Archives: Programs

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301 minutes of video
301 minutes of audio
86 slides
105 pages of transcript

Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together a News Brief

In this webinar, we’ll walk through a part of the writing process–structuring your articles–that should come before your fingers hit the keyboard and before you even begin researching your piece to show you how to quit second-guessing yourself and save tremendous time on your articles.

We will cover:
– What does writing tight really means?
– The classic inverted pyramid
– What do news briefs really look like in the travel context, since we’re not taking run-of-the-mill newspapers here
– In depth look at specific examples of news briefs from “the wild”

Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together a Front-of-Book Round-Up

In the second in our new series walking through the construction of different types of articles, we hone in on the easy-to-write (and pitch!) staple of magazines everywhere: the front-of-book round-up.

We will cover:
– What do we mean when we say round-up
– Types of articles that exist as round-ups in a front-of-book setting
– The typical FOB round-up structure
– In depth look at specific examples of FOB round-ups from the wild
– How to pitch these pieces

Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together a Trend Piece

In the third webinar in our new series walking through the construction of different types of articles, we take an in-depth look at that elusive to brainstorm staple of magazines everywhere: the trend piece.

We will cover:
– We’re not talking about fashion here: what is a trend in terms of travel publishing
– The line between trending and trend
– How trend pieces are constructed + five examples

Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together a Business Profile

In the fourth webinar in our new series walking through the construction of different types of articles, we take an in-depth look at what should be the bread and butter of your freelance travel writing toolkit: the business profile.

We’ll cover:
– What does a business profile mean in the travel writing context
– What business profiles revolve around – and why most pitches for them fall flat
– How business pieces are constructed + examples in different lengths
– How to pitch these pieces

Article Nuts and Bolts: How to Put Together a “Postcard”

Its trivial name suggests many things, and a well-written postcard creates all of those sense memories and more. “Postcards,” which offer an atmospheric moment in a place, are dying art, but an excellent one for those in travel writing for the writing aspect.

We will cover:
– What is a postcard really in the writing context?
– The typical structure of this section and how to create one yourself.
– Real examples of different postcards out in the world.
– How to pitch these pieces.

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233 minutes of video
233 minutes of audio
56 slides
82 pages of transcript

Article Nuts and Bolts: How to Put Together a Basket of Kittens Feature

In this series walking through the construction of different types of articles, we hone in on the easy-to-write (and pitch!) staple of magazines everywhere: the front-of-book round-up.

In this webinar, we dive into a type of round-up feature in which you take a deep dive on a handful of interestingly related topics.

We’ll cover:
– Where does this basket of kittens concept come from anyway?
– How do you create the perfect basket?
– What type of magazines use basket-of-kittens features?
– How to pitch these pieces?

Article Nuts and Bolts: How to Put Together a Guide Feature

The second type of round-up feature, the guide piece separates a large amount of information on a destination or topic into mini round-ups.

We’ll cover:
– How are these type of round-up features different than baskets of kittens and narrative features?
– How does the FOB version blossom into a feature?
– What does this look like in practice?
– How to pitch these pieces

Article Nuts and Bolts: How to Put Together a Quest Piece

The bread-and-butter of travel features, the quest piece, is one of the easiest features to pitch, get readers interested in, and research.

Article Nuts and Bolts: How to Put Together a Diary Piece

A staple of websites and newspapers (yes!) these pieces are easy to do badly, so learn how to do them easily as they’re a quick type of article.

We’ll cover:
– What do I really mean when I say diary piece?
– How do these articles work in the real world (as opposed to in private settings)
– Real-world examples
– How to pitch these pieces

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238 minutes of video
238 minutes of audio
73 slides
83 pages of transcript

Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together a Profile Piece

Profiles of individuals and businesses are the most common types of articles today.

In this webinar, we unpack the ins and outs of this type of article, which is among the most difficult to master, yet the most rewarding to write.

We will cover:
– Why should we focus time and attention on writing profiles?
– Who can we profile?
– Breaking down one (because they’re long!) inspiring profile piece.
– pitching FAQ

Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together an Interview Piece

In this webinar, we will be diving into interview pieces which can be some of the easiest to write (and the most bang for your time) because of their rigid formatting.

We will cover:
– The most important criterion of (most) profiles that you can’t ignore in your pitch.
– Interviews have “kinds.” Know them. Maximize them!
– What does this look like as a full article?
– Pitching FAQ

Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together a Celebrity Favorites Piece

In this webinar, we will be taking a look into celebrity favorite pieces. These often overlooked pieces are a huge hit with editors–they never get enough pitches for these sections!

Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together an As-Told-To Feature

In this webinar, we take a look at As-Told-To Features with examples from markets that you’d love to add to your clip file.

A staple of major magazines, these pieces offer a surprising way to tell the stories of fascinating sources you meet in your travels.

