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Thanks to Arvis Northrup for telling me about Trazzler.com, which uses “virtual teleportation” to place you “emotionally into specific moments and locales all over the planet.”

What I think is most interesting about Trazzler is that, as a travel writer, you can submit a short post to Trazzler that links to your longer articles elsewhere on the web, and thus drive traffic to your other articles. In fact, Trazzler encourages this: “You are always free to republish anything that you submit to Trazzler or to submit previously published (copyright-friendly) material that is edited to fit Trazzler’s style. Published Trazzler trips always come with a prominent credit/byline for the author, appear on a profile that you can customize, and look professional, so please feel free to use them to promote yourself and your writing.”

Travel writer Linda Ballou offers beginning travel writers a free e-book called How to Make Travel Writing Work for You. Linda explains, “My report is written to those who are not going to try to make a living at travel writing, but just want to get around to places they couldn’t get to otherwise.”

Get the free report by providing your name and email address at Linda’s website, after which the PDF download will appear. And while you’re there, check out Linda’s book, Wai-nanai, High Chiefess of Hawai’i.

From Alison at V!VA Travel Guides:

“V!VA Travel Guides invites talented and enthusiastic writers to apply for its 2009 Travel Writing Boot Camps.

“The V!VA Boot Camp is a weeklong crash course in which students will gain valuable insight into the world of travel guidebook writing through instruction from seasoned professionals. Attendees will find out what editors want, learn how to work with multimedia outlets and improve writing skills through daily critiques. Students may also have the opportunity to stay “on assignment” in the host country after the course.

“Find out what you need to know to travel, get published and get paid!

Thanks to Camille Cusumano for forwarding this link to Brave New Travel’s list of more than 50 Travel Magazines that Want to Publish Your Writing. Links included.

From a 10/20/08 Travmedia.com press release:

“Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is launching a new first and business class inflight magazine. Etihad Airways carries more than 6.5 million passengers annually.

“I am seeking articles and contacts for luxury travel, luxury goods and products, and relevant stories especially from the Middle East. Any other press releases, interviewees etc which are relevant to a high end lifestyle, business and travel magazine would be most welcome.

“This is intended to be an ongoing request and there is no deadline.”

Contact Mike MacEacheran, Editor, ITP Publishing
mike.maceacheran AT itp.com

Thanks to Gayle Keck for this: “Literary Traveler is seeking articles that capture the literary imagination. Is there an artist or writer that has inspired you? Have you taken a journey or pilgrimage that was inspired by a work of literature? We focus mainly on literary artists but we welcome articles about other artists: composers, painters, songwriters, story-tellers, etc.” Submission guidelines are here.

Thanks to Gail Flynn for passing along this information about a Yahoo! Group listing all kinds of writing contests.

Thanks to Gayle Keck for passing along this info from Duffie Books:

We are a new small publishing company that publishes e-books and pod books. We are looking for writers or authors who are women who have experience traveling on their own, and would like to write their experiences. Whether it be a guide, how to, do it yourself, personal story, travel journal etc.

Our focus is empowering women to feel safe, able and encouraged to travel on their own. We want to give them the information they need to be prepared and have fun along the way.

Congratulations to me! The Travel Writers News URL is included on World Hum’s links page, which lists links to Journals and Websites, General Travel Blogs, Destination Focused Travel Blogs, Magazine and Newspaper Travel Sections, Travel Communities, TV/Radio, Offbeat Sites, and Travel Writing Blogs/Resources/Communities.

Thanks to April Orcutt for sending this info about a market for stories. (Not necessarily travel-related, but I love flash fiction, quickies, and short stories, so I’m passing this along. And the Quickies are so short you can surely find time to write one. Maybe it would be a good activity for those times you just need to write something—anything—to get the creative juices flowing. Or for when you’re procrastinating about writing what you should be writing. Yep; been there.)

COMING SOON: WEST MARIN REVIEW
Deadline: Open

Ann Pring is involved in starting a new literary and art journal in West Marin called the “West Marin Review.”  The plan is for the inaugural issue to be out in late Fall 2007.

For guidelines:
West Marin Review
PO Box 984
Pt. Reyes, CA, 94956

“A creation of the University of Montana’s Environmental Studies Program, Camas publishes essays, fiction and poetry by some of the West’s best emerging writers—recent Guggenheim winner Judy Blunt is a good example—alongside the likes of William Kittredge, Annick Smith, David James Ducan, Janisse Ray, and Wendell Berry.”

