“…I want to make a living at travel writing (writing, selling, markets etc.). I am ready to go TODAY!…”

I cannot blame him for his enthusiasm. Sadly, this is not a simple transition for most writers. Here is my answer on how to get started. Please note, I have changed some of the language to be a little more generic to help all newbie travel writers. Otherwise this letter is almost the same as the one I sent this morning.

I recommend reading magazines that pay, like the ones found at the local news stand. These likely represent the creme of the crop in paying opportunities for travel writers. Become familiar with their style and form, word counts and subject matter. Take a long look at the mast head to see who should be contacted regarding submission. Then explore these magazine’s individual web sites for specific “submission guidelines” (as an example here are In The Know Traveler’s Submission Guidelines). Also do this with the knowledge that most established magazines have already developed relationships with writers and may not be particularly open to receiving queries from new ones. However, this does not mean you should not send in a query. Remember, someone’s story has to get picked — it might as well be you.

Please note that while I completely understand the sincere desire to get paid (which is also a very reasonable desire), writers are competing with numerous other writers who write for the love of travel and may not care about getting paid. Stiff competition doesn’t mean writers should not try to get paid, but it means that publishing has changed and that there are a ton of well-trained, experienced writers looking for work. Also many good smaller magazines have folded, while others have fewer editorial pages or have stopped using freelancers altogether. This is a grim prospect for a new travel writer.

Most magazines online do not pay at all, including the many premiere sites who claim exposure is somehow worth as much as real money. ITKT has been listed as a paying site (by a variety of online sources), but my pay is only token. So recommend taking a mental note at how dramatically publishing has changed over the last several years.

The bottom line is that you have to be willing to hustle to find paying venues to place your writing. Submit. Submit. Submit. Keep trying. And while I often offer advice on requests like this, most editors do not have the time. So if you receive no answer or a short rejection to submitted work, do not be surprised. I can tell say from experience, it is nothing personal.

The minimum a writer needs to know:

1. Follow any submission guidelines exactly
I routinely trash 1200-words articles without reading them because a writer ignored my guidelines of 500-750 words. Only in the most rare occasion (a well-developed, long-standing relationship with a writer) will I consider writing outside of the scope of my submission guidelines.

2. Know the editor’s name and spell it correctly
When the first words of a query are “Dear Sir/Madam”, “Hey There” or “Hi Mike”, I know the writer has put little effort and has set a tone for the rest of the query.

3. Only submit your best work
Otherwise what is the point.

4. Know that you will be edited
A professional editor will edit every story before it gets published. Moreover, arguing over edits made by the editor will guarantee your will never work with that editor again. I know that sounds harsh, but I have had many conversations about this with many editors, and it is the truth. I have also received names and email addresses from other editors warning me about abusive writers. No one wants to be named on that list.

* I would also recommend reading the series, “Avoid Travel Writing Rejection.”

And of course, keep traveling and writing.

As an owner of multiple web sites, much of my time is dedicated to attempting to publish good travel content – I assume I sometimes fail. This means I read, evaluate, edit and publish – then rinse and repeat. Still, the technical aspect of maintaining my sites is something that many potential site owners and bloggers forget about. If you are one of them, allow me to let you in on a secret. Web site ownership can be a pain.

This week is a good example. I have been looking for a needle in a haystack, trying to find what might be causing my CPU consumption to soar. My host company has let me know that the problem could be anything, anything at all. “Great!” I say (with a hint of sarcasm). They need the fix asap if I want to keep my sites online, but their trained technical team cannot help me. As an untrained non-tech, I should find it myself. “Great!” I say (with sarcasm and annoyance). Despite all of this, the week did have some bright spots.

I just had my first travel article appear for the Huffington Post about Clubbing in Jamaica. The article is light and fluffy, like one of those “whipped” yogurts made with minoxidil and nonoxynol-9, and offers little precious nourishment. Still, I am glad I started with this article. Jamaica is an adventure and its nightlife worth exploring, even for an older guy like me. I will also submit my first blog for Technorati, one of the largest web sites in the world. I received the request via email while I watched President Obama’s motorcade whiz by as I stood behind police barricades, trapped two blocks from my home. Here are a few shots of the whizby, which looked more like aliens returning to the mother ship than a flashing police escort.

And now for the coming week.

Publish

After a week of tracking down an elusive technical issue, I now must get back on track. I have been lining up a slew of backlogged material for scheduling on ITKT.

