• Categories

  • Air Travel (22)
  • DIVERSIONS (51)
    • Holiday (6)
  • INDIVIDUALS' WEBSITES (83)
    • Blogger (18)
    • Designer (5)
    • Editor (14)
    • Founder (7)
    • Photographer (28)
    • Publisher (5)
    • Speaker (10)
    • Teacher (10)
    • Writer (62)
    • Writing Coach (2)
  • NEWS and RESOURCES (776)
    • Adventure and EcoTravel (120)
      • Australian Animals (9)
      • Circumnavigation (5)
      • Global Warming (11)
      • Kenya Safari (47)
      • Lemurs (6)
    • Books and Reviews (54)
    • Culture and Anthropology (45)
    • Educational Travel (7)
    • Food and Bevs (1)
    • Freedom, Justice, Diversity (70)
    • Health and Safety (22)
    • Language (43)
    • Nature and Science (7)
    • Quotations (63)
    • Travel Operators (13)
    • Travel Tips and Resources (115)
    • Travel Writers' News (217)
    • Writers News and Resources (139)
  • PAST EVENTS (288)
    • Author Events (67)
    • Calls for Submissions (64)
    • Classes, Salons, Workshops (152)
    • Regularly Scheduled Events (10)
  • Travel Photography (10)
  • TRAVEL WRITING 101 (281)
    • Markets for Travel Writing (131)
    • New Media, Self-Publishing/Promo (75)
    • Press Trips (4)
    • Professional and Literary Orgs (42)
    • Queries (3)
    • Rejected? (4)
  • Upcoming Events (179)
  • VOLUNTEER VACATIONS (26)
    • Conservation, Environment, Wildlife (8)
    • Family, Teen, Senior Volunteering (2)
    • Health and Safety, Sports (7)
    • Individuals, Communities in Need (11)

I enjoyed Laura Fraser’s talk at Bay Area Travel Writers on Saturday—especially her suggestion about writing regular “sensory postcards” as an exercise in paying attention to our surroundings and writing regularly.

Laura’s latest book is All Over the Map, in which she “tangos in Buenos Aires, seeks wisdom from an Amazonian shaman, heads off into the wilderness on Outward Bound, goes on a ten-day meditation retreat, interviews sex-trafficked women in Italy, and reports on the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda.”

March 18, 2011 9:00 am

to

March 19, 2011 4:00 pm

Workshop activities include:

• Instruction in writing techniques particular to creative nonfiction—travel, memoir, food and the personal essay.
• Strategies to aid the invention, composition and revision of students’ writing.
• Study of professionally published models of creative nonfiction writing.
• Writing exercises and sharing of participants’ writing.

The workshop fee of $150.00 includes instruction, digital copies of reading materials, morning coffee, drinks at lunch and afternoon snack. Directions to the workshop location in Pleasanton will be sent to all participants. Email the instructor, Kathryn Abajian, at kabajian@gmail.com for an enrollment form and further directions. Or call Kathryn at 925-998-5785 with questions.

“For the media, this is a Tom Sawyer moment. “Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?” he says to his friends, and sure enough, they are soon lined up for the privilege of doing his chores. That’s a bit like how social networks get built. (Just imagine if Tom had also schooled them in the networking opportunities of the user-generated endeavor: “You’re not just painting a fence. You’re building an audience around your personal brand.”)”

Read the rest of this Feb 14 New York Times article about crowd-sourced journalism.  Read more... (132 words, 1 image, estimated 32 secs reading time)

Karen Misuraca’s new iPhone/iPodTouch/iPad app, California Coast North, has been released by Sutro Media. From beaches to historical sites, restaurants to lodgings, parks, events, recreation and more, this is the ultimate guide to daytripping and vacations along the world-famous coastline. More than 200 detailed listings with Google maps and 1,700 color photos. $2.99 (with free updates for life!). Check out the new app and post a review here.

June 29, 2010

6:00 pm

The Mechanics’ Institute will host a panel discussion Tuesday evening, June 29 at 6 p.m.: Bay Area writers will discuss the dramatically changing directions and paradigms of the book publishing industry. Explore traditional publishing routes and take advantage of innovations like e-books, self-publishing, social media, and the Web. Panelists include writing coach Lisa Alpine (leader of the Self-Publishing Boot Camp), travel writer/journalist Laura Fraser (All Over the Map), internet to print scientist/writer Ransom Stephens (The God Patent) and Twitter to print author Matt Stewart (The French Revolution).

