Travel writing business opportunity for travel
writers
I left school at 15 to live in a
hippy squat house in
London. I've tended bar in a strip joint... inspected bolts
at a factory... waitressed in a Chinese restaurant...
clerked at a print shop where I typed invoices and lied
to customers about why their orders weren't ready...
But today I get paid to visit white
sand
Caribbean beaches... wildlife sanctuaries
in Borneo... Indian Ocean hideaways...
Rome... Paris... London...
I invite you to do the same. In fact,
I'll even
help you get your first assignment.
The work I do today is the
stuff of dreams... stress-free, romantic, fun. And all sorts of
everyday people do it. Like me, they've left behind the drudgery of
9-to-5... the brainless monotony... the boring desk job... and today
they get paid to follow their bliss. Care to join us?
As far as I'm concerned, it's the
best job in the world. Who wouldn't want to travel the globe and get
paid for it?
For me, last month's "work" involved
checking out facilities at Bad Krozingen, a quaint spa village deep
in Germany's Black Forest. And arduous work it was too... moving
from my sun bed into the pool where I was pummeled with blissfully
warm jets of thermal water.
My German work schedule also
involved visiting Neuschwanstein, the fairytale castle built by Mad
King Ludwig of Bavaria... riding the cog wheel train and cable car
to the summit of the Zugspitz, Germany's highest mountain...
I stayed in das Schiefes Haus
(the Crooked House), a beautiful half-timbered hotel in Ulm
dating back to medieval times... feasted on venison and
Pfifferlinge mushrooms served with noodles floating in a creamy
sauce... sampled far too many varieties of local wine.
In this past year alone I've made
three trips to Paris. I've visited Spain, Portugal, Latvia, and the
Bohemia region of the Czech Republic (and there are more wonderful
spas in Bohemia, by the way).
Last January—under pale blue skies—I
meandered down the east coast of Italy, exploring the hill towns of
Le Marche and the curious trulli dwellings of Apulia.
In February, I was in Greece,
island-hopping from Athens to the Saronic islands of Aegina, Poros,
and Hydra. I spent Easter on La Reunion, a gorgeous French-speaking
island of volcanoes and beaches cast adrift in the Indian Ocean.
Yes...There IS More to Life
I feel very lucky. Most people
trudge to work every day... to a job that pays the bills but
provides little by way of inspiration. They endure a life of
commuting. Business suits. Hours on end under fluorescent lights.
Mind-numbing repetition... or high-stress deadlines...
...and no reprieve but 10 days of
vacation a year... if that. It’s a life. But it's no way to live.
Perhaps this sounds all too
familiar. Maybe, like so many people I know, you feel trapped... but
have no idea how to escape. You dream about saying goodbye to the
9-to-5 grind... maybe working for yourself... seeing more of the
world... embracing life.
But how? The bills aren't going
away...
Ever feel that way? I know I did.
For years. And not only did I crave a change... I
desperately needed one. I was out of money. The situation
was getting dire...
How It Came to Pass that I Get Paid
to See the World
Allow me to introduce myself. My
name is Steenie Harvey, and I'm not exaggerating when I say my
passport pages are as well-turned as a child's favorite story book.
I really do travel the world... and get paid to do it.
In fact, the "work" never stops.
Next week I'll be in England's East Anglia region—the soft rolling
countryside of poppy-sprinkled cornfields and ancient wool towns
made famous in the paintings of John Constable.
At the beginning of October it's
back to Italy—Tuscany and Umbria. Then, later in the month, I'm
going to Mexico. Christmas? Well, the last one I spent in Sicily.
This Christmas I'm extending my "working vacation" to 18 days— I'll
be discovering the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.
Apologies if I'm making you envious,
but you too could quite easily have a job like mine.
In fact, my own editor is crying out
for correspondents to report on destinations throughout the world...
and she's not the only editor seeking fresh talent. To be honest, I
have to turn work down—there simply aren't enough hours in the day
to take up all the writing commissions I'm offered.
And if you're interested in becoming
a freelance travel writer, you should know that it's easily
something you could do on the side. You needn't commit full-time to
it (unless you want to).
In a moment, I'll tell you exactly
how to make this dream lifestyle a reality. But first, let me tell
you a little more about how I did it...
My Not-So-Brilliant Career...
My life wasn't always so exciting. I
didn't always flit about the globe for pay.