Evaluate

Sadly, I have to do something about my server issues and will likely have to move to a new web hosting company. Any suggestions? I will have to firm up a couple of likely candidates unless something miraculous happens.

Writing

My projects, Travel Writing Rockstar and a book proposal still move forward. However, I have a new Huffington Post and my first Technorati blog due as well.

Traveling

I have been confirmed for this year’s CATM (Central American Travel Mart) in Guatemala City. The trip will include a pre-tour around the Guatemalan countryside and a post-tour to Honduras for its most famous attractions. I will be bringing cameras and a computer for daily updates. Still looking for a confirmation to Mexico City in September.

And how is your week?

Most of the submissions start with something like Dear Devin or Hey Dev or Hi ITKT or Dear In The Know Traveler Editor. One began “Wazzup!” and another just “ditor,” (A first for me where a submission’s very first word was misspelled – Brilliant! I will try not to hold it against the writer, promise.). All of these openings are fine by me.

However, the ones that open with just a “Hello” or “Sir/Madam” tip me to look at who the email was addressed. When I do, I am never surprised to discover “undisclosed recipients” or the senders email address in the “to:” section of the email. When I see this, I know I have just received a blind submission.

A Blind Submissions is when a writer gathers a bunch of email addresses and sends off a completely generic request to be published in the hopes of playing a numbers game. Surely one out of these fifty editors will publish my story, right? While playing a numbers game may be a fast way to do things, it also lets the editor know that the writer is not looking to develop a long-term relationship or make an effort to write something that might fit into a specific publication.

Personally, as I have mentioned before in the Do Your Homework, I just delete the blind submissions and queries. It may sound harsh, but the technique of sending a single email to a bunch of random editors — who are all looking for something different — to sell something feels like spam. I know we are all looking for easier, faster ways to do things because we all have busy lives, but here is an opportunity to get an advantage over other writers with a little extra effort. I suggest read the publication before submitting and find out the names of the editors. And write an article directed toward a specific publication.

I am going to let you in on a little secret. Most editors are not looking for one great story. They are looking for reliable, consistent writers who will write many good stories in the future. So this spring, forget about the blind submissions and get to know your editors.

I was enamored by the hamster/pig and promised myself I would somehow include the agouti in my 1200-word article, which took me far too long to write. I eventually wrote, “The agouti is proof that a hamster and a pig made love.” It was fair description. It was also a line that I fell in love with after writing it. I thought I was brilliant, maybe even Pulitzer worthy. After I submitted the article, my editor wrote a one-line response, “funny line. It’s gone.”

Two months later, the article was published and very little was changed. It was nice to see me name in print. However, my Pulitzer line now read, “The agouti looks like a cross between a hamster and a pig.” Seeing my first story was great but I couldn’t get the sting out of having my once brilliant line morphed into something so un-romantic. Romance would have used an image of a pig making love to a hamster. Well, at least it was in the mind of my fragile ego. The worst thing happened. I took the edit personally.

Since that time, I have written a ton of other articles for the same editor (glad I never complained). I have also become an editor. Sometimes, I have deleted, rearranged, changed, altered and edited other writers’ brilliant lines. I never intend to upset a writer.

However, I occasionally have a writer who wants to know how I could change their best lines. As a writer, I identify. As an editor, I am never emotionally attached to a great line or aside. The whole story, and every word in it, is always a work in progress and fair game to be changed to improve the whole. It is never personal. I have learned that writers do their best to offer something interesting, funny, unique, insightful, and/or informative, but editors have to think about the larger picture of style, tone, readership, sensibility and sometimes keyword optimization. Difficult decisions need to be made. I have learned that getting edited is the rule. I have also learned that the image of a pig making love to a hamster, no matter how loving, may not be for everyone.

About ten years ago (Yes, ten), I went to a party where a songwriting guitar player wearing purple velvet pants performed a song about a valiant knight and a distressed damsel, who were in love. However, in the third verse, other knights and more damsels arrived. There was also a Gandolf-type character and three hobbits, who lived in a nearby cave, appeared in the fifth verse. Then a dragon showed up who had all the gold. Then, two different knights fought a duel over a different damsel with the winner getting a chance to kill the dragon and pocket all the gold. In the 11th verse, a king from a magical land offered a magical sword to slay the dragon. Then another knight wanted in on the action and the story went on in a minor key for dozens more verses, characters and plot twists – until I wanted to kill myself. Simply put, the story about the knight and the damsel got lost between all the overstuffed bits the artist wanted to throw in before attempting to tie everything together in the final line of the final verse. A three-minute song becomes a 17-minute dirge. Welcome to the Dreadful Epic.
In Do Your Homework, I wrote about the importance of giving the editor what he or she wants and becoming familiar with the publication.

