Great Escape Publishing

Posted October 2nd, 2008 by Bonnie Caton & filed under Travel Writing.

Travel Post Monthly (www.travelpostmonthly.com) is a slick online travel magazine that focuses on the practical how-to of travel. It publishes almost exclusively freelance articles — many of them from new writers. And it’s an especially easy place to get a byline for ITWPA members and readers of this e-letter, who tend to be savvier than the average freelancer.

Normally, Travel Post Monthly doesn’t pay for articles… but it’s still a great place to get published because it works as a wire service. If your story is published there, not only do you get a good-looking clip, but your story is sent to a regular list of editors who are looking for content to buy for their own publications.

If one of them likes your story, they can click on your contact details and buy your article from you directly. Travel Post Monthly does NOT take a commission.

What’s more, it’s about to get even better…

For the November issue only, Travel Post Monthly will pay contributors $40 per article and $10 per photo published.

So technically, you could get paid for your published article in November’s Travel Post Monthly (plus score a great-looking clip), and then get paid AGAIN by an editor who’d like to buy your article for his or her publication.

It works like this. If an editor wants to buy your article – but he doesn’t want it to appear online at the Travel Post Monthly site, no problem. We’ll simply take it down. And if no editor picks up your article, no sweat. You still get a published clip and you still get paid.

Before you submit your article for the November issue, take a look at the Writer’s Guidelines.

Starting today, submissions will go to the November issue. The due date for submissions is Friday, October 24, 2008. After October 24, submissions will be considered for later issues, which will not be paid. Submissions received before today’s date will only be considered for the October issue.

Here are a few tips for getting published in Travel Post Monthy’s November paid issue:

** As Jennifer Stevens (author of AWAI’s Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program) often says, don’t write the story about you, but about the place. Readers don’t want to hear about your vacation, they want to imagine what their vacation might be like.

** Put the reader in your shoes. Limit your use of “I,” and include plenty of detailed description.

** Include useful, how-to information woven into the article or in the last paragraph. This can include places to eat nearby, where to stay, what to do, how much it costs, how to get there, etc.

** Photos are a major plus, and very good photos could even carry an average story. You can send up to five photos as attachments along with your article.

Once you’ve read the Writer’s Guidelines, submit your stories (no need to query) here.

Articles from ITWPA members will get priority in the selection process, but that shouldn’t deter you from submitting if you’re not a member. If you follow the Writer’s Guidelines closely, you still have a good chance of getting published and paid — possibly twice.

[Editor’s Note: 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.]