Fifteen years ago, I worked as an
office clerk in the miserable English midlands. (And I do mean
miserable—think grim, industrial, dark-satanic-mills England and
you'll get the picture.) Me—a high-flyer with a glamorous lifestyle?
When I wasn't typing reams of
invoices, I was telling elaborate lies to customers about why their
printing orders weren't ready. Plus the pay was absolutely dire. My
boss could have given Scrooge a good run for his money.
Like many people, all I had to look
forward to was the annual two-week summer vacation. I loved
traveling—problem was, I couldn't afford to do it very often. But—as
we were wont to say in England—"no use grumbling."
Then my husband lost his job. Maybe
it was the shock of discovering our income had been cut in half (How
could we afford two weeks in Spain ever again?), but we had this
crazy idea. Why not move away, try a completely different lifestyle?
And so we sold up and bought a bargain-priced country cottage in the
west of Ireland.
A new stress-free life, and at first
it was like a permanent holiday. I had great plans to turn our wild
green acre into an organic smallholding... be completely
self-sufficient.
Not gardener, not painter...
My new enthusiasm for gardening
seemed unlikely to reap huge dividends. Slugs munched happily away
on the lettuces and cabbages. Rabbits waltzed in and ate all the
tops off my newly sprouted green beans. The organically grown
radishes did just fine, but there didn't seem to be much of a market
for them.
And though my husband found work,
nobody seemed keen on employing me. As money was getting tighter by
the day, I began having a stab at painting. Strange landscapes
inhabited by silver-colored birds and beasts. (I called them my
"neo-primitives." I thought it sounded rather good.) Never having
been afraid of humiliation, I took them off to an art gallery in
Sligo, wondering how much I'd be offered for my masterpieces. The
man sniggered and sent me packing.
By now, the money situation was
getting serious.
The Treasure in the Garden Shed
As luck would have it, the previous
owner of our cottage had left behind an ancient manual typewriter in
the garden shed. I only remembered it when I came across one of
those "You Too Can Have a Career as a Writer" ads in a Sunday
newspaper. It got my brain whirring...
I decided to bash out a humorous
article about our own search for a home in Ireland... which hadn't
exactly been an easy task. Not as we had been seeking somewhere
habitable for $10,000... or less! I went on about real estate agents
taking us to see hovels with tin roofs and no bathroom facilities.
I penned the sorry tale of shacks
with no front doors... the farmhouse where cows were actually using
the kitchen as a barnyard... finishing the story with a description
of the cottage that we did eventually buy.
This was the first thing I'd ever
written since leaving school. I didn't have a clue about how an
article should be presented. Mine featured single-spaced typing,
thickly whited-out passages of Tippex over all the errors I'd made,
and a dog-eared left corner to hold the pages together.
...and Thus a Writer is Born
Despite my woeful presentation, the
property editor of an English daily newspaper called The
Independent published it... and she paid me what was then the
equivalent of around $180. Plus she asked me for a follow-up, a more
factual article detailing the kind of homes that were on sale in
western Ireland. It was an easy piece to write— I simply visited
local real estate agents and asked what they had for sale.
Was anybody else out there
interested in reading articles about buying Irish cottages? Yes,
indeed—three more English newspapers: The Guardian, The Daily
Express, and London's Evening Standard.
How about this monthly publication
called International Living in the States? I sent a note to
the editor, and she wrote back saying that she had long been looking
for somebody on the ground in Ireland. Boy, had I struck lucky!
In the nearly two decades since
then, I've written hundreds of stories for International Living
and others—about not only Ireland, but destinations as far-flung as
Poland and Mexico. These days, editors actually pay my expenses as I
travel the globe reporting on their behalf…
If I Can Do It... You Most Certainly
Can
You know, I'm going to stop for a
minute and answer a question I hear all the time... because it's
usually about here in my story that people ask it: Can anybody
become a freelance travel writer?
Well, going by my own experience,
yes. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars going to
journalism school or have had a university education—I never did. (I
actually left school when I was 15... hot-footed it down to London
to live as a drippy hippy in a communal squat.)
You don't need to suffer years of
hard labor working full time for a newspaper or magazine.
Before my time as fibber-in-chief
with the printing company, my undistinguished resume had everything
on it from engineering inspector to waitress in a Chinese
restaurant. Of course, I never told any prospective employers about
my stint as a barmaid in a strip club...
