Your Story’s Begging For A Sidebar

More than once, I’ve been able to turn a ‘maybe we can run your article’ to a ‘when can you get it to us’ with the addition of a sidebar. It’s been my experience that editors love sidebars, not because of the space they take up or the useful information they contain but because most readers focus on headlines, pull quotes and sidebars and then the story, if you’re lucky. That makes it a good practice to include a sidebar suggestion with almost every query. Even if the editor decides to give a sidebar a pass, she might still pick up the article — and the mere offer a sidebar speaks well of you.

Sidebars can be any sort of information tangentially related to the main article — and when you’re writing about travel, sidebars are simple. There’s always a sidebar you can add:

1. A travel itinerary
2. Contact information for a hotel or museum
3. Necessary gear
4. Quotes from other travelers
5. Similar trips in other areas
6. Children’s (or other specialized) activities
7. Nearby lodgings
8. Local customs or rules
9. Packing lists
10. Any other information that doesn’t quite fit in your article

Odds are generally pretty good that you have more information than you can fit in the space an editor has allotted you. Using that information to create a sidebar can win you some brownie points with your editor and — depending on the publication — maybe a few extra dollars in your check.

Travel Writers and PR Reps Should Be Friends

Some freelance writers seem to view public relations specialists as some sort of conspiracy to control just what topics writers cover. The truth of the matter is, though, that PR folks can be crucial to your success as a travel writer. Want access to a hotel a little cushier than the one you’re staying at? Want a clue-in on any upcoming events? Want a chance at those ritzy junkets? All of those require a little help from our friends in the PR industry.

10 Starting Points For New Stories

If you’ve been writing about one area for long enough, it can seem like you’ve gone through every story idea you can think of. Taking a look at your location through a new lens can help you find a new slant or story — and perhaps submit a query to a new market. Consider these questions as a starting point.

Bump Up Your Bottom Line: Photography

One of the biggest worries for many full-time freelancers is making enough money on any given story to make writing it at least more lucrative than flipping burgers. For travel writers, this can be exceptionally true, but there is also a fairly fast way to add to your bottom line. Take your camera along with you when researching a story — for some of us, this might also be known as sight-seeing.

Travel Writing: Online vs Print

This post is a guest post from Nikolas Tjhin, one of travelers behind Unearthing Asia — which, last week, was named Guardian.co.uk’s Travel Blog of the Month. Congratulations, Nik!

As is the case with almost everything else, the world wide web has changed the way travel works. Gone are the times when you had to call and book an appointment with a travel agency, relying solely on letters printed on a five-years old guide book, or on the advice of a stranger, your travel agent.

5 Tips for Intercultural Sensitivity in Your Travel Writing

One of the most important things that travel writers need to be aware of when traveling – and sharing their experiences – is intercultural sensitivity. Take, for instance, a case of extreme cultural differences and values. A writer could slant the article in several ways – one that is ethnocentric and value-laden, while at the other end of the spectrum, one that is completely culture-free and just reports facts. However, neither option is a good one for either the writer or the readers.

Picking Your Travel Writing Niche

If you want a fast way to increase the number of your queries that are accepted, focusing on a very specific niche can truly help. A niche can make it much easier for you to find markets that match your audience, as well as decide on just which facets of a trip will be most interesting.

Interview With A Travel Writer: Sheila Scarborough

Sheila Scarborough has serious travel writing cred — especially in travel blogging circles. Her blog with the BootsnAll Travel Network, Family Travel Logue, has caught the attention of publications like Real Simple and The Guardian newspaper. The Telegraph newspaper called her blog on of the “world’s best travel blogs.” Sheila also blogs at the Perceptive Travel Blog and maintains her own website.

Travel Writing Without A Market

On the surface, travel writing means working for someone else. Whether you’re sending off an article to a magazine editor or contributing an essay to an anthology, you’re writing primarily for someone else. It’s not impossible to take a more entrepreneurial approach to your travel writing, however.

Read to Write: Good Travel Writing

In a way, National Geographic is responsible for my interest in both traveling and writing. When I was little, my grandmother would plunk me down in stacks of books and magazines and let me read for hours on end. Those stacks included National Geographics far older than I am — there were even a few from the sixties.