John Flinn is the travel editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, so I
asked him to let you in on what's selling to newspaper travel sections
these days.
You'll find his report about what's hot in newspapers today, below...
Lori Allen
Director, AWAI Travel Division
P.S. And you can bet we'll invite editors just like John to our live
photography event in New Orleans this March, where you can find out
what it takes to break into publication with your photos.
Remember -- details and a special pre-registration discount are here:
http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/phw/neworleans .
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November 13, 2008
The Right Way to Travel
What's Working Series, Day 2 - Newspapers
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WHAT'S WORKING IN NEWSPAPERS
By John Flinn in San Francisco, California
The landscape for newspaper travel writing is shifting dramatically.
But, amid all the predicted doom and gloom, lie some intriguing new
opportunities for freelancers. What follows are the trends I see for
2009.
By the way, everything (or almost everything) I say about newspapers
applies also to magazines, albeit to a lesser degree right now.
** 1. Changing of the guard: Many veteran travel editors are leaving,
have left, or will shortly leave the jobs they've held for 15 years or
more: editors in Seattle, Kansas City, Portland, Chicago, St.
Petersburg, San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento, to name a few.
Tough times for newspapers means opportunities for freelancers.
New editors like to establish their own stables of writers, so this is
the time to hit them with stories that will make them sit up and pay
attention. With any luck you'll become part of their new stable. The
new batch of editors will not have the support staff and budget to
travel as much as their predecessors, so, in many cases, they'll be
buying more freelance stories than in the past. (If their freelance
budget hasn't been slashed, that is.)
** 2. Chunky bits: Newspapers (and, to a greater extent, magazines)
are getting away from longer narratives and are increasingly running
USA Today-style info-graphics or "charticles" -- stories broken up
into info-bits that can run with graphics. Think "The five coolest
Greek islands you've never heard of," or "Seven places where you can
spend the night in a former prison." (Please don't ask me why it
always has to be an odd number. I have no idea.) This, too, is
potentially good news for freelancers.
These stories are much easier to write than longer narratives; you
don't have to be Bill Bryson or Pico Iyer to do them. You just have to
have a good idea and the ability to research it. Many of the big-name
travel writers don't want to cover these stories, and the ones who do
are no better at it than you are.
** 3. It's the economy, stupid: Nearly every story published in the
coming year will require some sort of money-saving spin. "Tokyo for
Tightwads," "New York for Nada," "Chicago for Cheapskates," "Bangkok
on a Budget"… you get the idea. Also big, in every market, will be
closer-to-home stories. So-called weekend getaways will, for many
people, be the only traveling they do in 2009. Every travel editor I
know has the same complaint: It's really, really hard to get good
close-to-home travel stories from freelancers. They're going to need
more of these than ever in the coming year, and it's a great way to
get your foot in the door.
** 4. Picture this: Even more so than in the past, photos will be a
great way to make extra money when you sell a story. As newspapers cut
their photo budgets, they're using fewer and fewer stock images, and
more images supplied by writers. The per-photo rate isn't high, but,
if they publish six or seven of your photos in a spread, you can often
double your pay.
Things to shoot: People and places specific to your story. The
stubble-faced vintner who showed you around his vineyards... the café
you write about that reputedly serves the best haggis in Scotland...
the whale-watching boat you went out on. Even if they have a big
budget, editors can't get these shots from stock agencies.
Also, get detail shots with a sense of place, like a bushel of apples,
a gargoyle door-knocker, or unintentionally funny signs. Page
designers love these, and they're often hard to get from stock
agencies. If you don't have a decent digital camera, get one (eight
megapixels is plenty).
[Ed. Note: John Flinn spoke about newspaper travel industry trends at
our Ultimate Travel Writer's Workshop last July in San Francisco. You
can find recordings from that live event, here:
http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/trc/letushelp .]
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