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Issue #377: How To Tap Into The Press Trip Network
November 22, 2021
Greetings Fellow Travel Writers!

. . . and WELCOME all new subscribers. Thanks for joining us.


What We've Been Doing

Our final sightseeing gig in Washington DC took in the International Spy Museum. As the US Capital, with its abundance of foreign embassies, Washington DC has provided the backdrop to many dramatic espionage incidents since World War II. With the CIA & FBI Headquarters located nearby, the city has long been known as “spy central.”

Countless spy novels have used Washington DC for their setting & dozens of spy movies have been filmed here. To capitalize on this spy mania, former code breaker Milton Maltz created the International Spy Museum in Washington DC to trace the history and show the tradecraft of espionage.

This world-class museum boasts several fascinating galleries including Stealing Secrets, Covert Action, and Spying That Shaped History. With 1,000 artifacts on display & another 6000 in storage, the museum has the largest collection of international espionage artifacts on public display.

If you’re interested in the whole spy gig, this is your Nirvana! And even if you just like the occasional spy movie, this place is informative and fun.

You’re assigned a secret identity when you enter the museum and you can go on special missions while you navigate the galleries. Linda played along and freely admits she’d make a terrible spy, but she had lots of fun pretending.

The gift shop offers an astonishing array of spy paraphernalia, plus an absorbing selection of spy books with titles like “More Stories From Langley,” “Spy Sites of Washington D.C,” “Spymaster Oleg Kalugin,” “Donovan’s Devils,” “The Last Cambridge Spy,” and “American Spies.”


Editorial: Assumptions Will Erode Your Success

Over the past several years while working with novice travel writers, I’ve noticed they tend to make a lot of incorrect assumptions about how things work in freelance writing. These assumptions cost them assignments with paying magazines and newspapers.

In this guest post on TravelWritersExchange.com, I give you the two major assumptions made by beginners to the travel writing game, and advice on how to avoid these errors.

Here's my guest post


This Week's Featured Post

How To Tap Into The Press Trip Network

Regional and state press trips are fun, rewarding, and a great place to start your travel writing career.

In the three-year period from 2011 to 2013, for example, I went on forty-three press trips throughout the U.S. These tours included Nebraska, Missouri, Oregon, Alaska, Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Idaho, California, Washington, Florida and Oklahoma, and I’ve been to many of these States multiple times.

I’m often asked how I get invited on so many press trips.

Here are three ways to tap into the press trip network plus a list of resources to help you tap into the travel writing community and learn about press trips on offer.

READ THE ARTICLE


Upcoming Posts

November 29: Quid Pro Quo: Press Trips, Travel Writers and DMO Expectations
December 6: Wrangling Complimentary Travel Writing Perks
December 13: How Do Travel Writers Cover Travel Costs When Magazines Pay So Little?


PitchTravelWrite.com Success Stories

Rey Waters: With Travel Writing, My Life Cannot Get Any Better

“Not long after I enrolled in a travel writer’s course and published my first article in Travel Post Monthly, I discovered Roy Stevenson’s travel writing books. His first book that I read was Get Published Now. It had a section that mentioned getting started in your own back yard. 

At the time we were living in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. My wife and I walked a two-mile hiking trail around a lake every day for our exercise. During these walks we met all types of very interesting people. 

I pitched a story idea to our local newspaper and I guess you can say the rest is history.”

Here’s Rey Waters’ remarkable travel writing success story, so far — in his own words.

Read Rey Waters Story


Pitch Travel Write: Most Requested Links About Getting Published

Tips and Resources to Help You Sell Your Articles

Getting published is the main objective of freelance travel writers. 

Every article you write needs to be published somewhere, so you need solid systems in place to do it quickly, efficiently, and successfully.

After all, if you can't sell your articles, you don't get to write them!

Here’s the link to our entire suite of articles on getting your stories published.

It’s a gold mine of information. And, it’s free!

Link to Tips and Resources to Help You Sell Your Articles


Inspirational Travel Quote



RESOURCES FOR TRAVEL WRITERS

Featured Book for November: The Art & Craft of Travel Writing



We’re thrilled to release our book, “The Art & Craft of Travel Writing: How to Develop Your Craft, Hone Your Skills, Avoid Mistakes, Work Smarter, and Be More Successful”

What’s in our 21-chapter, 152-page book? We’re glad you asked! The Art & Craft of Travel Writing The five sections cover . . .