MODERATED by: Constance Hale, book editor and author of Sin and Syntax.  Read more... (135 words, estimated 32 secs reading time)

I didn’t make it to the Future of Freelancing at Stanford, but the website has already posted conference highlights. Also, here are links to blog posts about the conference:

• David Page’s post on Matador
• C-Monster.net‘s take
• The Writing Coach’s tips from the conference
• More TK (the post is titled Writing for the Screen)

And a perspective on writing for free, this one from Advertising Age.

Check out the comments after the articles, too.

Oddly, the blog associated with OnlineDegrees.net includes some entertaining and instructional resources, like these lists of 100 Creative Ways to Excite and Inspire Young Readers, 100 Essential Cheat Sheets for Doing Business Abroad, and 100 Novels that let you Travel the World without Leaving Home.

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.  Read more... (256 words, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)

The 2010 BookExpo America New Title Showcase takes place May 25-27 in New York City. Register your Lulu print-on-demand book by May 7th and Lulu will display it physically at their New Title Showcase booth and will also list it, along with your contact details, online and in the printed catalog given to BEA attendees. The cost is $399.

April 13, 2010
7:00 pm	to	9:00 pm

You know you need to go: The Northern California chapter of the Society of American Media Photographers (ASMP) presents: Smartphones and the Future of Photo Publishing.

“If you thought the personal computer revolution of the 1980s and the Internet revolution of the 1990s were big, well, they were. But a new revolution merging the best features of personal computing, instant anywhere, anytime communication, and carry-everywhere portability promises to dwarf them both.  Read more... (722 words, estimated 2:53 mins reading time)

I enjoyed Ed Hasbroucks’s recent article on the intricacies of learning a foreign language. Here are a couple of excerpts:

“We tend to think of the problem of understanding a foreign language in terms of “knowing what the words” (or maybe sentences) mean. But If that were true, all we would need anywhere would be a phrase book. Anyone who’s
ever tried, and failed, to use a phrase book to communicate in a completely unknown language has quickly realized that there are multiple layers of coding that one must master before one can look up a foreign word in a dictionary or phrase book.

“One layer down in a spoken language, which groups of sounds or syllables  Read more... (283 words, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

March 27, 2010
9:00 am	to	12:30 pm

There are still a few spaces left for the Women’s National Book Association’s annual signature event, “Speed Dating with Agents, Editors, and Publishers” on March 27th. You don’t need to be a WNBA member—or even a woman—to participate. The WNBA says:

“Fiction & Nonfiction: Whether your manuscript is ready to be launched into the world or your amazing story is still a work-in-progress; don’t miss this opportunity to discuss your work with those who are in-the-know in the industry. Attending this event could change your writing life, and it certainly will be more exciting than your typical Saturday morning!”

A list of the agents participating this year is here.  Read more... (238 words, 1 image, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Here’s a list of international holidays, searchable by date, country, religion, and more. The listing doesn’t skimp: for the US, it shows 15 holidays in January, including National Pharmacists’ Day and Elvis’s birthday.

If you need to write using UK spellings, here’s a good resource.

Love writing? You’ll love the Sin and Syntax website, on which author Connie Hale offers writing exercises (she’s teaching at Harvard) and discusses grammatical and stylistic issues such as Barack Obama’s use of pronouns (politically correct but grammatically reprehensible), her own pet punctuation peeves, and the secrets for writing sinfully succulent prose.

Hale is the author of Sin & Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose. She also wrote Wired Style (the manual for Wired magazine) for which she was dubbed “Marion the Librarian on a Harley, or E. B. White on acid.” Her articles have been published in many newspapers, and in magazines including The Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic Adventure, Smithsonian, Health, and Honolulu.

Thanks to April Orcutt for sending along the link to this probably-too-true-to-be-funny essay from the New Yorker‘s Shouts & Murmurs

Subject: Our Marketing Plan

by Ellis Weiner

Travel writer Edward Hasbrouck (author of “The Practical Nomad“) was elected Co-Chair of the Book Division of the National Writers Union by delegates to the NWU’s biennial national convention earlier this month in Chicago, which he attended as part of the San Francisco NWU chapter delegation. He notes that is a sizable contingent of travel writers in the NWU, and encourages all writers who are serious about trying to make a living  to consider joining the NWU.  Read more... (126 words, estimated 30 secs reading time)

Wondering what happened to the talented journalists who’ve been adversely affected by  the fact that the traditional newspaper business model no longer works (not to mention the the economic downturn)?