It's fair to say that in my case,
much of my success is a result of luck... at least, it was at the
outset. I happened upon that typewriter. And I happen to have a
knack for putting a sentence together.
The rest I've learned through trial
and error... and, more importantly, through the kindnesses and
guidance of editors I've worked with over the years.
I've made a real go of writing for a
living—in the last 15 years my by-line has appeared in such
illustrious publications as The Washington Post and The
World & I, among many others in the States, Ireland, Britain,
Australia, and Germany. And I've had three travel books published
(two on Ireland, one on European vacation rentals). Not that I
planned to write any books—I was actually approached by a
commissioning editor.
I've enjoyed a successful career as
a travel writer, to be sure. But the truth is, there are more
efficient, more cost-effective... and, well, smarter ways
to go about doing what I did.
In fact, that's why I'm writing to
you today.
How to
Avoid My Mistakes
I'd like to introduce you to one of
those editors I mentioned... one who really helped catapult my
career into full-time travel writing. Her name is Jennifer Stevens,
and she took the editorial reigns at International Living
when my first contact there moved onward and upward to Publisher.
If I'd had the benefit of her
tutelage earlier on, I'd have saved myself more mistakes than I can
count... and I'd have been more successful earlier, too.
You see, not only is Jen a skilled
and proven editor and writer, she's an excellent teacher.
It's one thing to know and practice
your craft. But it's another altogether to explain to somebody else
what you do and how you do it. Jen can. She has a real knack for
making complicated ideas accessible.
And over the years, she's helped not
only me... but literally hundreds of people transform themselves
into working, paid travel writers... some part-time, some full-time.
From financial consultants,
university professors, and travel agents... to acupuncturists,
actresses, and photographers... under Jen's guidance people from all
walks of life and all levels of education and experience have
successfully reinvented themselves. Now they—like me—are traveling
the world and getting paid for it.
Jen has made it a habit—a point of
pride, really—to study the art of travel writing. She's gone beyond
the simple cut-and-dry of what "works" and what doesn't... and
figured out "why." And in doing so, she's uncovered the secrets the
best writers rely on to produce not merely adequate... but downright
excellent articles every time. Articles that sell.
Jump-Start Your Travel Writing Career
Today
For years, all this invaluable
insider know-how sat idle—notes on pieces of paper tossed into a
file folder, slid into a lower desk drawer. But in the summer of
2000, at the urging of International Living's publisher,
Jen sat down and started methodically collecting all of these
simple, but powerful, techniques and secrets in one place.
She drew on her own, considerable
experience—she's one of the most skilled editors I've ever worked
with. And then she started calling and emailing the top people she
knows in the business... an expansive network of contacts.
She asked a Wall Street Journal
reporter, a New York Times correspondent, an acclaimed guidebook
writer, an award-winning publisher, and a whole host of freelance
travel writers—to share their hard-won secrets. And she catalogued
all their tricks of the trade... the techniques the most successful
writers use to get their articles into print.
It took her ten months in all, but
she developed what is, hands down, the best program I've ever seen
for turning anybody into a working, paid, professional travel
writer. It's called Passport to Romance: The Ultimate
Travel Writer's Course..
I wish I'd had the benefit of its
wisdom all those years ago when I was just starting out.
In the early years, the commissions
didn't flood in the way they do now. It would have been a lot easier
if I'd had someone to advise me where I was going wrong. Not every
piece I ever wrote got published. And I wasted a lot of time and
effort sending off articles to magazines that were completely
unsuitable.
That’s what makes this program so
great. It can take years off your learning curve. In a matter of
months—even weeks—you could be traveling the world, writing about
your adventures... and getting paid to do it...
Earn Money as a Travel Writer...
Without Ever Leaving Home
I'll share some more details about
this extraordinary program in a moment, but first I want to let you
in on a few more of the perks my writer colleagues and I enjoy.
First of all, to make money as a
travel writer, you don't even have to travel.
Now, you might not see that as a
perk, but hear me out. What I mean is: Where you live is a
destination for other people. There are all sorts of stories you can
write about what's in your own back yard. (That's how I got started,
remember, writing about my adopted homeland of Ireland.)
