Susan Grossman runs travel writing workshops (see below) for those who want to break into the business. Here Susan gives some invaluable advice:
‘Years ago when I was writing travel reports for Holiday Which? magazine we weren't allowed to accept as much as a coca cola from a hotelier for fear of being 'compromised' or having our 'integrity' shattered in a million pieces. Nowadays apart from the odd magazine and 'a' newspaper that could well be on the way out, travel editors couldn't care less how much 'hospitality' you've had, whether there was champagne flowing out of your ears or you were put up in the suite they usually save for celebrities and heads of state.
What editors want is to keep advertisers happy, with a feature that's topical, and to stay in budget. That's not to say that if someone famous comes along and demands a vast fee they won't pay it, they just won't pay you very much if you're sharing the issue. What always amazes me is that in the twenty plus years I've been contributing to the travel pages of magazines and newspapers, the fees for freelancers have gone down. And that's goes for pictures too. Still, with a lot of hard work and a lot of travelling you can just about make a living out of travel writing, and if you add up what you would have had to pay out for the 'holidays' you've had for free, you're positively rolling in it.
It's a fine line to tread, the negotiating with the tour operator for a 'facility trip' and the editor who you want a commision from, with you in the middle playing one off against the other. Making it all work, often falls down to the pitch. Lots of writers are fine once they are 'in' with a particular editor and their commissions come thick and fast. But once an editor moves on (or these days gets fired) things start to toughen up. Real pitches take a lot of thought and hard work and without a decent one, you're unlikely to get a commission. To make decent money you need to write to get three or four features out of each journey. It's a lot easier than you might think and freelancers who always seem to be busy have cracked it. When I was a magazine editor I had to laugh. I commissioned a good freelancer to write something for my magazine. On his return he produced a very 'thin' account of the place. 'Didn't anything else happen?' I asked him. 'Well', he said, pausing, 'it did, but I sold the rest to 'Hello'.
Susan Grossman's 'Pitching to Editors' workshops run regularly at RIBA, W1.
Her next one-day workshop: 'Pitching to Editors' will be held on Friday 23rd April or Saturday 24th April. For more details:
Or email Susan directly: susangrossman@tiscali.co.uk
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