"Any good writer can earn three times back what it costs them to travel; on the other hand, nobody can really teach another person how to write," says Gordon Burgett. "Yet an experienced journalist can explain what must appear on the page to see print almost every time and to earn its writer a healthy, reliable income. It's all a matter of meeting an editor's need, and that process is predictable. Particularly so in the case in travel writing."
Twice before Gordon wrote the Travel Writer's Guide, and both times it sold widely and was a Writer's Digest Book Club top choice.
But things are different in 2002 from 1997. Computers are the rule rather than the exception, queries letters are as often e-mailed or faxed as sent by regular mail, and digital photography is on the verge of becoming the standard. Still, most of the same old needs prevail: tight prose, sharp insights, replicable how-to guidelines, and fresh perspectives. So Gordon markedly revised the second edition to include the new while keeping the best of the old.
What is different about Burgett's writing? There are other, good travel writing books around (as he acknowledges in his bibliography) but none with the same hands-on, step-by-step thoroughness learned through his writing and selling 1,700 articles (most in travel) to the major magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad.
Nor is there a book with the same writer-to-reader immediacy that Burgett gains some 40 times a year when he offers his much-sought, four-hour "Writing Travel Articles That Sell!" seminar nationwide. So what one reads in the Travel Writer's Guide is what Burgett does, publishes, and talks about.
And nobody else shares as much of the fun of traveling, writing about it, and selling it!
(The appendix also may be worth the price of the book itself: 365 ideas for travel trips!)
So Gordon is back talking about querying, trip planning, market selection, topic prioritization, logistics, how magazines differ from newspapers, income taxes, documentation, keeping fun in the trip plan, cameras and photo submission, how to sell the same article many times... the same old stuff and more, from a brand new perspective.
"It's hard to beat the travel writer's trifecta: a fun trip, getting paid to tell (and show) others about it, and deducting the expenses on your 1040. My book lets others join in by doing the whole process from the outset," says Burgett.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Hmm...was keen to buy this but have a question...:
I was keen to buy this book, and was about to until I read a review that basically said "Burgett is the author of over 1700 published articles and 23 books. He knows the ins and outs of travel writing". The review clearly seemed to have taken this information from the book itself. However, I checked this by doing a search on Amazon for this author, and all the results returned were of the "How to..." variety.....How to be a travel writer, how to make money freelance writing, how to make money selling... more info
NOT an easy hobby--but PROBABLY a good profession:
Before reading this, I fancied myself as someone who might get into travel writing to make a few thousand extra dollars a year. After reading this book, I said, "That's WAY too much work for the money" and the realization was, quite accurately I think, that travel writing is a PROFESSION. Professions take full time attention to be successful and a lot of time (years really) to build up the knowledge, contacts, and writing style to make a living. I'm just not willing to put in the 40 hrs per week on it.more info
So You Want To Become A Travel Writer?:
Searching the Internet in trying to find out about travel writing, I came across several bulletin boards where one of the main questions posed was how does one become a travel writer? After all, there seems to be a certain amount of glamour attached to travel writing. Imagine earning money and having a great time traveling!
Well folks, it is not as simple as it may appear, and when you read Gordon Burgett's 3rd edition of Travel Writers Guide; Earn Three Times Your Travel Costs By Becoming a Published... more info
Travel Writer's Guide, 3rd Ed.:
This is by far the best travel writing book I've read. It's meaty, chock-full of practical advice from what to do when to how to sell and resell articles. Very strong on how to organize, write and submit work and how to do it profitably. The 365 travel article ideas, examples of query letters, and info on tax write-offs and comps are a plus. I was surprised to find practically everything I needed to write successfully all in one book.
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