The dreadful epic is the opposite of doing your homework. The story may meet a word count requirement, but to the detriment of the story. As an example, In The Know Traveler stories are between 450-600 words. This means stories are short and get to the point. There are no extra dragons or kings or magical swords or knights who want in on the action.

In the Dreadful Epic, a writer fills their story with too many ideas, extra characters, subplots or layers of insight, which take the reader away from the main focus of the story. In 600-, 1000-, and 2500-word article, there is a limited amount of space to tell the story. I would argue that good short-form travel stories are about delving into unique moments.

If a travel story is about a woman who climbs a mountain, then any information that does not directly impact the woman or her ability to climb (like the three drunk Belgium guys who just happened to be near the mountain and said something funny) uses up precious words meant to tell the story about the woman climbing the mountain. Of course, all this comes from the writers’ desire to tell an honest and complete story, and meet submission guidelines. I do appreciate this, but still always pass. I have spoken to other editors experiencing the same dilemma. They pass too.

The easiest way to fix this is to stay focused while writing and editing. Know the story you want to tell and think fillet and trim the fat. However, if the story is so much more than a knight and a damsel or a woman climbing a mountain then consider a medium that will do the story and the characters justice, like a literary journal, best-selling book, or personal blog.

Don’t get me wrong, I love stories that wind through complicated plots so characters can open up, develop and make me love them. This usually takes hundreds, if not thousands, of pages – just ask Homer, Tolkein and Rowling.

One final thought, I know there is always an exception.

The complete series
For Part 1, Why We Sucks
Part 2, Use Your Words
Part 3, Do Your Homework
Part 4, The Dreadful Epic
Part 5, The Easy Opening

Want to start receiving my updates and maybe get a free travel-related product? visit TWL’s Free Stuff page

1. Not Planning

I knew I wanted to inspire people to travel and I wanted to have a million readers. I knew I wanted to make a difference and have some integrity while doing it. However, what I made up for with enthusiasm, I completely lacked in organized execution. It made working on my web site unnecessarily complicated.

How to fix it
I eventually wrote down a plan that included everything I could think of that I needed to do and what readers would need to know. I included a mission statement, topics I planned to cover, what days articles would be released, a collection of emergency articles for when life happened, and what I hoped to accomplish over the next year. The planning stage saved a huge amount of time because I didn’t have to spend time guessing at what I needed to do next as I continued to work on the site.

2. You Can’t Please Everyone, So Don’t Bother

Every time I write an article, part of me is back in high school. I want all my readers to love me and think I am cool. It’s embarrassing, but true. There have been times when I have changed my site in the hopes of making it something it was not to try to please everyone, at least a little. I discovered this confused readers and took me away from being real with people.

How to fix it
I now only write for an audience of one, me. If I am not being authentic, then I might be spewing garbage. This is why I never really trust large corporations and politicians, because they are always trying to offer what people want to hear rather than being honest about what they can really do. This kind of inauthentic communication may be one way to run a business, but it is not a way to build a real relationship with real people for a global community, which is exactly what I hope to do at Travel. Write. Live. and In The Know Traveler. It may not please everyone, but I can live with that.

3. Focus

My mission on ITKT is to inspire travel and promote cultural exchange.
However, I also like a good political debate, playing guitar, and books about conspiracy. There are so many thoughts to have about so many topics. Once in a while it seems appropriate to drop one of these topics into my travel site. While it made sense at the time, I now think it was a ridiculous idea. It would be like going to the store to buy a box of Ding Dongs, but all the store has is steamed brussel sprouts. It might be good for me, but it wouldn’t make sense for the reader.

How to fix it
Once I had defined my sites in 25 words or less, I had specific guidelines for the topics I could cover. Here are my definitions for In The Know Traveler: “dedicated to promoting international travel and cultural exchange,” and for Travel. Write. Live.: “The No B.S. Blog about Travel and Writing to support the creation of a better Life.” Anything outside of these margins becomes a story for another site.