  • The Craft of Travel Writing

  • Things That Go Wrong in Travel Writing

  • Keys to Success in Travel Writing

  • Working Smarter

  • Goal Setting for Your Travel Writing



Here are some of the chapters . . .
  • Creating a Sense of Place and Ambiance

  • Turning Your Destination into a Compelling Read

  • How to Write Like a Seasoned Professional

  • Five Travel Writing Blunders and How to Avoid Them

  • Why Some Travel Writers Have More Success

  • How to Plug into the Travel Writing Community

  • Seven Ways to Take Control of Your Writing Time

  • Set Up Systems to Create More Writing Time

This book will help you hone your travel writing skills and get more stories published.

We’ll show you how to allocate your writing time for maximum efficiency, and exactly what you need to do to break into the competitive travel writing market.

Use Promo Code NV5 to get a $5 discount during November.

Learn More and Buy The Book

Don't forget to use promo code NV5 at checkout to get your $5 discount.


Group Coaching Mastermind Community

Our first Group Coaching Mastermind Community kicked off in October, 2020, and we’ve got a global group with members living in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Indonesia and the U.S. We're very excited about this group of writers and our new community! We added new members to our community in January 2021 and they're getting to know the group and participate in writing activities.

If you missed out on the opportunity to join this session, you can get on the waiting list for the next session starting in January 2022:

Learn more and get on the waiting list


Live Workshops

People have been asking when our 2022 workshops in New Orleans, Louisiana are scheduled.

Here are the tentative 2022 dates:
June 17-20, 2022, Travel Writing & Photography Retreat
June 22-24, 2022, Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers

We've had lots of interest already. You can sign up for our no-obligation interest list for these workshops and receive our substantial early bird discounts when we open registration:

Get on the 2022 Workshop Interest List


Did You Know . . .

Our Complete Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers is ranked #1 on TravelWritersExchange.com’s Top Ten Travel Writing Workshops.

You can access the list of the top ten travel writing workshops at the link below:

Travel Writers Exchange workshop list: #1 Marketing Master Class

Online Travel Writing & Marketing Master Class

Now, you can study our Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers online for only a fraction of the price of the live class! We recorded it LIVE in Seattle, for aspiring travel writers who weren’t able to attend in person.

    Who's it for?

  • If you’re a novice travel writer, or you haven’t had much luck selling your articles to print magazines, this Online Travel Writing & Marketing Workshop is for you.
  • If you weren’t able to travel to our Live Master Class, here’s the opportunity to attend anyway - without any travel costs and at a substantially reduced cost!
  • If you work a full-time job and can’t get time off to attend the live class – you can still attend on your own schedule after working hours.
  • If you’ve wanted to attend our Live Marketing Master Class but can’t get your schedule to fit with the dates it’s offered – here’s your opportunity to attend at your own convenience.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER


At Your Service

Coaching and Consulting
Online Courses
Vietnam 1-1 Retreat & Consulting
Expat Consulting

email: pitchtravelwrite@gmail.com

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PitchTravelWrite.com, is our information-packed website for travel writers. This e-zine, a series of travel writing books and reference guides, coaching programs, and our workshops all work together to give you guidance in this field.

Our aim is to provide you with practical, nitty gritty information to help you gain entry into the travel writing realm and all the enjoyment that comes with it. 




We're thrilled to announce that www.PitchTravelWrite.com is once again on The Write Life’s list of 100 BEST WEBSITES FOR WRITERS! 

You can see the entire list by visiting their website - click on the graphic to view the list now.





Friend me on Facebook

My Facebook page is about freelance travel writing. I frequently post about:
• links to other well produced travel websites and blogs
• links to my travel articles
• magazine cover stories and back stories
• links to resource pages
• links to coaching and mentoring resources
. . .and plenty of other useful information to get you up to speed

Link to Roy's Personal Facebook page




That's all for now. Until next week - just keep pitching! Roy

Roy Stevenson
Pitch Travel Write
www.pitchtravelwrite.com






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