Archives: Programs

64 minutes of video
64 minutes of audio
19 slides
23 pages of transcripts

In this webinar, we cover the the different major types of articles that you should be looking out for when you’re on the road: examples of these types of articles, how to pitch them, and how to write them.

*****

I’ve learned to really hate the term “angle.”

It’s so mushy. What does it really mean? I poked around, and even Google didn’t seem very forthcoming with a definition. Here’s as far as I got:

“In books, it’s called the premise (a woman works her way through Julia Child’s cookbook in a year). In advertising, it’s called the handle (“Trix are for kids!”). In movies, it’s the concept (humans invade the magical habitat of peaceful blue beings on another planet). In an essay, an angle is the controlling idea.”

– Writer’s Digest

“This ‘angle’ is the specific way a news source addresses an issue by offering one perspective or point of view of that story. “

– New York Times

“Short for news angle, it is that aspect of a story which a journalist chooses to highlight and develop. Usually the most newsworthy of its key points. Also called hook or peg. ”

– The News Manual Journalism and Media Glossary

Over time teaching travel writing, and specifically generating article ideas, to writers, I’ve found that it does more harm than good.

Writers end up feeling bad because they just don’t “get” the angle concept. Then they think they’ll never be able to do this. Or that they’re just bad writers.

But I think it all comes down to how diffuse this concept of the angle is. When we do live workshops, I don’t even use the word angle. Instead, I talk about moving an article concept through stages:

• start with the magazine section (the shape of the piece)
• fill in content area (topic or general idea)
• shape the fit the audience of the publication (visiting Mexico’s ancient ruins for an educational family outing during a beach vacation vs. Couples who typically skip beaches for city breaks should head to Mexico for serious culture and history *plus* beaches)
• solidify a clear “why”—why the reader should go there, why the magazine should cover it, and why it should be covered now (a.k.a. why on earth does anyone care about this?)

In our recent At-Home Pitchapalooza Program, someone asked which part is the angle. Is it the time peg part of the why? Is it when we slice it down for a specific audience? Is it when the content is fit into a feature rather than a profile or a round-up rather than a first-person piece?

The real answer is that it’s all of those things, and that’s why so many travel writers struggle with tightly fitting their articles to magazines and getting compliments like this amazing kudos one of our Pitchapalooza participants recently received in response to a pitch:

“I just had an editor compliment me on my ‘well-targeted pitch!’ super thrilled!”

The easiest part to learn, the part that will make the biggest difference in your pitch getting a response or not, and the fastest way to start to get familiar with the type of writing that you can publish, versus the article “ideas” that end up languishing on an unpaid blog, is the magazine sections.

Above, I’ve also called it the “shape” of the piece. The reason this is the foundation is that article ideas are fluid—they can be easily divided up or glommed together or turned into something similar but entirely different. So they need a container to give them shape for what is in your head to translate to an editor. That’s the section or the shape of the piece.

Starting with this shape and *then* filling in the article idea will completely change how you pitch for the better, and that’s why it’s the linchpin of how the Travel Magazine Database is organized. For each magazine we show you the exact format of every section open to freelance writers, because it will practically write your pitch for you in so many cases:

• Personal Profile – Thai Airlines’ Sawasdee : “Spotlight” takes the form of a profile of an interesting person, either someone from Thailand or a person living or working in the country. After a short third-person introduction, which highlights who the person is and what they’re best known for, the article takes the form of a Q&A. In about 700 words, the questions cover their career, connection with Thailand, and any personal anecdotes from work or their personal life.
• Personal Essay – Adirondack Life: “Barkeater” is a 1500-to-1700-word reflective, narrative article that tells the story of a memorable, frightening, or exciting moment of a writer’s life in the Adirondacks. It’s written in first person and often harkens back to a specific memory that either forced the writer to come to terms with an idea, embrace something outside of his or her control, or reanalyze life from that moment onward. 
• Round-up – Wine Enthusiast : “Destination” is a 700-word article giving recommendations for things to do in a city around the world. After a short introduction to the place, the article is divided into “Eat” giving restaurant options, “4 Hour Getaway” giving towns to visit nearby, “Shop” for shops to visit, “Drink” for cafes and bars, and “See” for attractions. Each section gives three to six recommendations with a short third-person description for each.