We will cover:
– Why we’ve saved these pieces last
– How these pieces are fundamentally different than anything else you will write
– Breaking down real-world examples
– Pitching FAQ

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212 minutes of video
212 minutes of audio
68 slides
71 pages of transcript

What Is and What Is Not a Salable Non-Fiction Book Today: Finding Your Place in the Marketplace

You shouldn’t take one step down the research rabbit hole with a book project until you understand how it fits into the marketplace. Editors and agents love to ask “where would this go in Barnes and Noble,” and their favorite authors are the ones that understand the book industry.

In this webinar, we explore what is selling today (along with some peeks at what is not and why) and explore the age-old question of to self-publish or not to self-publish, but I introduce you to a powerful tool that can help you quickly and easily find both what your book should focus on (because the decision really isn’t up to you) and how to get an agent!

We will cover:
– Why you should be brewing a book idea if you aren’t already
– The secret is to go small (in topic) not big (and it’s easier!)
– What is selling in non-fiction today and how to fit in
– How to see live + up-to-date what is being bought and sold every day

Know Your Non-Fiction Book’s Market to Make Its Business Case

In this webinar, I introduce the non-fiction book proposal and its main sections and then zero in on one of the two you need to spend your most time and research prowess on: the target market.

This is where your book will literally live and die. It doesn’t matter to an agent how interesting they think your topic is if he doesn’t think they can sell it to an editor, and it doesn’t matter to an editor how much she loves your writing if her publisher doesn’t think he can make his money back and more on the book.

We will cover:
– The sections of the non-fiction book proposal
– Why the market (or lack there of) is the test step for your entire idea
– What does and doesn’t work when establishing your book’s market
– The concentric circles approach to proving your book’s marketability

You Are Your Non-Fiction Book’s Best Marketer: How to Make it Work

In the previous webinar, we looked at one of the two most important sections of your non-fiction book proposal, and in this webinar, we dive into the second: the marketing plan.

No matter what connections you do or don’t have now, you can still make a killer marketing plan that is believable to a publisher and perfectly positions your book in the market. It all comes down to the triad of research, creativity, and a willingness to put yourself out there for your book.

We will cover:
– Your market (2nd webinar in this series) and competitive research (1st webinar in this series) are the linchpins of building your marketing plan
– Reviewing the sections of the non-fiction book proposal
– How to appear exactly where your book readers already are
– How to create news around you/your book/topic and turn it into even more coverage

The Parts of Your Book Proposal About You and Your Book

There are several parts of the non-fiction book proposal—the author bio, overview, chapter summary, and sample chapters—that can easily feel like the parts you should spend the majority of your time on, but they can easily become enormous time sucks!

In this webinar, we look at how to efficiently power through the rest of your book proposal to get it polished and down without drowning in decision paralysis so your proposal can leave your laptop and do what it’s supposed to do: get agents interested in your project so you can get the feedback you need to make changes based on the knowledge of people who live and breathe books (a.k.a. book professionals and not you!).

We will cover:
– While these “vital” sections are really the least important/last of your worries
– Reviewing the sections of the non-fiction book proposal
– Crafting your author bio
– Putting together your chapter summaries
– Selecting your sample chapters

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201 minutes of video
201 minutes of audio
56 slides
64 pages of transcript

Writing for Travel Trade Magazines 101

These magazines work quite different than custom and consumer titles in many ways, notably editors pitch you ideas rather than the other way around, making your hourly rate go way up. Some trade editors will even provide you with interview sources!

Trade magazines are the single best way to establish a clear pipeline of assignments and also maximize your hourly rate when writing for magazines, and we look at how, why, and how to get started writing for them in this week’s webinar.

We will cover:
– Why travel trade magazines might be that key thing missing from your income mix
– What it is like to write for travel trades and the unexpected benefits
– What kinds of travel trade magazines are out there and how to approach them

How To Write A Letter Of Introduction – The Pitch Equivalent for Trade Magazines 

Unlike consumer and custom magazines, trade magazine editors are approached by something called an LOI or letter or introduction, which has more in common with a cover letter on a job application than a magazine pitch.

We look at when to use a letter of introduction, how to craft your own boilerplate one for each vertical within the travel trade world that you’re looking to pitch, and how to avoid information overload.

We will cover:
– How to “profile” the magazines you’re looking to pitch to find out how to present yourself
– The components of an LOI
– Workshopping examples from you on how to adapt your experiences to trade magazines and LOI

How To Become Part of Editor’s Stable

To have a stable source of recurring revenue–the best way to build a sustainable, worry-free, forward-looking freelance travel writing career–writing for magazines, you need to stop writing for a magazine just once and focus on long-term relationships.

We look at how to build those relationships with editors with copious quotes right from the sources that I’ve drawn from editor panels at recent events with major newsstand titles represented.

We’ll cover:
– what the stable is and why you want to be a part of it
– the best ways to become part of the stable
– when you SHOULD NOT become part of a stable