Yesterday, I sent you Bette BonFleur's story of how she landed a gig
writing travel articles for her local TV station's website. You'll
find her story here: http://tinyurl.com/6lqlh6 if you missed it.
Today, I'd like to send you a great resource you can use to find local
publications near you.
I'll let Bonnie tell you more below...
-- Lori
Lori Allen
Director, AWAI Travel Division
September 11, 2008
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Featured Publication: News Directory
Website: www.NewsDirectory.com
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ELBOW-DEEP IN APPROCHABLE PUBLICATIONS
By Bonnie Caton in Portland, OR
It's easy to find places to get published once you know where to look.
I do it every week for these featured publications... and you can,
too.
One great place to find magazines and local newspapers is
NewsDirectory.com. There, you can search for publications by name.
But this site also offers a really handy area code look-up tool.
For example, here in Portland, Oregon, the most-read newspaper in the
whole state is The Oregonian. I could send travel articles there, but
the competition, I understand, might be steep for a budding travel
writer like me.
If you're in a similar situation, all you have to do is go to
www.NewsDirectory.com and type in your area code. Then in addition to
the very well-known publications, the list you'll get will also
include more approachable local newspapers. I'd never heard of half
of the ones I found in the Portland metropolitan area.
You can also browse magazines by subject. The "travel" link shows a
list of more than 60 travel-themed magazines. Don't forget to check
other subjects that might publish travel content, too -- like food,
parenting, history, business, or arts and entertainment.
Once you find publications you'd like to write for, here are a few
tips on finding the writer's guidelines on their websites:
** 1. Know the vocabulary. Different newspaper and magazine sites
label their writer's guidelines in different ways. Some don't label
them at all. Look through the site for hyperlinks with words like
"writer's guidelines," "submission guidelines," "submit a story idea,"
"submissions," etc.
** 2. Check the hidden corners of the site. Sometimes, the submission
guidelines are out in the open, up by the publication's banner. But
you won't usually find them there. One trick is to scroll down to the
very bottom of the page. Usually you'll find contact information and
sometimes you'll see a tiny hyperlink to submission guidelines.
Another place you'll sometimes find them is in the "contact us" or the
"about us" section.
** 3. Try Google. If you still haven't found any submission
information, you can try putting the publication's name and the words
"submission guidelines" or "writer's guidelines" into a Google search.
** 4. Send an email. Usually, the above methods will bring out a
publication's guidelines. But if they don't, you can always send an
email to editorial staff to ask for them. Just politely let them know
you're a freelance writer and you'd love to have a copy of the
writer's guidelines.
[Ed. Note: Did you know that you can sell essentially the same story
to multiple publications? You just have to move a few things around
and change it up a bit. At our Ultimate Travel Writer's Workshop a
few weeks ago in San Francisco, freelance writer Jennifer Stevens gave
us eight different types of stories that magazines like to buy. You
can use them to quickly turn one vacation into eight different
stories... and eight paychecks.
Listen to all of Jen's workshop presentations and get her PowerPoint
slides by getting a copy of the Ultimate Travel Writer's
Workshop-at-Home package. Hurry, though, because the price goes up
after this week. Grab yours now and you'll save $100, here:
http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/trc/letushelp .]
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Know a friend or two who'd enjoy the freedom and independence of a
writer's or photographer's life? They, too, can sign up to receive
this free e-letter here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/eletter
*************************
The Right Way to Travel is a FREE newsletter from the American Writers
& Artists Inc., available to AWAI members and friends.
It is coming to you because you are either a member of The Ultimate
Travel Writer's Program or Turn Your Pictures into Cash, or you have
opted to receive information about getting paid to travel from the
AWAI Travel Division.
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