My year of getting published: October 2010

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Death of Travel Writing?

Is something missing from contemporary travel writing?

Has it, as one ardent traveler believes, gone entirely narcissistic and brainless?

Or is travel writing actually better than ever?

These are some of the questions asked (and answered) in this series of articles on travel writing at ForeignPolicy.com

Travel Writing Is Dead by Graeme Wood

Travel Writing Lives! by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

Travel Writing Ain't What It Used to Be by Jessa Crispin

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Friday, October 01, 2010

Reading Travel Writing 2.0 by Tim Leffel

The bookcase in my study is overrun with books about writing. There are ‘how-to’ guides, grammar guides, guides to markets, tips on writing query letters, and of course, dictionaries, atlases, and a thesaurus.

Most of these writing books, however, focus on the traditional old school methods of getting published by sending out query letters and creating relationships with newspaper and magazine editors.

But you’d have to be hiding out in a cave not to realize that this traditional method has been transformed by the internet. Digital media is overtaking print media and anyone interested in breaking into travel writing these days needs to understand how they can use this to their advantage.

Enter a new book, Travel Writing 2.0: Earning money from your travels in the new media landscape, by veteran travel writer Tim Leffel.

Travel Writing 2.0 starts off with a hard hitting, honest account of the life of a travel writer. It’s not a glossy and glamorous account that is usually touted by those trying to entice would be travel writers to buy their course. Instead it illustrates that travel writing is hard work and only those that are passionate, determined, and disciplined as likely to succeed.

As for how to succeed, Travel Writing 2.0 provides a virtual map outlining how to use the new technologies of the digital age to your advantage. He discusses everything from why you should blog to writing for webzines, from owner content to writing for online networks, from carving out a niche and developing a platform, how compensation comes in many forms, and how to develope multiple streams of income.

But you don’t have to take just Tim’s word for it. He has drafted 52 other successful travel writers who offfer their thoughts and share their experiences in travel writing.

Travel Writing 2.0 is a true gold mine of information, a modern day guidebook for anyone interested in the business and marketing side of travel writing.

But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what a few other reviewers have said…

“Anyone looking to become a travel writer will find plenty of books and articles on the subject in print. The problem is, nearly all of them are becoming as fossilized as the print media world they cover. Travel Writing 2.0 is a book for the here and now, with advice for succeeding in a media landscape turned upside down.” - South Pacific Blog

“Tim Leffel is that rarest of creatures in the travel world–a straight shooter who not only has all the facts, but isn’t afraid to share them. Travel Writing 2.0 is an essential resource for anyone trying to make real money from their writing. — Chuck Thompson (author of Smile When Your Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer)

“…unflinching look at the market and what you have to do to carve out your place… This book is solid, honest, and a much needed insight on a difficult career choice. You think you want to be a travel writer, do you? You should read this book.” - Nerd’s Eye View

Travel Writing 2.0 is available in print or PDF e-book form (Kindle and iBook versions are due out later in the year) directly from the publisher and also at various online bookstores including Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

You could also try your luck and enter to win a free copy Travel Writing 2.0 over at Perceptive Travel blog.

(Disclaimer: While Tim Leffel, author of Travel Writing 2.0, might be the editor of Perceptive Travel blog where I write, he had no editorial input into this review. The review copy was provided by the author)

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