4. Stagnation from Overwhelm

Let’s face it, blogging can be overwhelming. I had to teach myself Photoshop, WordPress, html, a little php, social networking, marketing, stat interpretation, how to check out the competition and model the success of others — not to mention still having family, friends, work and time to do my personal writing. It is easy to look at this huge pile of stuff and say, I am going to eat a giant sack of Ding Dongs and take a nap on the sofa.

How to fix it
I have learned to cope with the pile by doing a little everyday and making lists of small things I can easily finish and check off. Seeing what I have accomplished takes away from all that I think I have not.

5. Checking Numbers and Checking Everything Else

For brief periods (I am in one right now), I have spent too much time seeing if anyone is visiting my site , who they are, how they are doing it. Then I check my email, maybe someone wrote me something in the last thirty seconds. Maybe a Prince from Bahrain who wants to send me $75,000,000 for no reason, and writes in ALL CAPS so it must be important, is trying to reach me. This has been the single greatest time-waster, ever.

How to fix it
This is a tough nut to crack because it is easy to justify constantly checking my stats and email all the damn time, especially when I have a new site just launching. Truth is, numbers fluctuate, sometimes wildly, from day to day based upon a bunch of tech things I have no control over. I receive 150 emails a day. 149 of these emails are not really important and can wait until later in the day. Still I want to look.

I have learned to schedule Facebook, Twitter and email for twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Ideally, I look at the numbers once at the beginning of the month. I include an hour (timed if necessary) of Facebook, Twitter and emails that require a little more attention per day. I include an hour of numbers, which is more than I need. Again, the last month has been a trying time.

Overall, these five simple rules give me more time and increase my production five-fold, which allows for more time to work on better articles and writing. It has also given me something I didn’t expect, a little piece of mind. Piece of mind that I have got myself organized to be efficient and get it all done.

When I watch the Bachelor (like you don’t?!) and Steve, the dashing life guard from Kansas, describes his sincere process of finding the woman of his dreams, amongst the relatively small focus group of 25 unqualified lovelies, as an “amazing journey,” I take off my shoe and throw it at the television and say, “Use your freakin’ words.”

When a writer sends in a story that describes an awing waterfall only as “amazing” and the view from a mountain peak only as “breathtaking,” I think, I’ll pass, and go to the next submission.

I know what you’re thinking. One wrong, but completely valid, word and its all over? Curtains? Next stop rejection city? That’s not fair! And you are right. It’s not fair. Don’t worry, I will read the whole story to make sure that someone did not have a bad sentence, or two, within an otherwise well-written story.

However, most writers using vague, generic or cliché words usually have submitted a story with bigger problems than just one or two small word choice problems – the whole story is usually crap written in “we” voice.

For me, when I come home after a trip with an inspiring personal experience, I am compelled to share the story with friends and family. However, sometimes I come home with a story filled with epiphany, feeling, self-reflection and an ineffable quality that is amazing, breathtaking, and great. The problem is these kinds of words (hyperbole, cliché and vague) do not mean much to another person other than pointing out the importance of the moment, which is simply not enough to justify publication. So when I write that inspiring story down, I have to focus on getting out the details of the moment rather than summing them up with overly used words.

Here is a short list of crappy words I use when I am being lazy or feeling particularly conversational: nice, good, bad, incredible, great, breathtaking, amazing, and fun. There are dozens of other big sounding words, which take the place of detail. Look out for them and delete them. Do it now. Go ahead, I will wait right here.

My best suggestion for avoiding these duds is by writing out a scene in full and using a thesaurus or word finder. This is exactly what I do when I am drawing a blank. Personally, I prefer a word finder to a thesaurus.

As an editor, this means I am looking for a description that expands upon what is important to the writer, but shows willingness to make the reader understand the details that made the experience breathtaking, amazing and great.

As a reader I want to be inspired. As an editor, I want to feel like a piece of writing has the ability to inspire others. This usually requires more effort than what most writers do.

The complete series
For Part 1, Why We Sucks
Part 2, Use Your Words
Part 3, Do Your Homework
Part 4, The Dreadful Epic
Part 5, The Easy Opening

Want to start receiving my updates and maybe get a free travel-related product? visit TWL’s Free Stuff page

As the Editor of In The Know Traveler, I am asked by writers, friends and strangers on the street the same question all the time, “How do I get your job?” People know about the perks of travel writering: the exotic locales, being wined and dined, the press trips and free travel. Mostly, they just want free trips and an LOA (letter of assignment) from me. I don’t blame them. Travel is fun, but expensive. Being a journalist has opened a lot of doors that traveling on my own would never provide. So I get it, and I am happy to use freelancers.

