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Make A Living With Travel Articles Part 3

sidekick — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:06:24 +0000

This is Part One in a series of four articles on Travel Writing and Photography by Blair Howard. Blair is a travel photographer who has written and photographed dozens of books and hundreds of travel articles.

Getting Started: From Notes to Published Page

Over the past couple of issues, we’ve been discovering the secrets of what I call the Photo Essay or Round-Up article and how to shoot the photographs to support it. But how, specifically, do you move from the idea stage to building the actual article? Here’s the way I go about it:

You’ll Need to do a Little Research – Find at Least Five Attractions

First, I do a little research. If I know I’m going to visit a specific location, I’ll pull it up on the web, research the visitor’s information, and even buy a guide book.

Next, I sit down with a yellow pad and do some thinking. I’ll make a list all of the significant features of the location: the landmarks, attractions, historic sites, hotels, country inns, beaches, museums, and so on.

Having done that, I look for groupings of at least five subjects (museums, restaurants, beaches, whatever) that I consider have “universal appeal.” The idea is that each grouping may possibly provide me with a publishable photo essay or round-up article.

Once I have my list, I head out, camera in hand, and visit a couple of sites in each of the groupings, shoot some pictures, and then it’s back to the yellow pad to make a few notes.

Now to Contact the Editors

Hopefully, I will end up with at least two or three viable projects – projects I feel I can sell at least a half-dozen times. If I do, I make a few phone calls, write an e-mail or two, and even send out a couple of queries. The phone calls and e-mails will be to editors I already have in my client database and I know will publish the type of articles I’m proposing.

The queries are to editors I’ve never dealt with before: the idea being to expand my database. By the time I even put pen to paper (ok, fingers to keyboard), my plan is to have sold one or more of my projects several times.

Go Shoot The Photos

If I get a response from just one of the editors on my client list, I head out again to photograph all of the sites I intend to include in that particular project. This may take several days, depending upon how far-flung the individual sites may be. It took me a couple of weeks to photograph all the sites for the Battlefields article I told you about in the last issue.

When the photography is complete, I’ll have several hundred digital images on hand. And it’s at this point that I do some serious editing (and so should you)

You MUST Eliminate the Substandard Shots

I edit my images down from several hundred to maybe just a couple of dozen, or so. I will not keep any image that is anything I consider to be less than technically perfect. I don’t mean that I set the substandard images aside: I toss them, get rid of them completely. Now that doesn’t mean I keep only stunning or spectacular images. The way I have to shoot – on the fly and under all sorts of adverse conditions – my images aren’t always stunning or spectacular. They do, however, have impact, variety, and eye-catching color. What I mean is that I get rid of any image that’s not perfectly composed, perfectly focused, and perfectly exposed. Remember?

Choose the Images and Write the Descriptions

Once I’ve removed the garbage, I will choose two or three images that I feel will effectively illustrate each subject in that particular grouping (attraction, museum, restaurant, beach, or whatever). The idea is provide the editor with a choice as to which images he will use. Yep, they DO like to have some input.

Then I’ll number each image and write short piece of text that will effectively describe the particular site or location, but which is also applicable to the two or three photographs that go with that particular site or location. What I mean is this: The text I write must be related to any one or all of the two or three images I’ve chosen to illustrate the attraction, or whatever.

Finally, I write a lead for the article – something that will grab not only the editor’s attention, but that of his readers as well. That, along with the descriptive, transitional chunks of text I’ve already written, now comprise a complete package – text and photographs. All it needs now is some proofing, maybe a little re-writing, and the package is ready for the editor.

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Make A Living With Travel Articles Part 2

sidekick — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 22:17:16 +0000

This is Part Two in a series of four articles on Travel Writing and Photography by Blair Howard. Blair is a travel photographer who has written and photographed dozens of books and hundreds of travel articles.

The Easiest Travel Articles to Re-sell
and How to Take the Pictures That Make it Work.

You know, I am basically a lazy person – I think we all are to some extent – and it occurred to me some years back, several years after I’d begun writing travel articles, that rather than writing 10 articles and selling them only once, it would be much better to write a single article and sell it 10 times. That way, if I could write 2 really good articles each month, I could make a decent living doing what I love best: photography, writing and traveling.

