How to Become a Travel Writer

When I first started out trying to become a travel writer, there was one book that taught me a lot of what I needed to know: Cathy Smith's How to Write and Sell Travel Articles. It was a hands-on guide by someone who did it for a living, which isn't always the case with these 'how to write' books. The book had been published in 1992 by Allison and Busby, but eventually went out of print despite being twice on the list of best-selling travel books, and shown on the TV travel programme, Wish You Were Here.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Cathy Smith has now updated and published the book herself. It remains a mine of information, covering the types of travel article there are, how to write beginnings, middles and ends - and how to put them together. Its importance for me, though, is that it stresses the all-important topic of market research. It's not that being able to write well isn't important, but you have to be able to read well too -- lots of newspapers, magazines, books and websites. You also have to know how to market yourself. I know several travel writers who make a living from it without being especially good at writing. They are, however, good at marketing themselves.

The book costs £10.50 plus postage, and you can pay using PayPal so can order it from anywhere in the world by going to Cathy Smith's website.