Hey there, you wildly successful travelpreneur!
Today, we’re breaking down the query letter (what you call a pitch to an editor of a magazine) in order to make the process a little less intimidating.
So many of the students and clients I’ve worked with have felt such resistance when it comes to pitching story ideas. But once they break through resistance and take action (pitch their travel stories), they get incredible results - like my dear friend, Maria.
Based on my experience working with aspiring travel writers, the biggest problem is a lack of knowledge about the travel writing industry and how it works.
This is why I’m breaking down the query letter into sections today - so you know exactly what to include when you pitch editors…
The Query Letter Formula
There are four parts to a successful query letter:
Subject line
A lead/lede
The outline
Bio
First, the subject line is important in catching the editor's attention initially. My advice is to keep it simple and to the point:
Pitch from Travel Writer: {Article Title}
Secondly, the lead should bear a very strong resemblance, if not be identical to how you would start the article you are pitching. You do this by using
a surprising statistic.
a colorful quote from a person you met on your trip.
focusing on the five W’s (who, what, where, when, why).
a sensory detail-filled description of a location.
Next, the outline requires you to have a decent idea of what will be included in your article. Think of this section as a brief summary of your intended article.
Finally, the Bio section should include some information about yourself and your experience. For the best results, make sure that the first sentence explains why you are the best person to write this particular travel story.
And there you have it!
A short and simple formula for writing a winning query letter. Best of all, once you know the ingredients to this formula, it’s easily repeatable. This means that you can easily write and send pitches to editors at all the magazines and online publications you want to write for.
If you need more guidance or want some accountability to take action and actually send those query letters to editors at your favorite travel magazines, then join us in the exclusive Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs membership.
And don’t forget…
The 5-Day Email List Building Challenge for Travel Bloggers starts Monday 29 August. Sign up and make your way onto the private community platform (there is a short onboarding process) for lots of fun extras leading up to the challenge.
The Good Stuff 🔥
#sponsor
This week’s issue is sponsored by Travel Tech Essentialist - I personally love Mauricio’s newsletter which always shares some high-quality travel/remote jobs but now he has created something even better - a job board where companies apply to work with you!
Introducing Travel Tech Essentialist Talent Collective, a reverse-job board where top companies apply to candidates. The goal is to make this the best place to hire high-caliber travel tech talent in the world. The platform has great companies actively hiring and reaching out to candidates for full-time, part-time, and freelance roles. If you are open to hearing about new opportunities directly from these companies, sign up now. You can join publicly or anonymously, and leave anytime. Completely free for candidates.
Freebies 🆓
👉 Back-to-School Business Boost Bundle!
👉 Ambitious Moms Online ~ Reach to Match Your Vision - Proven Lead Gen Strategies for 6 Figure Sales (August 24)
👉 Skyrocket Your Sales Workshop (August 30 - Sept 1).
Paid & Sponsored Opportunities 🤑
👉 Remote Internship. Looking for a fall PR internship (remote) in travel and hospitality? CM Communications is hiring.
👉 Visit Mesa offers support to local and domestic travel media and freelance travel writers visiting Mesa on assignment. If this is your beat, send your interest to Michelle Streeter (Michelle@VisitMesa.com) along with a list of current media outlets that you contribute to. Click HERE for press tours & story ideas for 2022-2023.
👉 Star Clippers press trip opportunity! Rosanna from Star Clippers is looking for one further journalist to join her on their sailing Press trip from 12th - 15th October 2022, flying from Stansted and visiting Amalfi, Sorrento, Ponza, and Rome. Flights and non-UK transfers are covered. Open to magazine opportunities depending on title and readership. Email rosanna@starclippers.co.uk.
👉 Want to be a Features Writer for TheTravel? From destination guides to travel tips, you'll write all the vacation-based stories for TheTravel. Now, this is a Valnet brand, so that means the pay is pretty low. But if you're a beginning travel writer or are looking for a steady job as you pitch other work, this might be worth considering.
👉 Chile Travel is to launch a marketing campaign for 22/23 that will highlight the country to international visitors. The campaign will see collaboration with travel media, with messaging focusing on the diversity of the landscape, variety of activities on offer, events, and year-end experiences. If this is your beat contact Grace at grace@blackdiamond.co.uk
*Remember if you want first access to these leads, call-outs, and opportunities as well as the ones I don’t share in the newsletter, plus exclusive guides, templates, resources, and pitching sprints, you can join the Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs membership!
Tools for Travelpreneurs 🛠️
👉 Wicked Cool Plugins - The ultimate collection of plugins that are all designed to help you build your audience, increase leads and make sales. Create a membership site, sell your products, build lead magnet quizzes (I’m playing around with the Smart Quiz Builder now), gamify your eCommerce site, and much more.
Interesting Reads... 📰
👉 Get smarter every day! Allow Refind to pick 7 links from around the web for you, tailored to your interests. Loved by 50k+ curious minds.
👉 September is just around the corner — The 8 Best Places to Travel in September.
Bonus Content 🤩
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Travel Plans ✈️
The final installment of our Cape Winelands tour is coming up this week. We’re off to one of the Western Cape's oldest (and most iconic) wine farms…
Let’s connect on Instagram if you’d like to follow along on our Winelands adventure!
💌 Have something you’d like to promote to 2020+ Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs readers? Purchase ad or sponsorships space. Learn more here!
Until next week…
With love,
Daniella
PS. If you want to become a travelpreneur, here are 3 ways I can help you:
✈️ Grab one of my FREE courses, books, or templates for travel bloggers: https://payhip.com/OurSoulfulT...
🌎 Join the Wildly Successful Travelpreneurs membership for only $9/month and direct access to ask me anything + exclusive opportunities, resources, templates, guides & pitching sprints.
✨ Work with me privately to make your travelpreneur dreams come true: https://payhip.com/b/wXeEV