In this webinar, What Types of Articles Should You Be Writing?, we cover the the different major types of articles that you should be looking out for when you’re on the road: examples of these types of articles, how to pitch them, and how to write them.

We will cover:
– Why magazine-first (or section-first) beats idea-first every time
– The main types of articles that you’re going to come across (in travel and travel-related magazines)
– How the differences in these article types are expressed on the page and in your pitch

53 minutes of video
53 minutes of audio
22 slides
19 pages of transcripts

Learn how to get the shots that editors need so you can get more assignments and make more money with your pieces.

We look at the shots that work online and those that most of us shoot most of the time and what the difference is in terms of the approach to shot format, variety, and composition to generate the types of photos magazines can use.

We will cover:
– Who is publishing freelance photographs today
– The different approach to shooting and writing
– Living magazine walk-through!

56 minutes of video
56 minutes of audio
16 slides
22 pages of transcripts

In the last webinar in this series, we dove into the types of photographs that magazines are looking for. Now, we break down a step-by-step method to organize your trips to ensure you get the shots you need to fill out your stories and enter the (thriving, actually!) world of photo essays.

*****

It’s happened to all of us.

You go somewhere a.maze.ing.

You take *tons* of photos.

The light is even fantastic, even though the weather forecast was crap.

All in all you can’t believe your luck (because we all know how easy it is to plan a big day of shooting only to have it foiled by weather, equipment issues, construction, or an entirely unrelated personal emergency), and you are sure you have a memory card full of excellent shots to sell, use on social, and support an epic photo essay on your blog.

As you edit the photos and starting pulling out your favorites, you may even think, “You know what? I always talk about getting some of my shots printed for that wall in the living room. I think these are the ones.”

But when you sit down to assemble that triumphant photo-essay blog post, something happens. It just doesn’t pop.

You may not be able to put your finger on why, and you certainly publish the post anyway, but, on the page, the shots don’t bowl one over as you had expected when they’re all there together.

Obviously, this same “hmmmmm” moment can befall us all with a less portfolio-worthy set of shots, but the sting is much worse when you were sure you had a fantastic set of photographs.

The issue lies in those words: a set of photographs.

Psychologically, if your shots are too similar in terms of framing, composition, depth or subject matter, the viewer subconsciously gets bored, no matter how stunning the shots are individually.

It’s the same force that makes us inured to war, local violence, and all sorts of other atrocious acts on the news.

Or why the collective readers of the internet bemoan the top-ten list (to get us to read them anyway, clever headline writers are using other psychological tricks, so don’t feel bad for clicking on them!)

In this webinar, join us to zero in on Creating a Shot List to Organize Your Trips Around Salable Photography. Last week, we dove into the types of photographs that magazines are looking for. Now, we break down a step-by-step method to organize your trips to ensure you get the shots you need to fill out your stories and enter the (thriving, actually!) world of photo essays.

We will cover:
– How do I know what to shoot if I don’t know what stories I’m looking to publish?
– The trajectory of shots you need for any piece
– Exploring different frameworks (different strokes for different folk!) for compiling your shot lists

58 minutes of video
58 minutes of audio
24 slides
22 pages of transcripts

While speaking at the International Food Bloggers Conference, I picked up a couple cool styling things there that I show you this webinar, but we primarily focus on the concept of the still life and how to take age-old painting techniques into your photography to create amazing shots for Instagram and beyond.

You’ll learn food photography and more: this week we’ll cover staging, lighting, and how to create posed shots of everything except people on your trips.

*****

65 minutes of video
65 minutes of audio
13 slides
23 pages of transcripts

In the first in our new series walking through the construction of different types of articles, we begin with that front-of-book stable, the news brief.

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.

*****

For the large subset of travel writers who come from blogging, specifically writing on their own blogs without someone overseeing the writing or editorial direction, 1,000-word articles don’t inspire trepidation. They write 1,000-word blog posts all the time!

But as you spend more time reading magazine articles, you’ll very quickly find that a 100-word magazine article tends to have as much information as a 1,000-word blog post simply because in print, space is at a premium.

Every block of text could potentially be replaced by an advertisement (and this is often what happens when your story gets killed last minute!).

In our Instagram, image-heavy time, you’ve also got to watch out for photos speaking their 1,000 words in place of your article.