For a religious magazine, I wrote
about the annual pilgrimage up Crough Patrick, Ireland's holy
mountain in County Mayo. For an equestrian publication, I wrote
about the age-old tradition of Irish horse markets, where men still
spit on their hands and shake to signify they've struck a deal. For
a magazine devoted to culture and travel, I wrote an article on
Irish fairy lore.
Point is: you can start cashing
checks as a travel writer without ever getting on a plane.
For example, take one Florida-based
freelancer whose stories about places close to her home include an
article about Amelia Island for a Canadian newspaper... one on
Jacksonville for the Miami Herald... a piece on the town of
Cassadaga for Florida Travel magazine... an article about
winter golf in Florida for a lifestyle magazine... and the list goes
on.
I bet you can think of all sorts of
worthwhile subjects you might write about just outside your own
door. And who better to write about your hometown... than you?
Travel for FREE
Of course, you'll have plenty of
opportunities as a travel writer to get out and see the world... in
a way you never could as an ordinary tourist. You'd be amazed at
the insider access and special treatment successful travel writers
receive. It's like gaining membership in an exclusive club.
How would you like a free trip to
Cancun, where you and your spouse would be wined and dined over a
long weekend at a new, luxury hotel?
Or maybe you'd be more enticed by a
complimentary rafting expedition down the Amazon in Ecuador's
untamed rain forest?
Perhaps a free cruise to Europe's
most romantic cities?
Or a complimentary stay at one of
New York's most decadent hotels... the sort that costs $650 a night?
Those trips might sounds like
daydreams, but they are all free travel perks freelance writers I
know have taken advantage of.
And not only did those writers
travel for free, they got paid to write about their experiences,
too.
I've enjoyed my own fair share of
excellent freebies. One of the best was an all-expenses-paid trip to
Borneo, staying in luxury hotels, visiting orangutan sanctuaries and
native long-houses. The trip was organized by British Airways
and The Daily Telegraph (an English newspaper).
The reason The Telegraph
asked me to do it instead of one of their staff writers was because
I'd never been to Asia before. They wanted a writer who was going to
experience it all "with fresh eyes." And they paid me £800 to write
about it—that's the equivalent of $1,200.
It Doesn't Take Years to Cash In on
the Benefits...
If you've ever dreamed about living
the romantic life of a travel writer, you don’t need to wait years
to enjoy it. That's part of what makes Jen's program so great. If
you learn the simple secrets and techniques she explains, you can be
writing marketable stories... getting your own by-line... and taking
advantage of travel perks... in no time at all.
Take retired television executive
Duane Harm and his wife Harlene. They spent last summer traveling
across the western U.S.
All told, they visited 23 different
dude ranches in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana over a three-month
period, staying for free an average of three days at each ranch. The
total value of their summer stays? About $55,000... and they didn't
pay anything. Not one cent.
What's more, they wrote an article
for Steamboat Magazine, a high-end coffee-table publication
based in Steamboat Springs, CO that comes out twice a year. And they
were paid for their work.
Duane and Harlene aren't trained
journalists. In fact, before they enrolled in Passport
to Romance: The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course., they
were just ordinary retirees—bored with golf and looking for a
sideline to keep them busy. Neither one had ever penned an article.
But now they are successful, working travel writers...
The Secret Behind All These Free
Trips
Why are travel writers able to take
advantage of free trips... meals... accommodation... tickets to
shows... invitations to museum openings? Why do people roll out the
red carpet and treat travel writers with such respect... and
prestige?
Actually, it's pretty easy to
explain, once you understand how the system works.
You see, around the world, tourism
generates $1.2 billion in spending per day, according to
the World Tourism Organization. And competition for those tourist
dollars is fierce—particularly now, post-9/11, when people are
staying closer to home and are more hesitant to travel.
It's no wonder, then, that hotels...
tour organizers... cruise lines... airlines... even local
governments are willing to spend big bucks on travel writers—in
hopes that they'll have a positive experience and write about it
favorably in a magazine, newspaper, or newsletter.
The more articles are written about
a place, the rationale goes, the more tourists will go there. More
tourists means more money... simple as that.
To give you a sense of the scale of
this industry, consider The Bahamas. The estimated annual budget for
the Ministry of Tourism there is $69 million. In New York City, the
official tourism marketing organization has a budget of $14.5
million.