At this point, I receive new article submissions every day. In fact, I have received two just this morning. The vast majority are rejected almost immediately. One of the two has already been rejected. I never enjoy rejecting a story because, in most cases, I know the writer has tried and worked hard at putting his story together. Still, I turn down a lot of stories each week. Because I frequently do not have the time to explain my decisions (as time is not a friend to most editors), I thought it was time to help out my friend, the travel writer.

The following series (I am thinking five parts) will offer mistakes I commonly see that will get a story killed from consideration immediately. While I can only speak for In The Know Traveler, I have spoken with other editors who agree with me.

“We” voice Sucks
What I am calling “we” voice is writing in first person plural. As an example, “Larry was talking to us. We were listening. We felt good about what Larry was saying to us.” I am not sure of the allure of writing in “we” voice. It always feels like the writer is not wanting to take credit for what is happening in his story, so another character or group is brought in to soften the experience. Perhaps, most travel experience happens with another person witnessing the event, or validating it, somehow making the extra person important to the story — which is… ridiculous. It is a hard point of view to do well and distances the reader from the story. The only thing I can say for sure about “we” voice is that it mostly sucks. However, I read more submitted travel stories written in “we” voice than anything else that eventually get a “pass” from editorial consideration.

Please note: “we” voice should not be confused with using the word “we” or offering a description of a group. I am only talking about using first person plural for a whole story or when a writer uses “we” to describe the feelings of the group.

Why “We” Sucks
Once, when I asked a writer to change her story into first person singular (“I” voice), she said, “But my boyfriend, Larry, was there,” as if I was supposed to care about Larry. As a reader, I only give a writer a few seconds to care about a story on the Internet — just like everyone else, making “we” a deal breaker.

Oddly, I have received a number of stories from this writer, all in “we” voice including Larry as unnecessary interloper. For the record, I think she should dump Larry. He never does anything interesting and, what little I do know, sounds like he is a pest.

1. At the heart of a travel story is a personal experience, which gets diluted by extra people in first person plural.
2. First person plural invites more people doing things, which needs to be explained and takes away from the travel experience.
3. “We” voice is unusual in most writing (so is second person, “you” voice). It is a distraction within itself.
4. The voice is limiting because, unless the narrator is a mind reader, the writer cannot comment on feelings. It cannot comment upon what the group saw either.
5. Because ITKT stories are designed with the Internet in mind, 500-800 words, it is important to get to the point. “We” slows everything down.

When is “We” Accepted in ITKT
As a general rule, I almost never run a story that is predominantly written in “we” voice. However, there is always an exception.

1. If the story is brilliant and about a unique destination.
2. If the story is more about the other person than the narrator and the narrator has an authority to make comment. I recently published a story about a mom taking her child out to do things that specifically appealed to the child. I trusted the mom to know what her child liked or did not.
3. If a story has sections that could easily be converted into I voice.
4. If the writer is willing to rewrite.

Stay tuned as there is more to say about stories that get rejected and writing choices that suck.
The complete series
For Part 1, Why We Sucks
Part 2, Use Your Words
Part 3, Do Your Homework
Part 4, The Dreadful Epic
Part 5, The Easy Opening

Want to start receiving my updates and maybe get a free travel-related product? visit TWL’s Free Stuff page

Another story that might be of interest, Read Better Now Damn It! 5 Tips to a Better Literary Reading

For free stuff

Of course, Travel. Write. Live. will feature travel stories by yours truly offering info about great far away places I hope you visit one day. I am talking about hotels and travel gear. I love to discuss both of these topics. I am talking about the vacations and the rejuvenation associated with travel, I love this too. I am talking about people and cultures that we meet along the way that make any new experience special. Yes, it is the part of travel that reminds me of Shirley and the inspiration that started In The Know Traveler.

I will share the making of In The Know Traveler and how it grew into the success it has become – I am asked about ITKT everyday by people who tell me that travel writing is their dream job. It is my dream job, so I understand. They want to know how it all works. I know that there is a lot of misinformation on the web and I want to dispel the myths and explain the real ins and outs of the real life of a travel writer and editor. What do press trips really look like and what can a writer expect on one of these adventures? Will you love it? Probably.

