Breaking Into Travel Journalism

A passion for travel and the ability to string a sentence together will not qualify you as a travel journalist. Don't pitch just a general 'guide' to an unusual destination - you still need an angle, say the experts. Here are few lines which can definitely help you in continuing the career you love. Use your blog to showcase to editors what you can do They would want to see that you can write well-crafted copy, that you can sniff out good angles and that you are dedicated enough to have stuck with the blog for more than a few posts. If you are getting paid for writing, then your time for unpaid work will rapidly diminish. But until you get paid, a blog is a good, easy starting point.

You need to be able to dig out the angles the travel guides don't cover
So many people think that because they are passionate about travel and can string a sentence together, that qualifies them to be a travel journalist. It doesn't. You need to understand how to dig out facts - and to determine that they are facts - and how to find hidden gems and insider info. If it's already in a guidebook, what are you adding to it? And you need to know how to write

Travel journalism is hard work and the pay isn't always great either
Forget fantasies of being sent round the world on an assignment with all expenses paid, and having endless days lolling on the beach or people watching in cafes. Very few publications pay freelancers' travel expenses Take a sample 1,000 word feature. If you are lucky and have years of experience, you might be commissioned to write a 1,000- word travel feature for a major publication. If you are pitching unusual destinations, make sure you've got a good angle: Breaking in by going to less popular locations - this is a tricky one. On the one hand, going somewhere unusual definitely gives you an edge. On the other hand, it's hard to commission those features. The fact is, most people want to read about destinations they actually want to go to or are interested in. On the other hand, people do like reading about unusual destinations, so while editors might not have as much scope to commission those places, if you pitch a good angle for one of them, then when they do come to commission a quirky one, your pitch might just be in the back of their mind.

Demonstrating your knowledge and understanding of the magazine is important
The simple best way to get your writing published (and get paid for it) is to actually read the publication you're pitching to. If someone begins a pitch by clearly demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of the magazine, I am always more likely to read on.

Pitches should be Kept short, sweet and to the point

Include a signature at the bottom of your e-mail. It is really helpful if writers have a signature at the bottom of their e-mail telling about them and where they live.

Twitter can help your industry knowledge and give you ideas for pitches

Follow journalists, editors, newspapers and magazines but also follow travel blogs, tourist boards, airlines, tour operators, attractions, museums, hotel groups and so on. The more you know about travel and how it 'works', the better.

Postgraduate courses can equip you with everything you need

I don't think the type of degree is necessarily that important. What matters more is whether there was some type of postgraduate qualification - it needn't be an MA. There are several shorter postgraduate schemes that can equip you with everything you need .