Great Escape Publishing

Posted April 19th, 2008 by Roy Stevenson & filed under Travel Writing.

In case you haven’t heard, Roy Stevenson — who came to our Ultimate Travel Writing workshop in Portland last July — has now published more than 100 articles in the seven months since that workshop. And it seems he’s creating quite a stir among our readers…

Two weeks ago, I sent you an article in which Roy answered a reader’s question about writing articles for little-to-no pay (you’ll find it in our archives, here: www.thetravelwriterslife.com).

Since then, another reader wrote in with a new question for Roy. Here’s her note:

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Dear Travel Writer’s Life,

Thank you for the last information-packed newsletters in which Roy Stevenson wrote “How to Create a Sacred Bond with Editors.”
Nuts-and-Bolts solid, this is the kind of information that new travel writers yearn for. We are all tantalized by Roy’s success, his prolificacy, and patient accumulation of clips and pay checks.

What we’d like to know is, what are some of the titles and topics Roy is churning out?

Thanks very much and regards,

— Liz

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Scroll down to read Roy’s response…

— Lori
Lori Allen
Director, Great Escape Publishing

P.S. It’s not unheard-of to get 100 articles published in seven months. Roy is the perfect model of the success you can have when you write about subjects you know well and enjoy. Plus, writing about things you like keeps it fun and exciting and makes it easier to cross genres.

Here are two other articles Roy wrote for The Right Way to Travel that might help you get started:

Creating a Secret Bond with Editors.

Writing Free Articles.

HOW TO USE YOUR HOBBIES, INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE TO GET PUBLISHED
By Roy Stevenson

I write articles according to my passions, which range from travel and culture to military history, film festivals, and fitness.
I think I’m getting published so frequently because I write on so many different topics.

The majority of my articles are about military museums, vehicles, and battlefields. The rest are spread out among technical running, cultural travel, running/travel, pure travel, film festival reviews, magazine reviews, “how to,” and miscellaneous personality, culture, and geology/travel.

I recently pitched an article about the Van Damme Memorial track meet in Brussels to a running magazine. The editor liked it so much she took an add-on travel piece about sightseeing in Brussels and Belgium. She then took another, similar two-part article about a track meet in Zurich and tourism in Zurich.

Here’s a list of a few other articles I’ve had published. You’ll notice they all combine one of my interests with a travel element:
** Two Unique and Exciting Artillery Museums to Visit in England
** Eight Must-See Sights at Bastogne for the Battle of the Bulge Historian
** A Bali Cremation Ceremony
** Where to find Traces of the Great Columbia River Basalt Eruption in Eastern Washington
** A Day Trip to Bruges: Belgium’s Medieval Canal City
** The Top Ten Belgian Beer Festivals
** The Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film

If you’d like to get more articles published, my advice is to diversify your writing. You can do this by thinking about how to combine your hobbies and interests with travel, turning your favorite activities into articles.

Last week, Bonnie Caton (acting as guest editor here), mentioned Diane Simpson’s success story. Like you, Diane is a fellow reader and, like me, a past workshop attendee. She recently sold a business article to ExpressJet Airline’s in-flight magazine.

She combined business and travel — and that’s exactly what I’m talking about here.

When you combine your own interest with travel, you come at your topic from a position of confidence. That makes the writing easier – and, arguably, stronger. It’s a great way to get started. And you never know where it might lead. I’ve sold 100 articles in the last seven months. And there’s no reason why you can’t top that.

[Editor’s Note: Roy Stevenson is a freelance writer based in Seattle, Washington. He writes on Military History, History, Travel and Culture, Fitness and Health, Sports and Film Festival Reviews. He’s made good use of both the Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program and The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop to help achieve his goal of 100 articles published in seven months.

Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.]]