As an editor, I want to explain why I turn down 85% of the submissions I receive and discuss the kind of writing I look for and even some of the work I know other editors look for from freelancers – I know a bunch. What are the common writing pitfalls and how do writers avoid them? Because with so many writers hoping to land the dream job, I have a number of resources, tools and experience to help the novice and the pro, to help the travel writing community, and other types of writers, in general.

Then there is the secret mission. The mission I never outwardly shared on ITKT. So here goes, when I created In The Know Traveler I thought, and I still do think, that if we all knew someone living in Iraq or Afghanistan, maybe our armies wouldn’t be there. Maybe if we all understood that the vast majority of the population of these places are much more similar to us than we imagine – that they want to put food on the table, to enjoy their friends and families and have a few creature comforts – it would not be so easy to justify the war.

I still believe if some terrible people did some terrible things in Texas, we would not be there blowing up Texas for the next ten years – even if the government wanted to do it. At some point, the people would demand it to stop. We all have friends and family and acquaintances in Texas. We wouldn’t want our brothers and sisters and friends not to be in danger. We have not spoken up more because I believe it may be easier to view a group or culture as wrong when we don’t know or understand them.

I have used this secret mission to promote culture in all of its forms on ITKT. My logic at the time was that if we all knew more about our differing believe systems, we would discover that there is no one that is completely right or anyone completely wrong, and that we could all use a little more compassion. It would stop making sense to demonize what we are not.

While some words are completely self-explanatory, others require more awareness when applied in practice. Sometimes the definition is not enough.

Please note, imperfection happens. This list does not live in a vacuum. I will add or remove words as it becomes necessary. If I missed a word, feel free to leave a comment with a new word addition and if it is a fit, I am glad to add it and offer you a credit for your brilliance.

Also note these definitions are based upon my experience as a practicing travel writer. I have chosen to use my language skills to get to the point and not a definition found in a dictionary. My comments are in italics. Enjoy and bookmark for future use.

Accessible Tourism: Tourism developed to help travelers who need special or additional assistance during their trips, like some disabled travelers.

All-inclusive: The all-inclusive vacation means there are usually no additional costs once the vacationers arrive at their destination (assuming they paid in advance). All the food and activities are included in the initial price. However, special services like booze and excursions routinely cost more dough.

Think Club Med.

Assignment: The deal between the editor and the writer, as an example, 800 words about the hotel due on August 8, 2010.

Always know the word count and deadline for the story you are covering.

Booking Site: A travel site with little or no other purpose than to sell components of a vacation. Selling just airfare or car rental.

While there are a ton of booking sites, most don’t use original content. There are also a few large booking sites that will use any opinion as fact by whoever is willing to sign up and log in. As a writer there is little value here to promote yourself unless the site can offer you a link to your personal site.

Byline: The name attributed as the author for publication.
It is always a good idea to verify if the publication uses bylines for all their stories.

Clips (also see, tear sheets): Hard copy examples of your published writing.

I keep a pile in the closet, mostly for myself. I think these were much more important before the advent of the Internet. Now there are too many links available that makes hard copy clips and paper trails redundant.

CNF (or creative non-fiction): A more complex genre than meets the eye.

Comp or complimentary: A discounted or free something given to writers to inform a firsthand experience about the product or service.

Comps usually are part of a press trip, fam (familiarization) trip, junket or physical products.

Concierge: A hotel employee or department that offers guests a variety of services ranging from calling a taxi to scheduling a whole day of excursions. This may be either a complimentary or charged service.

Copyright: The right to present, license or distribute artistic work. And who is allowed to do it.

This is a legal term and it is worth your time to look into how it affects you.

Coverage: When a writer writes about a place he or she visited and the publication publishes the article.

PR firms, NTOs and CVBs will always want writer coverage on the places and attractions that they represent.

CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau): Usually refers to the tourism office of a city.

Most large cities have one. More and more smaller cities are developing them as well. In my experience, they have been a great source of information.

Credits: A list of a writer’s published articles.

It is a good idea to have recent articles available to be faxed or emailed to whoever might want to use your services. This list should include links to where the articles can be seen or the name of publication, date, volume, edition, or other relevant numbers associated with the publication.