Terry Tempest Wiliams has called Camas “one of the mosty powerful and inspiring literary magazines in the West.”

Thanks to Kathleen McClung for this link to The Rambler, a “unique magazine of personal writing and diverse voices that isn’t just another literary mag.” And congratulations to Kathleen on her personal memoir piece The Rambler will be publishing in an upcoming issue.

September 12, 2007
6:00 pm	to	9:30 pm

The Web Guild of Silicon Valley is sponsoring a panel on mobile advertising on September 12. This should interest travel writers; I think mobile advertising will help drive the need for content in the very near future. Online registration for non-members is $30.

“Mobile advertising is a fast growing slice of the online marketing mix. It is expected to reach $10 Billion by 2010 according to the Mobile Marketing Association. Leading content providers, brand advertisers, and enablers are beginning to sell mobile specific campaigns. As traditional channels for advertising like TV, radio, and print are becoming less effective, marketers are seeking new mediums to reach and engage with consumers. Join this panel of industry experts to explore the opportunities and challenges of mobile advertising.

“ROAD & TRAVEL is a consumer magazine, an online resource specializing in automotive, travel, and personal safety topics. RT M targets upscale consumers, with a slant towards women, 29-59.” Writers guidelines are here.

I hadn’t checked the submission guidelines for quite awhile, and notice that World Hum now pays for stories.

It took me a few minutes to find them online, so I thought I’d post the link for AARP’s writers’ guidelines.

Thanks to April Orcutt for telling us about Travel Quest, “Journeys for Inquisitive Minds,” a new quarterly on-line publication that’s looking for 500- to 600-word travel essays, photos, and travel tips. I didn’t see any information about payment rates on the site.

“For over a decade, TravelQuest International has been arranging specialized tours for a discerning clientele. Unlike tour companies offering mainstream tours, each of our tours is customized to focus on special aspects of the places we visit. All of our tours feature distinguished study-leaders who offer insight to the historical, anthropological and archeological highlights of the areas we visit.

96 Hours Hotel CoverageHere’s the protocol for getting stories assigned, filed, photographed and paid. At the end is a recap of the format for the actual story itself. To see what has already been covered, check archives on sfgate.com (search in 96 Hours page). Also, Jeanne is looking for the classic “weekend escapes” or “one-tank wonder” stories, which pay $350, if you have a story idea that’s more than lodging.

On March 7 the Wild Writing Women hosted an excellent salon at the Monticello Inn, with featured speaker Mark Trautwein, editor of KQED’s Perspectives. KQED has the largest audience of any public radio station, ever, and Perspectives aired 265 pieces by 150 authors last year. Half of those authors were new to Perspectives. Mark said it’s sometimes a challenge to find five top-notch pieces per week, and encouraged submissions — there’s some good news. Here’s what he’s looking for:

• Personal essays, opinion pieces. A good idea, well expressed. (Humor.) Two minutes long (350 to 375 words).

An open letter from Doug McConnell:

Greetings,

I’m happy to announce, after many months of building, testing and tweaking, that www.OpenRoad.TV, The Traveler’s Video Guide to the American West, is now live and ready for everyone to use. It grows out of my lifetime of traveling and living throughout the West, the rich library of video and other content my team and I have amassed over the past fourteen years of producing Bay Area Backroads, and our collective passion for this extraordinary region.

Thanks to April Orcutt for sending the link to Packed, a free magazine targeted to backpackers in Europe. The home page has a bunch of links to hostels, the magazine has a lot of ads, and the articles have plenty of attitude. The website says they’re looking for freelance travel writers and photographers, but doesn’t mention rates.

Melissa Biggs Bradley, the founding editor of Town & Country Travel, left last summer to launch Indagare, “a Web site, newsletter and community where the world’s most sophisticated travelers can research trips and share their discoveries.” The teaser site is up now, and launch is scheduled for next month.

Thanks to Toni Weingarten for sending this link to the CSM’s writers guidelines, including information on the best opportunities for freelancers. Check out the section titled More on Essays:

“At the moment, we are looking for more first-person essays on travel,

Here are the writers’ guidelines for Wend:

Want to write for us? If you Wend, here’s the way:

1) Wend is namely interested in first person accounts of adventure travel. About 70% of our stories are from North America, the others from across the globe.
2) We are also interested in well-researched historical accounts of adventurers past. Stories of environmental interest will also be considered. You will be fact checked. Wend maintains a high standard for journalistic ethics and accuracy.

keep looking »

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