel features on a regular basis, as do business magazines (as long as you slant your story appropriately). Don’t limit yourself to purely travel publications.

Photo — Inju