Writers who haven’t patterned how to write incredibly short and tight (in editor speak), struggle with expressing their point quickly, especially when it comes to pitching.

I regularly receive pitches to review for short magazine sections, say 150 or 250 words, that have a pitch that easily runs three times the length of the final piece. Yes, you do need to to explain what you’ll cover in the article and who you are and why you should write the piece in additional to introducing the idea with a snappy lead, but part of the purpose of your pitch is to put your writing skills on display.

And if you’re pitching a short piece without showing you can effectively write short, you’ve already lost the battle.

Join us today to learn how to write the most fundamental of all short pieces in our webinar on Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together a News Brief.

Today’s webinar kicks off a new multi-month series on how to structure different types of articles so you can broaden your horizons to new types of writing that you’ve been to tentative to try before or sharpen your approach to pieces you’re already working on.

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.

This week, as we look at news briefs, we will not only explore the age-old “inverted triangle” structure that is the staple of newsrooms everywhere, but, more importantly, how this format plays out in the travel writing world.

Major magazine editors everywhere–and, yes, I am talking about the Travel + Leisure‘s of the world here, because this issue exists even and especially at that level–are always in dire need of short articles for their front-of-book sections. It’s the number one recommendation editors have when you ask them how to break into their magazine.

People often mistakenly think that editors tell them to start with short articles because they have to prove themselves before moving up to the longer features. That can be part of the equation, but the reality is that editors are just hurting for pitches for these sections, and that’s where it’s easiest for them to say “yes” to you, because those areas have the most needs.

In this webinar and the others in the series, we’ll focus on how to put these pieces together, from idea to article structure and also address how to pitch these pieces.

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”

54 minutes of video
54 minutes of audio
13 slides
20 pages of transcripts

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’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.

*****

Working on front-of-book pieces has several key benefits we’ve discussed, especially honing your ability to write short and journalistically.

But one of my favorites is that it offers you a venue to use all sorts of excess pieces of research that you collect on your trips with the most minimal investment of additional research.

This week, during our winter Freelance Travel Writing Bootcamp, a very interesting question has come up several times.

It’s a very common situation that travel writers find themselves in.

During the bootcamp, we try as hard as possible to stimulate real-world circumstances in our afternoon tours. The bootcamp focuses through morning lessons and afternoon outings on honing your ability to find stories out in the world wherever you are. And one of the realities of traveling as a travel writer is that not everything you see is interesting to you personally.

You might be on a winery, brewery, or distillery tour, but you don’t drink. So you also don’t understand the context of a portion of what is being discussed or the other participants’ questions.

Or you could find yourself visiting an alpaca farm with no knowledge of farming is fiber sets. Or it could be that you’re touring, with a very enthusiastic guide, a modern art museum when you categorically hate modern art. Or perhaps you’ve headed to a destination on your own, found it is absolutely not as advertised, and realized it just won’t fit any of the audiences you regularly write for at all.

These are the main variation on this situation, but you have found yourself in others.

When one of these instances does make its way into your trip, it’s very easy to think, “Well, I’m definitely not going to write about this,” and then turn out and answer emails in your phone until you’re able to do something more your speed.

But those moments–in many ways far more than visiting your 100th winery or kid-friendly restaurant or chocolatier or whatever you cover most often, are one of the best sources of story ideas.

You’re adding brand new-to-you information to your understanding of leisure travel and of the options in a certain area that makes your knowledge of trends and travel in general more well rounded.

And they’re perfect fodder for front-of-book round-ups.

In a round-up feature or many similar blog posts, you’re doing relatively in-depth research to get to know each item you’re including in that piece, either with an interview or two per section if its a round-up feature for a magazine, and digging into Google for a blog post.

But, in a front-of-book round-up, there’s no need, because there is no time.

Each item in your round-up isn’t getting its own subhead. It might not get its own sentence.

The name and the quick notes you took when you were there will more than suffice.

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

60 minutes of video
60 minutes of audio
27 slides
21 pages of transcripts

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 illusive to brainstorm staple of magazines everywhere: the trend piece.

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.

*****

Ever heard of a time peg?

I try not to use the word too often, because it masks much more important issues at stake in people’s pitches, but, at its core, it means pegging or affixing the topic if your article to something timely.

