Gabi Logan, Author at Dream of Travel Writing - Page 30 of 33Dream of Travel Writing

To Niche or Not to Niche: What’s the Best Way to Freelance Travel Writing Success?

A lot of the prevailing advice to the soon-to-be-self-employed is to pick a niche and brand yourself heavily in that area. Proponents say,

“Who’s going to hire a freelance travel writer with no experience besides her own personal travels? You have to do something and be known for something so incredibly specific that when people really need exactly that skill, they come to you.”

But what new freelance travel writers respond with, very validly, is:

“Okay, but who is going to hire me for that incredible specific thing right now? I need enough clients to earn an income now, not just later when I become famous for my super specific niche.”

What You Need to Know About Freelance Travel Writing Contracts

If you’ve already been in this game for a while, feel free to skip this post. I am not a lawyer (though that was my original career plan back in the day!), just a concerned citizen, so if you are already commanding the rates you deserve and negotiating for contract terms that work in your favor, jump ahead.

How Can You Tell Which Editor to Pitch at a Travel Magazine?

When I talk to freelance travel writers about their biggest issues in pitching a lot of people talk about the difficulty in finding the right editor to pitch.

Writers fear that if they send a stellar pitch to the wrong editor it will get deleted, simply because of irrelevance, before they even get their chance to shine and sell their idea and their writing abilities.

The Gift that Keeps Giving: How to Break One Trip into Unlimited Travel Articles

Writers love to talk about “finding a good home” for a story. As if the story, or the idea that pre-dates it, is a child you are putting up for adoption, and you’ll only let go of it if you know its new mother and father will take better care of it than you ever could.

How Long Does it Take Magazine Editors to Respond to Travel Article Pitches?

One of my favorite quotes of all time from a magazine editor came from Peter Fish, at the time editor-at-large for Sunset magazine, a major newsstand publication in the Western U.S.

At the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference in 2015, someone asked a panel of editors how long it takes them to respond to a pitch.

25 Ways to Move Your Travel Writing Career Forward Today—In 15 Minutes or Less

A few years ago, I came across the idea of microactions: things you can do in incredible short amounts of time (they focus on seven minutes) to move your career forward, whether in terms of networking, getting organized, increasing revenue, or clearing your head to be more productive when you dive back into work.

The Only Thing that Matters in Travel Writing Is Your Hourly Rate

At one point in my career when I was in desperate need of work, a writer and writing coach that I greatly admire made a case for writing for trade magazines that completely changed my career:

I’ve earned anywhere from $.10 per word writing for trade magazines at the beginning of my career up to $2.50 per word penning articles for national consumer magazines like Health. What’s important, though, isn’t the per-word rate—it’s your hourly rate, and I usually earn $250 per hour at this kind of work even at magazines that pay just $.50/word.