In those places—and elsewhere—a
portion of those "tourism" funds is earmarked for wining and dining
travel writers. (In the case of New York, that marketing
organization's website actively caters to travel writers, offering
to "arrange press passes for visitor destinations, coordinate press
trips, and point you in the right direction to give you the
information you need for your tourism related story." )
As you begin to get articles
published, and your name becomes known in the business, you'll start
to receive offers of hospitality.
Right now, for instance, I know of a
tiny hotel on the Caribbean island of Antigua that's eager for media
coverage and has put a call out to writers on assignment... offering
them a complimentary stay under sunny skies and palm trees on a
white sand beach.
There's a barge company in Europe
that organizes luxury trips on the canals and small rivers of
France, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Germany. Passengers stay in
air-conditioned suites, enjoying spacious sundecks and elegant
saloons. It's a week of pampering with a champagne welcome, wine
with all the meals, an open bar, and daily excursions. Qualified
travel writers are offered free on-board accommodation.
A tour company that designs hiking
and walking vacations in the United States and Europe—week-long,
guided excursions with nights spent at fine country inns and
hotels—invites a handful of travel writers to join their trips at no
cost.
The Other Way to Fly, Dine, and
Stay...for Free
Press trips aren't the only way
writers travel for free. The truth is, well-established writers
rarely pay their own way. If they aren't being treated to a press
trip, the publication they're writing for picks up the tab.
At International Living,
for instance, not only does the publisher send me around Europe on
her dime, but in recent months she's paid for other writers to visit
the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and elsewhere.
(Then on top of our travel expenses, she's paid us for our
articles.)
Sure, you need a track-record—other
articles you've written, called "clips" —before any editor is going
to call you up and offer to pay for your trip.
But my point is: Once you've learned
the secrets to producing the kinds of articles publications are
looking for, you'll be well on your way to establishing a name for
yourself. You'll be opening the door to a whole new life where you
get to travel the world while somebody else pays your expenses...
and then pays you to write about what you've seen and done.
The Quickest Way to Take Advantage of
This Fabulous Lifestyle
The easiest way to do all that is to
start with Passport to Romance: The Ultimate Travel
Writer's Course.. You'll see immediately that it's not
like any other writing course offered anywhere—university-based or
correspondence.
You won't find anything lofty,
vague, or fanciful in it. That's because Jen focuses on practical,
proven-in-the-real-world techniques she's used over the years as an
editor to help travel writers produce better stories.
As one satisfied student put it:
" The information and examples included
in your Travel Writers course were so good that I’ve landed an
assignment with an international travel magazine even before
completing all the course elements...I largely credit the course
material for putting me firmly on the path to success in travel
writing."
-- Larry L., Sugarland,
TX
His is just one of many success
stories:
Take Tim O'Rielly—a freelance
photographer who travels regularly. He was looking for a way to get
more mileage (and more money) out of his journeys, and travel
writing seemed a good fit.
So he put the lessons he learned in the
course to the test. Just two months after he completed the program,
his first full-length feature article about travels in the Mayan
World appeared in Vision Magazine. Since then, he's written two more
cover stories for that publication (and sold his photos along with
the stories).
Laura Gagnon, based in New York, has
been successful, too. A bass player in a band by trade, she travels
the world on tour and was looking for a way to spend her daytime,
off-the-stage hours more productively.
She signed up for
Passport to Romance: The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course.,
and now she has had two restaurant/lounge reviews published on
www.sheckys.com, which is an online guide to nightlife in New York
and LA. They were works-for-hire, so she wasn't credited for each
review. But there is a print edition of the guide coming out this
fall, and in that she'll be listed as a contributor. She said editor
was great to work with... and paid promptly.
In this program, you'll learn how to
build a strong foundation for your new career. Plus, you'll learn
every technique, every secret—everything there is to know about how
to write articles that sell every time. For instance...
Learn the Tricks of the Trade the
Pros Use
• Find out
exactly, in specific terms, what makes a great story idea. Follow
the guidelines this program details, and you'll find you can't
stop thinking of strong, saleable story ideas... they'll be
everywhere you look...
• Understand exactly how, step-by-step,
you turn an idea into a publishable piece... and then how you
actually get what you've written into print... and get paid for
it...
• Learn where to find the publications
that make the most sense for your story, what to put in your
letter to the editor, when to send your article... and more...
• Get the insider's list of what NOT to
do (you'd be surprised at how many writers have no idea what makes
editors crazy...)
