"So You Want To Become A Travel Writer?"

Searching the Internet in trying to find out about travel writing, I came across several bulletin boards where one of the main questions posed was how does one become a travel writer? After all, there seems to be a certain amount of glamour attached to travel writing. Imagine earning money and having a great time traveling!

Well folks, it is not as simple as it may appear, and when you read Gordon Burgett's 3rd edition of Travel Writers Guide; Earn Three Times Your Travel Costs By Becoming a Published Travel Writer, you will appreciate that it requires a great deal of hard work and planning in order to write and sell travel articles. Nonetheless, travel writing may be the impetus in helping you travel to places you always dreamed and thought about, but were lacking in that one important commodity-money.

Although, as the author states, "the writing and selling process described in this book is primarily directed at newer writers eager to learn the steps to follow so they can travel, write about it, and sell that writing often and profitable," veteran travel writers will also pick up a few pointers that they may have overlooked.

Burgett is the author of over 1700 published articles and 23 books. He knows the ins and outs of travel writing, and as he mentions in the introduction, "the book is a show- and-tell. The basic text, the how-to element, is the "tell," and the "show" comes from his many examples."

The book divides itself into five sections: overview of travel writing, before the trip, during the trip, after the trip, and related information. The key theme throughout the book is to recognize that travel writing is a profession and as such you must think and act at all times like a professional. Consequently, you must be completely organized before, during and after the trip if you want to be taken seriously. Burgett provides tips on how to get organized, writing plans and sales schedules, query letters, photos, taxes and legal matters. You are also provided with excellent advice on interviewing, destinations to check out, analyzing articles written by other writers, and improving writing and editing skills.

However, writing an excellent article is not sufficient if you wish to succeed. You must also know how to sell your articles before and after you decide to travel to a particular destination. Burgett makes the point that you are also a businessperson, and as such you must learn marketing and selling skills. Ample suggestions are provided as to how you can master these skills, and as the author affirms, once they are mastered, you will find that the more you sell the easier it becomes.

An added and unique feature of the book is the 365 travel article ideas that are listed at the end. Some of these ideas you probably would never had thought about, however, they do provide fodder for some interesting articles. As an example, how about the topic of exit fees, is there a way to avoid them? Another, how does one find English- speaking doctors and dentists when traveling outside of the USA?

No doubt, the book is an excellent investment for all aspiring travel writers, and a reference text that should find a prominent place on a travel writer's bookshelf.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted November 23, 2003

Summary

"Any good writer can earn three times back what it costs them to travel; on the other hand, nobody can really teach another person how to write," says Gordon Burgett. "Yet an experienced journalist can explain what must appear on the page to see print almost every time and to earn its writer a healthy, reliable income. It's all a matter of meeting an editor's need, and that process is predictable. Particularly so in the case in travel writing." Twice before Gordon wrote the Travel Writer's Guide, and both times it sold widely and was a Writer's Digest Book Club top choice. But things are different in 2002 from 1997. Computers are the rule rather than the exception, queries letters are as often e-mailed or faxed as sent by regular mail, and digital photography is on the verge of becoming the standard. Still, most of the same old needs prevail: tight prose, sharp insights, replicable how-to guidelines, and fresh perspectives. So Gordon markedly revised the second edition to include the new while keeping the best of the old. What is different about Burgett's writing? There are other, good travel writing books around (as he acknowledges in his bibliography) but none with the same hands-on, step-by-step thoroughness learned through his writing and selling 1,700 articles (most in travel) to the major magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. Nor is there a book with the same writer-to-reader immediacy that Burgett gains some 40 times a year when he offers his much-sought, four-hour "Writing Travel Articles That Sell!" seminar nationwide. So what one reads in the Travel Writer's Guide is what Burgett does, publishes, and talks about. And nobody else shares as much of the fun of traveling, writing about it, and selling it! (The appendix also may be worth the price of the book itself: 365 ideas for travel trips!) So Gordon is back talking about querying, trip planning, market selection, topic prioritization, logistics, how magazines differ from newspapers, income taxes, documentation, keeping fun in the trip plan, cameras and photo submission, how to sell the same article many times... the same old stuff and more, from a brand new perspective. "It's hard to beat the travel writer's trifecta: a fun trip, getting paid to tell (and show) others about it, and deducting the expenses on your 1040. My book lets others join in by doing the whole process from the outset," says Burgett.