There’s lots of options for this “something timely” that ger thrown around when discussing pitches, from openings of new things to renovations of old things to major anniversaries of even older things.

I cannot tell you how many pitches I saw either related to country of Canada’s 150th anniversary of statehood or the American National Park system’s 100th anniversary of its founding.

Why do I have no idea how many came across my screen?

It’s not just about the number. It’s because many were very quickly thrown back to the drawing board.

When you peg your story to something so specifically timely as something that occurs on a certain day–its very easy to miss the internal date by which editors have determined the make up of that month’s issue.

And when your story hinges on event that both happens at a specific time and is well known, you run a high risk, as these writers pitching things around Canada and the American National Parks did, that the editors of the magazine they were pitching already began planning their coverage of the momentous occasion *well* in advance.

In these case of these two anniversaries, for instance, those discussions often began two years before the issue the corresponding pieces would appear in.

What about when you attach your story idea to something that one doesn’t know is coming for 100 years, like a new hotel opening?

You are still run the risk that, if it’s something the magazine would cover, the editors got the tip-off from their PR sources when the land was first officially selected for the project, long before you know about it, and that they decided at that time whether or not or how they wanted to cover it.

There are all sorts of strategies for covering things that are already in existence and don’t have these narrow time pegs that can easily set your pitch up for a swift rejection, and we’ll be covering two in our upcoming webinars on trend pieces (this week) and business profiles (next week).

In many circles, trendy can feel like a negative term.

It can be associated with fly-by-night styles that hoodwink customers into spending more on something they don’t need, weird fashion for the sake of fashion that no one would wear into their local coffee shop (yes, even in New York), or other things that just seem useless and don’t make sense.

I’m not sure if it’s always been like that or because of its current associations to things like hipster-ism or millennial pink, which are often discussed with a derogatory angle. But I definitely know that the bathrooms in the retreat house are sherbert colors of baby blue and canary yellow that were trend back in the day that we definitely don’t cherish with the same fervor now!

There are, however, certain trends at any given time that occur at a more societal level–craft beer and spirits, farm-to-table food, experiential travel–that we can all agree on the existance (and hopefully) the merits of.

And when you take those, when they are just beginning to hit mainstream, and infuse them into your articles in lieu of a time peg, then you’ve answered any editor’s biggest questions about your pitch (why this? why now?).

Join us for the third webinar in our new series walking through the construction of different types of articles as we take an in-depth look at that illusive to brainstorm staple of magazines everywhere: the trend piece.

In Article Nuts and Bolts: Putting Together a Trend Piece, 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:
– 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

67 minutes of video
67 minutes of audio
19 slides
21 pages of transcripts

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 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.

*****

When you start planning a trip on your own or first get the bug of a press trip in your ear, the options of what to explore in a destination are tantalizing.

Nailing down the sense of place, honing in on the food culture in a new place, and the promise of highly quotable sources with exciting stories you would have never thought of all give you a high.

But we all know trips, attractions, interviews, hotels, and meals don’t always live up to our imaginings. Sadly!

Some parts of a trip will be brilliant and bring those great quotes and anecdotes and new story ideas you never would have had at home, but what do you do with the rest of it?

How do you get the best assignment-dollar-worth out of your on the ground research time?

We see so, so many places on our trips, whether we’re walking around by ourselves or on an overstuffed press trip itinerary, but the hardest part of being a freelance travel writer is knowing how each of those can be matched to a magazine and developed into a story that an editor will jump out of her seat to buy.

When you’ve found something that seems just great, whether the tea cafe culture in Prague or a zero-environmental-impact hotel in Miami, and it isn’t *new* (like brand-new, just opened yesterday hotel that will still be considered new by the time your idea actually gets accepted and the article makes it into print), what do you do?

The answer is a business profiles–but not just because they allow you to write individual stories about each of the places you visit on your trips.

Zeroing in on business-profile writing as a travel writer also forces you to do two great things: hone your interview skills so you are getting five to 25 stories out of each place you visit (!!) as well as sharpen your ability to narrowly slice each experience to perfectly fit what each magazine needs.

Learn how business profiles do this for your skills and income, in this week’s live webinar, the fourth webinar in our new series walking through the construction of different types of articles, as 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 dive into 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’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