• Find out the foolproof secrets to
writing a saleable article every time... how to choose the right
words... how to write powerful sentences...what to put first, and
how to draw your piece to a close...
• Uncover the hidden architecture for all
different kinds of travel articles... this will cut hours (maybe
even days) off your writing... and boost your chances of success
many times over...
• Learn the ins and outs of interviewing
and researching... how (and when) to approach a contact... the
six-point formula for smart networking... top-notch sources for
background material and reliable statistics...
• Discover how to take one research trip
and come home with three articles... which means three times the
income...
• Learn how to take advantage of the
“perks” that go with this work, such as free vacations, free meals
at the world’s best restaurants, access to behind-the-scenes
locations you’ve probably never seen…
...and much, much more...
Freedom...and Unbelievable Fringe
Benefits
Travel writing can become a
full-time passion if you like, or merely something you do on the
side... a way to justify a vacation and defray some of the costs,
maybe write off your trip on your taxes.
However you approach it, you'll find
you'll never travel like a tourist again. As part of a distinguished
circle of trained travel writing professionals, you gain a "calling
card" of sorts.
You see, when you tell people you're
a travel writer (a harbinger of good press, as it were), you'll
discover that they will bend over backwards to ensure you enjoy your
experience. Nothing's too much trouble.
You'll be taken in the VIP
entrance... served the best meals... escorted to the most expensive
seats... offered a private tour...
It's amazing really. It happens to
me all the time when I'm on the road. And all you need to do to
start living this romantic, adventure-filled life is master the
techniques and secrets detailed in Passport to Romance:
The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course..
An Interactive System and a Built-in
Support Network
In addition to guiding you through
the secret structure that supports the best travel articles... and
giving you all the tools you need to get your articles published...
this program has you build several travel articles of your own as
you work through the course material.
At critical junctures, you actually
send your work in by e-mail or snail mail so it's evaluated and
critiqued by a professional writer—either Jen or an associate of
hers, one of the "faculty" at the American Writers & Artists
Institute (AWAI), which published Jen's course.
This system is very personalized and
very effective. The writer who reviews your work will lead you by
the hand from where you are today (no matter what your experience or
writing level is)... into the romantic world of travel writing.
This is not like some courses you
might have seen—where you get a book in the mail, and then that's
it... good luck, hope it works out for you. (For that matter, it's
not like most universities either, where you get your degree and
then it's out into the real world with no practical guidance.)
Instead, here you get a whole
network of built-in support. If you have questions or a problem
while you're working through the course, you can always call the
Student Services Director for help.
One student wrote in to say how
pleased she's been with her experience:
" AWAI as an organization has given me
the best learning experience I’ve EVER had, providing me with
encouragement and support every step along my journey toward a new
career. In short, you folks are great. You’ve helped me see
plainly what I need to do to succeed and given me the roadmap,
information, and support I need to get there. I can’t thank you
enough."
-- Sharon O., Oakland, CA
What’s more, there's an active
message board on-line where students and graduates share ideas,
brainstorm, answer questions, and critique each other's writing. You
aren't left alone to wonder if you're doing things right... you can
simply ask. It's a way to connect with other budding writers who are
as eager as you to enjoy the good life... and with people who are
already having success and can share their own stories about what's
worked for them...
Some Insider Help to Get Your First
Assignment
Plus there's something else...
something critical that further distinguishes this course from any
other. Even though Jen—like me—works freelance these days, she
maintains a close association with the powers that be at Agora
Travel Publishing. They produce monthly print publications like
International Living and Island Properties Report (both of
which Jen used to edit) as well as e-letters, websites, books,
reports, and videos.
Jen has arranged with the current
editors there to give special consideration to articles written by
graduates of Passport to Romance: The Ultimate Travel
Writer's Course.. In other words, they'll put
submissions from people who have completed the course on the top of
their in-box pile. That's a foot-in-the-door if I ever saw one.
What it means is that you'll be
working on a "live" assignment as you take the course—not some
made-up homework exercise. And when your article is done, and you've
polished it under the guidance of Jen and the AWAI faculty, you can
send it directly to the editors at Agora Travel Publishing
If they like it, they'll publish
it... complete with your by-line. And pay you, too.
It's a fantastic opportunity to get
your first story under your belt, get over the "hump" of having your
first "clip" published with your name on it so you can start
building your new career... and enjoying all the prestige and perks
that come with it...
