E-Books are big
business on the Internet these days. If you are not familiar with e-books,
they are simply books (usually less content than a printed book) that are
available for immediate download after purchase from a website. E-books are
great because they are easy to create, free to distribute and have a high
profit margin.
Turn your family vacation or
affinity for travel into a source of revenue. As a travel writer,
you make your cash on the beaches of the California coast, bicycling
the paths of New England in the fall, or under the cascading
waterfalls of Kauai. But it's not all sunshine and exotic fruit-it
takes work. If you have strong writing skills, perseverance and a
passion for travel, you could make anywhere from $10,000-$15,000 per
year traveling the globe. Add an ability to take great pictures and
a knack for writing effective sales pitches, and you could bring in
far more money than that.
To get started, look for a niche in the market that needs to be
filled. It might be family travel, senior citizen trips, or singles
getaways-whatever it is your area that's not getting enough press
time. Establish yourself by writing about places and attractions
that are close to you and expand from there. But if you live next to
the Washington Monument, don't write about it--that's already been
done. Think of something unique or unfamiliar to the general public.
Getting travel writing assignments relies on you writing a good
query letter to the publishers and editors of your targeted
magazines and newspapers. A query letter is essentially a sales
letter, outlining your ideas and presenting your qualifications to
write the article. Invest in a book that explains how to do this
properly. The query letter is the first impression a potential
client has of you-make sure you get it right.
Beyond query letters, network with those in the travel industry.
Join the Society of American Travel Writers and introduce yourself
to the public relations staff of various destinations and
attractions. Show them samples of your writing and let them know
that you're available.
Start up costs will vary. If you are already a traveler, you
don't need to count the cost of the trips. Once you are established,
your client will pay your related travel expenses, which is a great
bonus. Equipment to get started includes a lap top computer, general
office supplies, and a camera. Costs range from $500 - $3,000
excluding travel costs.