The result would be the same: about 250 sales each year, but only 10% of the work. Think of the time I save, and what I’m able to do with time. And that, my friends, is exactly how I’ve lived my life for the past 20 or so years – neat, huh?

Now, last week I mentioned a specialty of mine: there’s one type of travel article in particular that’s very easy to write. It’s one any photographer can manage; it’s one that any travel writer worth the title can easily write; it’s one that will sell over and over again; and it’s an article that editors love and will buy almost without question – you can build a career around this single, simple article – I have. It’s the Photo Essay (or Round-up) Article.

I hit on this type of writing almost by accident.

I was on the phone with the editor at Tours & Resorts Magazine, pitching him an article about Lookout Mountain National Civil War Battlefield Park. He thought for a moment, and then said: “Not a bad idea, but it’s a bit too narrow in focus for us.”

Now then, to most folks that would be a rejection. But I had learned how to listen and I heard something entirely different: He didn’t say he wouldn’t buy from me, right? What I heard was this: “Broaden the focus and I will buy it.”

So, I came straight back at him with: “Okay, suppose I put together a round-up article of say, a half-dozen battlefields, would that work for you? Well, he liked the idea and I got the go-ahead. The result was an article called “Touring Southern Battlefields.” That article has already sold 16 times AND IT’S STILL SELLING.

But it wasn’t quite that easy. I had photos for only one battlefield.

Now, I know you’ve already heard many times that if you can include photographs with your travel articles, you will often have a better chance of selling them. This is because you are supplying what most editors are looking for these days: a complete package. They will be far more receptive to a text and photo package than they will just text. They too are lazy folks and will always take an article complete with photos rather one without, which means they have to go find the photos themselves; makes sense, right?

Most travel writers write the article first, then go find the photos. I never do that. I get an idea, bounce it off one or two editors then, if I find some interest, I go shoot the photos and then write the text to fit the photographs.

What I mean is this: I start with the photos, and then I figure out what the article is. The Tours & Resorts piece was one such occasion. I had to shoot first and write later.

This is how I do it: I visit a number of related locations, shoot some photographs, and then tie them all together with short pieces of descriptive text. Those pieces of text can be as short or as long as you care to make them.

Never again will you be intimidated by a blank page. If you’re not sure where to start or how to put your story together, you can simply lay out your photos and let them tell the story for you. It’s a fantastic way to write an article. Use the photographs as the focus point, then fill in the gaps. The result: an article you can sell again and again.

You could place your photos in chronological order, thus forming a time-line. That’s what I did for the battlefields piece — Shiloh being the earliest, Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia being the final battle in the series.

But you can place them in any order that makes the piece flow smoothly from beginning to end. Suppose your article was about the 5 best beaches on the Panhandle of Florida. Your best bet would be to lay them out geographically along US98 say from west to east and then describe them in that order.

Ideas for “round-up” articles are easy to come by. And editors love them. Look at the covers on any newsstand: the covers are laden with round-ups – 7 ways to do this, 5 ways to do that, 6 tips for…. Well, you get the idea, and this is especially true for travel articles.

I wrote one entitled “Caves of The Tennessee Valley.” It sold to several major newspapers, as well as to a major magazine. I did another called “Museum Hopping In London” and sold that multiple times as well. I think I may already have mentioned this, but never mind, it can’t hurt to emphasize a point:

On a single 10-day trip to England some years ago, I had an assignment from British Heritage Magazine to write an article, with photos, about my old home town. While I was there I gathered material for five more articles, all of them round-up/photo essay articles. Believe it or not, I am still selling those very same articles. To date, they have sold collectively more than 50 times for an income in excess of $12,600. This is the key to making a great living as a travel writer/photographer.

You can write a “round-up” about anything — state parks, state landmarks, national cemeteries, grand hotels, expansive resorts, restaurants, camping sites, fishing spots, and on and on.

I’m living proof that you can make a good living selling and reselling this type of article: the “round-up/photo essay.” Articles and photos packaged together.

If you would like to learn more about how to photograph/write your own round-up article, and submit it to an editor for publication purposes, then I would love to teach you. Check out this link http://www.blairhoward.com/ModShop/ShowProduct/23742/ for information on the on-line photo-essay course I have put together. Why not sign up today? Getting published is not as hard as it may appear, if you know the tricks of the trade!

