Things You'll Need:
- Digital camera
- "Writer's Market" or another market guide
-
Step 1
Go through "Writer's Market" or another guide to find markets for travel writing and photographs, and make a list of potential purchasers for your work. If you live near a large bookstore, visit it and go through the magazine rack, making a note of the names and addresses of as many travel publications as possible. If they are not listed in your market guide, check each website to see if the magazine works with freelancers and provides online writers' guidelines.
-
Step 2
Generate a list of potential topics, and decide which magazines might be interested in each topic. Identify at least two or three possible markets for each of your topics. Travel writing is a highly competitive field, so it's very likely that you'll get several rejections before you make a sale.
-
Step 3
Write a query for each of your travel topics, emphasizing that you will be able to provide photographs along with your article. Send your queries to the first magazine on your list for each topic. If you get a rejection, immediately send the query to the next magazine on your list.
-
Step 4
When your query is accepted and you have signed a contract for the article, do the necessary research and travel to write the article, and shoot good-quality photographs to accompany it. Be sure to save your receipts, as you will be able to deduct a part of the expenses that you incur while researching travel articles, even if it involves visiting a fun destination.
-
Step 5
After you have turned in your article and it is accepted by the editor, immediately send her another query. In order to build a successful travel writing business, it's necessary to develop regular markets. Pitching a topic while your article is still fresh in the editor's mind can boost your chances of making another sale. Eventually she may even assign articles to you.