Your Travel Writing Career Could
Start Here...Today
The powerful secrets, hands-on
experience, real-life contacts... and the great potential to improve
your lifestyle make this the most unique program ever offered to
travel writers.
You'll gain all the tools you
need—all the how-to information about what to say to an editor (and
how to say it)... insider's tricks to landing plum assignments...
how to find the best publications for your articles... and more.
So you won't just come away from
this course with the writing skills you need... you'll also know
exactly how to take an article from the "idea" stage all the way
through to the pages of a magazine... and get paid, too.
While other would-be writers are
spending thousands of dollars attending "Professional Writing
Courses," seminars, and conferences at colleges and universities,
you'll be way ahead of the pack working on an actual assignment.
Plus, you'll have an inside advantage.
And it won't cost you
thousands of dollars. So just how much will it cost?
Well, I'll give you all the details
in a moment, but first let me share one more opportunity with you.
It's another way for you to get paid again for a single
trip you take... something I do all the time.
Enroll Now and Learn Another Way to
Make Money As You Travel
Open up any magazine, and what do
you find yourself looking at first?
That's right. Pictures. Photographs!
There's a simple reason. No matter
how compelling and interesting the writing might be... photos help
grab a reader's attention.
Now, as a travel writer, you usually
won't have to worry about providing photographs for the major
publications.
But some publications will pay you
handsomely for the right pictures. And I've discovered that when I
can offer an editor a full package—article with photos—it's often a
much more persuasive pitch. I feel certain that some of my articles
wouldn't have been published so quickly and easily had I not had the
pictures to illustrate them.
Plus, photos can really up your
income. A freelancer I know, Dave Morgan, traveled all across Asia
for six months. He dined with the Privy Counsel to the King of
Thailand... met the late Mother Teresa... shook hands with the Dalai
Lama. He took a week-long, four-wheel-drive journey across Tibet. He
went trout fishing in a pristine mountain stream in Bumburet, a
hidden valley in the Hindu Kush. He also got to see secret religious
ceremonies rarely witnessed by outsiders.
The icing on the cake was that he
got a profitable book deal on the photos from his trip. Not only did
his connections SAVE him money, but he actually MADE money... over
$6,000!
If you enroll now, you'll also
receive AWAI's insider's guide to photojournalism, called
Big Bucks for Snap Shots. This lucrative bonus
program contains all of the secrets you need to know about taking
profitable photographs—secrets used by some of the top
photojournalists in the world.
You'll learn everything you need to
begin taking photos that will bring in checks that are complete
gravy... find out the simplest and best camera to take with you (you
don't want to be lugging a trunk full of equipment like some nature
photographers)... how to use time of day... create a mood... how to
photograph people... and so on.
Plus, it will teach you all the
insider's secrets to getting your photos published.
Big Bucks for Snap Shots
is a unique mini-course specially created for travel writers. It's
just one more way to ratchet up your income as you travel the world.
And it's yours FREE when you enroll in Passport to
Romance: The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course..
What Is This Stimulating Travel
Career Worth to You?
It took me over a decade of
trial-and-error to learn all the lessons included in this program.
Understanding, as I do, how far the right instruction can take
you... if I were just starting out now, I'd be willing to pay
thousands of dollars for the secrets, techniques, and industry
contacts this course provides.
It's certainly worth that... when
you think about the freedom, the money, and the adventures that come
with being a successful travel writer. (Plus it's clear to me from
my own experience that, even with a four-figure price tag, this
course could quickly pay for itself many times over in free travel
and paid-for articles.)
But in fact, the program costs less
than $1,000. The total price tag is an extraordinarily reasonable
$399! Why so low? Actually, I asked Jen that—seemed a bit crazy to
me.
But she explained that when she put
this program together—at the urging of International Living's
publisher—the idea was that it would produce a pool of quality
writers that Agora Travel Publishing (and the thousands of other
travel publishing companies worldwide) could tap into.
And so in the interest of making
that happen, she wanted to make it as accessible as possible. She
didn't want a crazy price tag—no matter how justified—to exclude
anyone who has a curiosity about the world... the dedication to
learn something new... and a strong desire to enjoy one of the most
exciting, romantic, and rewarding lifestyles there is.
