This post ‘Pitching is a Bitch’ over at Written Road caught my eye today.
Nicholas writes
“…I’ve this magazine on my mind the past 6 months because I really wanted to write for them. It’s a great magazine that focuses on world cuisines and often has travel related features and smaller pieces. Over the past 6 months I developed two ideas: one on native Hawaiian foods from street stalls around Oahu and another on Peruvian Ceviche and Tiradito (both a little more complex and specific, but that’s the gist of them). They both would fit in well with the magazine well and I think if I pitched the right maybe one would be accepted.”
But before he had the chance to send off the pitch he discovered…
“…that there already is a piece on Hawaiian food. It’s a bit different and more general about eating on the islands as a whole. Shit. I pick up the next issue and open the page to find a feature on Northern Peruvian cuisine.”
I just had a similar experience. I’ve been thinking, research, and planning article ideas about my trip to Spain for the past few months and have finally started to send out query letters. The first one I sent out, to the editor of the travel section of a UK newspaper, came back with the response…“sorry, Liz, we already have someone doing just this .”
Pitching really is a bitch…
But I‘ll take heart in what Nicholas concludes…
“…just have to develop the pitches for another magazine and try something else for Saveur. If I want to look on the bright side I guess I know I’m on the right track for making the magazine, but still….shit.”
Yes, I’m on the right track…
Friday, June 29, 2007
Timing is everything...
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Interview with a Travel Writer...
I've been a bit slack lately with chasing up candidates for the 'Interview with a Travel Writer' series. As a result, there is no interview to post. So I thought I'd list all the interviews that have been done over the past few months just in case you missed some.
Barbara Sjoholm
Mike Gerrard
Heather Hapeta
Thomas Swick
Leif Pettersen
Rolf Potts
Ian Mackenzie
Sheila Scarborough
Graham Reid
Candy Harrington
Terah Shelton
Rudy Maxa
Shannon Hurst Lane
Wendy Perrin
David Whitley
I'll start looking for new interview candidates tomorrow...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Win $100 Amazon Gift Certificate and a pile of books…
This is for all those that enjoy a good ‘meme’ challenge.
Author Rosina Lippi (aka Sara Donati) is looking to get the word out about her new book Tied to the Tracks and she’s adopted a unique marketing idea.
She’s running a ‘Bucks and Books’ meme contest
The Meme Topic
Five Reasons the Best [Writers, Bloggers] Come from [a geographical space, real or imaginary]
The Prize
- an Amazon gift certificate for $100 dollars
- a pile of books, including some of Rosina’s
Head over to Rosina’s Storytelling2 blog for further contest details.
Here’s a list of some of the interesting meme already entered:
Why the Best Writers Come from Gotham
Five Reasons the Best Writers Come from Texas
Five Reasons the best writers come from Dubai
The top 5 reasons the best bloggers come from the planet Earth
Five Reasons the Best Bloggers Come From the Bel Paese (Italy)
I’ll be posting my ‘Five Reasons the Best Writers Come...' later this week…
Anyone else in ???
..........
(I discovered this contest over at Sandier Pastures, a blog about desert living, Dubai style)
Monday, June 25, 2007
Travel agents vs internet websites…
Travel planning is fun. You can spend hours reading magazines, pouring over brochures, scouring the internet for ideas on things to do, how to get there, and where to stay.
And then you head to the travel agent….which is usually also great fun. But this time, not so much.
So now I’m wondering - do I need a travel agent or should I just book everything myself over the internet ?
The flight plan the travel agent came up with had me en route for over 40 hours, heading off to places like Shanghei and Frankfurt on my way to Madrid.
My flight plan has me hopping over to Singapore for a couple of days, then continuing on to Paris…and catching the train to Madrid.
And this is only the first leg of the trip that will eventually take me to New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco and then home.
My travel agent says that she can’t book the fights I’ve found because they are all on different airlines (Qantas, Emirates) and it’s too risky!!!
I don’t quite get that.
So she’s heading back to the drawing board and seeing what she can come up with.
Meanwhile, I wonder if I should book direct at each airlines website ??? Maybe I need a different travel agent ??
Any thoughts ?
Friday, June 22, 2007
I really must unplug the computer and do the housework…
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.
Sphere: Related ContentThursday, June 21, 2007
Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Are You the Next Great Travel Writer?
Any College students out there ?? This is for you.
(from the National Geographic Traveler website)
"Win the chance to travel on assignment for National Geographic Traveler.
National Geographic Traveler and Travcoa, a global travel company, have teamed up to find the next great travel writer. We're asking students all over the North America to send us a 300-word essay on a travel experience that moved you, excited you, or changed you. The author of the winning essay will travel on assignment to Mongolia with National Geographic Traveler's Editor-in-Chief Keith Bellows, courtesy of Travcoa. Even better, the winner will have his/her story published on the National Geographic Traveler website.
Submission deadline is December 31, 2007, by 5 p.m. PST.
For more information and to enter, click here. "
Interviews with Travel Writers...
Something different this week.
Here’s a list of audio interviews I have discovered in my travels through cyberspace:
Arthur Frommer on a Half-Century of Travel - Author, editor and guidebook pioneer Arthur Frommer sits down for a Q&A with fellow travel writer Pauline Frommer.
Don George interview by Erik Oslen at Gadling.com (2005)
Tim Cahill (2006) - writer of travel, adventure and humor books, articles and essays - discusses his early years at Rolling Stone Magazine and Outside Magazine, his writing process and technique, and the risks and rewards of a life dedicated to documenting the world's most unreachable people and places.
Let me know what you think of them. I haven’t had a chance to listen to them yet…
Just one more thing to add to my ‘rainy day to do’ list…
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Planning a trip as a Travel Writer...
I’ve been busy lately planning a month long holiday in September. Except it won’t just be a holiday. It will be my first trip as a ‘travel writer’. Not that I have any commissions lined up (yet!). It’s just that I have put myself in a mindset that I will be travelling as a writer.
No longer will I simply take off to places unknown without a list of article ideas to follow up.
No longer will I travel without notebooks, recording devices, and business cards.
No longer will I travel without first sending out numerous query letters trying to get one or two editors interested in where I am going.
I am a travel writer….
Today I sent out three query letters relating to my travels…
Tomorrow I will visit the my travel agent…
Where am I going ? Spain and New York.
I’m looking at a week in Madrid and then a week in a small village outside Madrid where I have discovered a unique activity that I feel has article potential (not to mention will be a lot of fun).
Then I’ll be off to New York for my lunch date with Wendy Perrin (consumer travel editor of Conde Nast Traveler and founder of The Perrin Post)and a chance to explore New York City.
Meanwhile, I will continue to research, plan, and scheme about ways to write and travel…
By the way, a new 'Where's Wendy?' contest is starting on June 21st...I'll be testing my knowledge again.
Maybe I can win a second lunch...