What Type of Photos are Editors Looking For:

Now, since I’m suggesting you go to your editors with a complete package – text and photos – I’d like to give you some ideas about how, exactly, to take the sort of photos editors like to receive. But first, here are a couple of things you need to understand:

Even though your photographs should be technically good – they should be properly focused, well-composed, and correctly exposed — they don’t have to be spectacular. Obviously you will do better if they are, but it’s not critical.

You don’t need an expensive camera to shoot your photos. However, you do need a camera that’s capable of producing high resolution images.

The photographs you will be shooting are illustrations, not art. Even so, you must be creative and always try to do something out of the ordinary.

Improve Your Photos

Here’s a practical tip to help you shoot saleable images consistently and to order. Learn to see creatively. Find a new angle. Climb a tree, stand on a wall, get down on your knees, lie down on your stomach, walk around and try to find new and interesting view points.

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Make A Living With Travel Articles Part 1

sidekick — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:27:12 +0000

Can you really do this? Can you quit your job and do that which you love best: write and travel and get paid for it? Absolutely. I’ve been making a good living doing it for more than 20 years, you can too.

There are two secrets to making real money writing travel articles. The first is to write articles you can sell more than once. The second is to support your articles with stunning photographs. Don’t panic. You can do this. I will show you how.

Over the last 20 years I have sold more than 650 articles to magazines and newspapers all over the United States and in England . Some of those articles have sold many times. An article I wrote some years ago for PHOTOgraphic magazine eventually sold 11 times. Another written for Tours and Resorts sold 14 times. Yet another has sold 17 times.

Rarely do I write an article unless I think I can sell it at least 10 times. Initially, each article will sell for $250 to $850, and occasionally for much more. Re-print sales on those articles will bring from $50 to $350. That means any given article can bring in as much as $2,500 or even $3,500.

Now consider this: If you can write one new article a month, and then sell and resell it, you will have an annual income in excess of $40,000. If you can write one every couple of weeks…. well, you get the idea. Come on folks, any writer worth the title can easily put together a new article every week. What I am saying is that an annual income of $60,000 or even $70,000 is not out of the question.

Now for the really good news: the type of articles I’m talking about don’t have to be complicated or even very long. I rely on a tried-and-true format for producing an endless string of resalable articles. Next week, I’ll show you how it works. In the meantime, here are a few tips to help you produce articles that will sell… and sell again.

For an article to sell multiple times, it needs to have universal appeal. In other words, it should be an article that will interest a wide cross-section of readers, which means you’ll need to put a little thought into what you are doing. You’ll also need to do some market research. For instance: a generic article about a small town in rural England might not interest too many people, but an article about London’s great museums will interest travelers to London from around the world – it will have “universal appeal.

The easiest article to sell is a short one, often containing less than 800 words. Editors, especially newspaper editors, can often find a spot for shorter articles even when they might not have planned to use such an article. Short articles are often called “back of the book” pieces and, if they include all right information, are very easy to place, over and over.

You should always include at least 5 photographs with your article. Editors are always looking for a complete package of text and photographs: photography will sell almost any type of article.

Proof-read everything you write thoroughly. Eliminate typos and check your grammar. Never expect your editor to do this for you, it’s not his job. Your job is to submit a complete piece of work ready for him to run. The easier you make it for your editor to publish your articles, the more success you will have.

In time, you’ll build a list of editors who like your work and will run almost everything you submit – I have one editor that’s published more than 25 articles of mine. Your list is the key to making a living writing travel articles. Your goal should be to build an on-going relationship with all of your editors. If you can do so, they will buy from you again and again. And if you’re easy to work with, and if they like your stuff, and if you can deliver to order and on time, you’ll have no problem selling them every new article you have to offer.

In the next issue we’ll talk more about the big profits you can make selling and reselling your articles, and we’ll talk about the easiest kind of article you can write, one which will sell over and over again. I’ll tell you about the little article I wrote – less than 500 words supported by only two photographs – that’s already sold more than 20 times. And we’ll also show you how to shoot the photographs you’ll need to support your articles. Then, in the following issue we’ll deal with that all-important list of clients, how to build it, expand it, and then how to turn it into a never-ending source income.

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