Just think, that means that for less
than the price of a domestic, round-trip airline ticket, you could
begin a completely new life as a travel writer. And remember, enroll
now and you'll also receive the exclusive photojournalism course,
Big Bucks for Snap Shots... and learn how
you can easily expand your income as you travel.
How to Save an Additional $100 Right
Now
Here's something else to keep in
mind. If you have any trips planned this year—or even if you decide
to do some sightseeing closer to home—now is one of the best times
in recent years to start your new travel-writing career.
With nothing but bad news splashed
across the front pages of newspapers and magazines worldwide—a mess
in Iraq, terrorist attacks worldwide, a plummeting economy—people
are looking for a way to escape. But they aren't venturing to such
far-flung destinations as they did a few years back.
According to the International Air
Transport Association, air travel is down 8.7% from this time last
year. But car-based trips are on the rise—up 3%, the Travel Industry
Association of America reports. And publishers, tuned into that
trend, are looking for stories about where their readers can escape
closer to home.
In other words, it's never been
cheaper and easier for you to get started. You can get published—and
paid—very quickly, just by writing about places and things to do
near your own hometown.
Plus, seeing as how the economy is
making times tough for lots of people, Jen asked her publisher to
offer an additional discount, making it even easier for you to get
started today. AWAI agreed to take over $100 off the price! (For a
limited time, that is.)
Right now, Passport to
Romance: The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course., and
AWAI's exclusive photojournalism course, Big Bucks for
Snap Shots, is yours for only $287. But it gets even
better...
Get Started Today for Only $49!
All you have to pay to get started
is $49. After that, you will be billed $34.00 a month for each of 7
installments that follow. That means you can begin this exclusive
program for less than $50.
I urge you to think about this
carefully and respond right away. Take advantage of this special
offer. Ordering today guarantees you'll be among the first to
receive this unique program at an incredibly low price—only
available for a limited time.
This is really quite a deal. You not
only save over $100—but you can actually get started for only $49!
And, you have absolutely nothing to lose...
A 100% Rock-Solid, No-Risk Guarantee
Enroll in the program today, and
examine your first installment for 30 days. If you decide within
that time that travel writing is not for you, simply return the
materials (in good condition) for a full refund. It's that simple.
And while you're at it, check out
the mini-course, Big Bucks for Snap Shots,
and find out how easy it is to earn extra money on the same job.
If—after all this—you decide a life of romance and adventure isn't
for you...
...simply return the course. AWAI
will issue you a prompt refund. No questions asked. Just try to get
a college or university to do that!
After the initial 30-day period if,
for any reason, you want to stop the additional chapters from coming
to your mailbox, just call and let AWAI know, and they will
discontinue your enrollment immediately.
For less than the cost of a single
college credit—and without any of the risk—you can be on your way to
one of the most life-fulfilling careers there is. More importantly,
you'll be learning the secrets of people who are in the business,
working every day...
But there's one thing I ask that you
bear in mind...
Don't Get "Closed Out" from
Registration
In order for Jen and her colleagues
at AWAI to provide the professional attention they feel is necessary
to ensure your success, they must limit the number of students.
After all, they can only physically work with so many people at any
given time.
Once they feel they're at full
capacity—they'll have to freeze the registration process until
they're ready to start another class. That's why, if you're even
thinking about a career as a travel writer, it's important for you
to enroll today. Remember, if it's not right for you, you can return
the program for a full refund.
A modest investment today... for the
skills that can deliver a lifestyle most people will only ever dream
about. Can you afford to ignore this opportunity?
If you've ever dreamed about the
romantic life of a travel writer... of getting paid to explore the
world... here's your chance to actually live it.
Simply fill out the enrollment form
enclosed here, slide it into the envelope, and drop it in the mail.
You'll receive your course materials immediately.
Wishing you good travels... with all the
perks,
Steenie Harvey
Freelance Travel Writer
P.S. As soon as you
enroll, you'll also receive AWAI's weekly e-letter, The
Golden Thread Online, at no charge. This popular
publication keeps you connected... and motivated. In it you get
success stories from your fellow students, who explain how you can
follow their lead... interviews with proven writers, who reveal
things like how they leap-frogged over obstacles early in their
careers or stumbled into a trap you should avoid... insider's tips
about writing and useful exercises... plus job listings, the contact
information for publications where you could get your articles
published...
P.P.S: Here are what some
students are saying about "Passport To Romance"....