Thanks to Gayle Keck for this link to The Journalism Shop, “an easy-to-navigate site for finding highly skilled newspaper veterans interested in taking on freelance assignments. All members are former Los Angeles Times staffers offering a wide range of skills and interests, from investigative reporters to book reviewers, page designers to project managers.”

And the Los Angeles Times photographers have set up shop at Pro Photography Network (“We will shoot anything, anywhere, for anyone.”)

August 24, 2009

12:00 am

The deadline for National Geographic Traveler’s World in Focus photo contest is August 24th.

Grand prize is a 10-day safari trip for one person to Tanzania.

Categories are:  Read more... (103 words, estimated 25 secs reading time)

• TRAVEL PORTRAITS: Travel photos of locals working, playing, celebrating
• OUTDOOR SCENES: Landscapes, aerials, wildlife, waterscapes.
• SENSE OF PLACE: Scenes in cities, towns, and villages that suggest a feeling of place.
• SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS: Photos that capture fun, quirky, unrehearsed moments.
• PHOTO ESSAY: Up to six images that convey a story around a particular theme.

October 4, 2009
10:00 am	to	5:00 pm

Lisa Alpine and Carla King are offering a seminar on self-publishing from 10:00 – 5:00 on Sunday, October 4th, 2009, at Fort Mason Center.

Here’s the scoop:

“You’ll learn everything you need to know to do it yourself:  Read more... (152 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)

• What the various POD printers, online services, and distribution companies do (and don’t do) for you
• How to outsource: book design, mailing list management, blogs, and other essential tasks
• What to watch out for when using POD “subsidy” publishers
• Options for distribution and fulfillment
• How to use your eBook to sell your print book

Thanks to Diane LeBow for forwarding this press release:

For Immediate Release (August 13, 2009)

National Writers Union Opposes Settlement of Class-Action Lawsuit Against Google for Copyright Infringement

The National Writers Union today announced its opposition to the proposed $125 million settlement of a class-action copyright infringement lawsuit brought by writers and publishers against Google because its massive book-scanning project violated their copyrights.  Read more... (707 words, estimated 2:50 mins reading time)

August 13, 2009 12:00 am

to

August 16, 2009 12:00 am

The 18th annual Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference runs from Thursday, August 13 through Sunday the 16th, 2009

“The conference has an extraordinary reputation among publishers, editors, and writers. Alumni have published books, articles, and photos—many as the direct result of lessons learned and contacts made at the conference. There is no finer travel writing conference anywhere in the world.  Read more... (174 words, estimated 42 secs reading time)

If you love copy editing like I love copy editing, you’ll get a belly laugh from Sarah Palin’s resignation speech, edited by the folks at Vanity Fair.

August 18, 2009
3:00 pm	to	5:30 pm

California Lawyers for the Arts is offering an Intellectual Property Seminar on Tuesday, August 18, 3 – 5:30pm at Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room 265.

Attorney Erick Howard will discuss the general parameters of intellectual property in the performing, visual and literary arts. Usually there are hand-outs given to participants to help explain the basic elements of copyright/ license usage as well as publishing. At the end of the seminar participants are encouraged to ask any questions they may have.  Read more... (112 words, estimated 27 secs reading time)

Looking for health insurance? Kaiser offers small business plans (no “pre-existing conditions” issues) for companies of two people or more. So, theoretically, two self-employed individuals could create a company of two partners (no employees needed) and qualify as a small business.

I’ve been investigating health insurance plans recently, and have heard good things about Kaiser from multiple sources. Thanks to Laurie Weed for this link. Now I just need to determine which would work best: a straight copay plan, a copay with deductible, an HSA, HRA, PPO, PPO with HSA, point-of-service … or some other plan configuration.

keep looking »

• Receive Updates by Email

• San Francisco Waterfront—It’s Alive!

• Upcoming Events

  • No events.

• Travel Quotations

  Loading Quotes...