Deadline: The date and/or time when a story is due, frequently connected with word count.

If a writer is given a firm deadline by an editor it is wise to never miss it, and if the writer is going to miss it, best contact the editor asap. If you miss a deadline, even if there is a valid reason, don’t be surprised if the editor doesn’t use your writing again.

Excursion: When the hotel arranges for a separate trip to see a particular attraction. Many hotels offer this service through the concierge.

Kill Fee: Payment for a written assignment that will not be published.

This can be anywhere from 25-100% of the agreed upon price of the article. It is frequently the publication’s policy to name the specific percentage of payment, but is sometimes negotiated between writer and editor. Usually, this means the writer did everything right, but something happened to make the story no longer worth publishing – it doesn’t happen often. I once wrote a story about a new airline route and before the story was published, the airline decided to drop the route – making my story worthless.

LOA (or Letter of Assignment): A written agreement between an editor and an NTO or PR firm signifying that a writer will be visiting a particular destination “on assignment” with the expectation that the writer will be covering the destination.

Never assume that an editor will just send an LOA on your behalf. Ask your editor about their policies first.

Multiple Submissions: Sending more than one article to an editor or publication at a time.

I see this a lot from enthusiastic writers. If submitting one article is good, seven must be better, right? Not so much. Consider sending just one article at a time until you develop a relationship with an editor.

NTO (or National Tourism Organization): Generic abbreviation of any tourism board of any country.

Smaller NTOs do their media relations in-house. The larger NTOs use pr firms.

On-spec or On Speculation: A writer submitting a story without an assignment in the hopes of getting the story published. Or when an editor offers to look at a story from a query letter without guaranteeing the story’s publication.

I know a lot of writers hate this idea, but if an editor doesn’t know you, your writing becomes a gamble. It is one way to get a foot in the door.

Payment: Articles are usually paid by word count, as an example, $.50 a word, or a range of words, 700-800 words, for say $100. Payment is usually paid at time of publication, but sometimes at time of acceptance.

Are you drunk? There’s no money in travel writing. But I still love it.

Plagiarism: When one person misrepresents writing as original when it’s true source comes from someone else.

This can also extend to ideas. When in doubt, just say where you heard it. Every time I think, I should remove that clause in ITKT’s acceptance letter, someone proves me wrong and sends me something clearly unoriginal. More often than not there is a confused, rambling opening paragraph followed by a paragraph of brilliant prose. When I cut and paste the brilliant prose into a Google search, it always reveals a different name.

Press trip: Trips writers take that are hosted by the destination/hotel/attraction to help with research and first hand experience.

Be advised, not all publications accept articles that come from the result of a press trip. Check writer’s guidelines. Press trips are working trips and not just free vacations. Participants can expect little free time.

PR Firm: This stands for public relations. A PR firm may represent various clients in the travel and tourism industry.

I have mostly very positive experiences with pr firm. However, it is important to be upfront about what you can do or not with a story.

Query: A presentation of a possible story to an editor.

Regular Contributor: A writer who has a lot of stories published with the same publication.

This isn’t a term more than an opportunity for advice. There are specific reasons why I use many writers over and over and why it can take a long time to get a new writer featured on the pages of In The Know Traveler. Regular contributors give me what I want. With some writers, I just accept their article without even reading it. I am sure this sounds terrible, but if I know that that a writer will write in a style and tone that matches what I publish consistently. It mean less work for me, and I am happy to present their work and provide them with more clips.

Reprint: Selling or publishing a previously published work.

I recommend letting your editor know if your article has appeared elsewhere.

Rights: See Copyright.

SASE: Self-addressed stamped envelope.

Sidebar: Some extra words about a very specific part of a story, but can also be lists of links, directions, or an addition to the regular article.

Simultaneous Submission: Submitting the same article to multiple publications at the same time.

Most editors frown at the idea because editors have little extra time to review a story that might be already sold elsewhere. With this in mind, it is a good idea to let the editor know up front. However, I will likely just pass on the article, unless I know the writer well.

Sound bites: A good quote.

Submission Guidelines: These are rules a publication wants writers to follow. Each publication has its own submission guidelines. Here are mine from In The Know Traveler

It is advisable to adhere to a publication’s rules if you want a chance of getting a response.

Swag: A funny term for free stuff that gets given away by people promoting products, services and destinations.

Think: logo-stamped pens, reusable beach bags, and flash drives