Some things in life are just amazing and should be experienced, such as:
– A rocking stadium concert by an artist you adore (and by that I mean you know pretty much all the songs), where you are ideally close enough to the stage so you don’t just watch things from the big screens.
– Writing at least one story where you pour out your soul. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction is irrelevant. And since you are a writer, chances are, there’ll be tens of stroy ideas where can you share bits of your soul. Don’t hold it in;)
– Dancing to one of your favorite songs without caring about anyone or anything else.
– Finding your favorite spot/city/country.
And probably the most important one for us writers:
– Making a living writing about a topic you truly enjoy. And most of us love traveling. We just happen to run out of money or time to do it as often as we’d like.
What if we could make enough money travel writing? Whether it’s from your own travel blog(s), writing for others or a combination of these, you can start your travel writing career. But if you feel stuck, or not quite sure where to start, I’ve just the resource for you.
Travel writing is easy – if you are writing for yourself.
It’s writing with the right voice, for the right audience and with the right structure that’s hard. Finding ideas and the right markets for them can be challenging, just like any other writing market.
Finding unique slants can be even more difficult in this niche. After all, it has existed for a long time, and pretty much everything has been covered. Luckily, no one covers anything like you. It does help, however, when you can take advantage of a savvier writer. It makes the climb to success less daunting, and a lot more fun.
One of those savvier writers is the lovely Kirsty Stuart, and the recommended resource is her e-book How to Start a Travel Blog and Make Money. This e-book comes with 69 pages featuring:
- practical tips and experiences from other expert travel bloggers,
- Kirsty’s own story,
- how to start and run your travel blog (including which pages you should have and what information each page should contain),
- examples of thriving travel blogs,
- how to find ideas,
- how to find an audience,
- how to manage and deploy social media for your travel blog,
- earning money with information products (including tips on how to market them),
- earning money with affiliate marketing,
- sponsored posts and paid trips,
- advertising on your blog (along with pros and cons),
- how to pitch to publications and other clients,
- list of some travel writing markets,
- earning from blogging for others (as well as additional services you can offer),
- writing an awesome travel post,
- finding work when you need to,
- inspirational quotes,
- tips to kill your fears and feel encouraged.
Why I loved the book (besides the awesome content, of course):
- it’s great for anyone who wants to write full-time about a topic they love, not just travel. The tips can be applied to any niche, but it is a lot more specific if you are interested in travel writing and blogging since she provides so many relevant tips, resources and first-hand experiences.
- the lifestyle mentioned, and how she came to choose travel writing, is easy to identify with: she calls it the struggle to adapt after you’ve been traveling a long time. I call it post-Erasmus depression. (or blues, if you are having an easier time.This shall be one of my future travel posts!)
- it’s honest.
- it’s comprehensive. It fills you in about the effort level from the beginning. And you don’t need to be a beginner blogger to take advantage of it.
- it’s fun. I’m big on fun.
- it offers places/ways/markets you can find travel blogging work.
Oh, did I mention the price is £2,99 ? You can check out Kirsty’s site Freelance Writers Online for more useful tips on freelance writing. And you can check out one of her own travel posts: Must-See Temples in Chiang Mai.
She was also kind enough to answer my questions on travel writing.
Kirsty on writing about politically “hot” countries:
“I personally write travel articles for companies like Viator and Flight Centre, and while I’m sure they wouldn’t want me to cover up any truths, their business is promoting travel! They want people to travel – it’s in their best interests – so for clients like this I don’t really write about political instability or anything of that nature. They’re not news sites so it’s not really relevant.”
Kirsty on whether or not great stories have an expiration date (because what if you had a breath-taking experience years ago and you are only writing about it now?):
“I don’t think travel stories have an expiration date, no. Those tremendous experiences and stories need to be told! If there are details that I feel could have changed – the cost of a visa at the land border between Thailand and Cambodia springs to mind – then I’ll just say that. Something like, “It cost $20 USD (at the time of writing)” should cover it. If there’s a good story there, don’t let the passage of time prevent you from telling it.”
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Even though some of the first articles I sold in my freelancing career were travel articles, I had somehow gone into a writer’s block-induced hiatus. But after going over the book for the second time, I made a plan, and made my “returning” travel pitch. It’ll hopefully lead to other ideas and acceptances.
Let me know what you think about traveling, traveling writing and the e-book🙂
