May
25
Apps – The Future of Travel Journalism?
May 25, 2010 | 3 Comments
Thanks to Lee Foster for explaining the economics of selling mobile applications compared with selling (traditional, paper) books in his article, Apps – the Future of Travel Journalism? Here’s an excerpt:
“Royalty rates for authors of apps are much higher than for authors of books, and for good reason. The deal is that I get 30% of the gross income from my $1.99 app sale, or 60 cents. I am told that this is roughly typical of the app world—30% each to the author, developer, and Apple store, with 10% going to admin. For my book, I have a 15% of net rate, which is good and possibly a little high. So, for selling two apps for $3.98, I get $1.19. For a sale of my $14.95 book, my royalty is 15% net, and the book will probably be discounted 55% to sell on Amazon or through a distributor. My royalty for that sale is $1.01.”
May
24
What a thrill: the photo I took of a frog nestled in the leaves of a succulent won 1st place in the Natural World category of Smithsonian magazine’s 7th annual photo contest!
The photo is in the June, 2010 issue of Smithsonian magazine (page 69), and will be part of a photography exhibit on view at the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall from July 1, 2010, through January 16, 2011.
I wish I’d been a little more prepared for my 15 minutes of fame, though. There’s a post on Laurie McAndish King.com outlining the 7 things I learned from the experience.
May
24
Rita Golden Gelman and friends
May 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Bestselling author Rita Golden Gelman will launch her newest book, Female Nomad and Friends: Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World on June 1, 2010. In the book, 41 authors tell their stories of adventuring around the world; more than 30 international recipes are included. You can download a PDF of the first chapter here.
More info here about Rita’s virtual book tour.
Rita is currently spearheading an initiative called Let’s Get Global (a project of U.S. Servas, Inc.), a national movement designed to bring the gap year to the United States.
May
24
Jim Benning talks travel writing
May 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Jim Benning, cofounder and coeditor of worldhum.com, will be talking about travel writing on both coasts this summer. will deliver a talk and discuss writing on a panel at Travel Blog Exchange’s two-day travel blogging conference, TBEX ‘10, June 26-27 in New York City. In August, he’ll be in the Bay Area at the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera.
May
24
“We all know what happened when the volcano in Iceland erupted and resulted in utter chaos in the aviation world. We also saw how some airlines and aviation authorities around the world struggled to cope with servicing the customers, while others used the latest social media tools to engage and update them.
“At SimpliFlying, we saw a paradigm shift in the way airlines handle crises management, in the age of social media. Instead of writing an article on it, we put together an info-graphic, that details the five key steps for managing crises, in the wake of the volcanic eruption. Both a PDF version, and a PPT version are available for download and printing. An Apple Keynote version will be available soon.
May
24
The Photo Essay: Give it Your Best Shot
May 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Thanks to photographer David Sanger for this link to a post in The Digital Trekker Blog with a good introductory overview of the photo-essay form. The post provides a shot list and excellent examples; I’ll be referring to it as I practice the art of travel photography.
Apr
26
Journalism Innovations
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
| April 30, 2010 12:00 am | to | May 2, 2010 12:00 am |
Thanks to Linda Jue for sending this announcement:
Journalism isn’t dying, it’s on the cusp of a new era. While the journalism industry is still recovering from the collective shock of mass layoffs, buyouts and closures, there have also been some impressive new ventures to emerge in the last couple years as brilliant reporters, managers, administrators and educators react to the demands of a changing mediascape.
Apr
26
A Thousand and One Words – Find your Writing Setpoint
April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
| May 29, 2010 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 6:00 pm |
| June 3, 2010 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 6:00 pm |
| June 19, 2010 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 6:00 pm |
Check out this writing workshop with Camille Cusumano, who brings more than 30 years of experience in publishing as researcher, writer, editor, and instructor in a vast array of subject areas including essay, memoir, food, travel, fitness, health, mind/body/spirit, creative non-fiction, fiction, and more.
WRITE WITH CONFIDENCE AND FLAIR
Mar
29
Travel Writing: Map Out the Route to Your Dream Profession, with Lisa Alpine
March 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment
| May 15, 2010 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 4:00 pm |
“Do you love to travel? Keep a travel journal? Why not take the next step and turn your daily scribbles into salable articles? You can do this by learning two things: 1) how to improve your storytelling abilities, and 2) how to market your work. ‘I’ll lead you through the steps of writing a travel story and then targeting and querying your markets [short story anthologies, newspapers, magazines and ezines],’ says instructor Lisa Alpine. ‘We’ll also discuss ways to generate other travel-related sources of income,
Feb
16
Gold Rush Writers Conference
February 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment
| April 30, 2010 | to | May 2, 2010 |
The fifth annual Gold Rush Writers Conference will be held  April 30, May 1 and 2 in picturesque Mokelumne Hill, the Sierra town that time forgot. The event, which includes your choice of 16 workshops, plus readings, talks, a picnic supper in a Victorian garden, lunch and dinner in a Gold Rush hotel, and a poolside brunch, is priced at just $145 — if you sign up before March 30.
Genres and topics covered include mystery, memoir, historical fiction, mainstream fiction, non fiction, poetry, short story, plus the basic tools of digital research, media marketing, plot, dialogue and point of view.