WINTER WAS SPENT WRITING ABOUT MY TRAVELS

Scarinish, Tiree

In the first four months of 2015 I enjoyed a publishing bonanza with my travel articles and images from the Scottish Hebrides and northern and southern Iceland  – to read them, click on "My articles" above or visit my website. On the strength of these, four more requests brightened my inbox.

Crofter's cottage

Future plans include: In mid-May, I visit Galiano Island for some photography and relaxation after a stressful six months of health challenges. After that, it's off to the Travel Media Association of Canada's 2015 conference in Peterborough, ON, followed by a river cruise to Georgian Bay with Ontario Waterway Cruises and a visit to Montebello, Quebec.

And later, my husband and I are planning a five week road trip in September to explore places we've never seen in Washington State, Oregon, and northern California.

Trekking to Solheimajökull, Iceland

All images:  © Photos by Pharos 2014. All rights reserved

FRUITS OF MY LABOURS FROM 2014

My New Year of 2015 started with a bang.

After being on the road for nine weeks in June and September in Canada and later in Scotland and Iceland, the articles I wrote and the images I took are beginning to be published.

As many North Americans start planning their vacations in the New Year, January is a sought-after month for exposure for tour companies, cruise lines, etc. So as a travel journalist, I'm very pleased with the placements.

So here are the links to the first of my assigned articles about my cruises on southern Ontario waterways and my cruise in the southern Hebrides of Scotland.

Ontario Waterway Cruises
© Photos by Pharos 2014

• River Cruising Canadian Style: the Rideau Canal in Senior Living

• River Cruising Canadian Style: The Thousand Islands and the Trent-Severn Waterway in Travel with a Challenge
• A Small Ship Cruise in the Scottish Hebrides in Europe up Close
  

On board the Glen Tarsan of the Majestic Line
© Photos by Pharos 2014

SPEED-DATING FOR TRAVEL JOURNOS

The annual conference of the Travel Media Association of Canada was held in mid-June 2013 in Saskatoon. Half the members are travel journalists (media) and the others are from the travel industry who represent hotels, PR companies, tourist boards, and tour operators, etc. from around the world.

It was my first as a relatively new freelance travel writer/photographer, and as I had hoped, I learned much; some from breakout sessions, panels, etc. and a lot flowed from just talking to delegates.

The single most important reason to belong to TMAC and attend the conference is the Media Marketplace. This is speed-dating for the journalists and the industry reps and lasts two, half-days. I met about twenty-two reps for 15 minutes each and was a bit intimidated until I got the hang of it.

The whole point is to present yourself as the ideal journalist to assist their industry in getting their message out to travellers by writing about and photographing their destination so well that they are published in many markets. If the reps believe you can do the job, they'll host you to do so; and host you very well indeed on group press trips or solo trips.

I quickly learned that my focus on history and military subjects was in high demand; for example, for the 100th anniversary of WW1 and the 150th of Prince Edward Island in 2014. Just as in any writing, you have to brand yourself well and become the go-to person for industry and editors seeking your expertise.

Industry reps also want their media colleagues to be adept at social media. The platform of choice is Twitter, and media must have a reasonable following. We must tweet on the trips, follow and retweet our host's tweets to "spread the love." They also want us to take good photographs to illustrate our stories, and to offer short videos—text simply is not enough. (The attending editors confirmed that travel writers are expected to provide images and video to assist in generating revenue.)

I came away from the speed-dating section of the TMAC conference with the prospect of three solo press trips matched with assignments from magazines, print and online.  I have more in the wings, but not so immediate. I have to follow-up regularly.

For the marketplace alone, TMAC's conference was worth the registration fee, but there's more to tell ....

IMAGES: Photos by Pharos (Julie H. Ferguson) 2012. All rights reserved.

TRAVEL WRITERS NEED MENTIONS ON INFLUENTIAL BLOGS...

On April 4/2012 I learned that the five images of South Africa I submitted to the Digital Photography School's (dPS) Travel Photography Inspiration Project were all published at http://digital-photography-school.com/travel-photography-inspiration-project-south-africa.

On April 9 two of my pix were chosen for the France project at http://digital-photography-school.com/travel-photography-inspiration-project-france and in five days, my Flickr pages were viewed over 2800 times.

Time for a dip? © Julie H. Ferguson 2011

Of course, I'm thrilled. However, the reason I'm writing about the news is not to brag but explain why I bother to submit my photos to non-paying blogs and websites.

Travel writers need to:

• Take photos to illustrate their text;
• Publish images and photo essays on influential, high traffic websites and blogs to increase visibility and provide credibility when pitching to new markets. (dPS has four million unique visitors per month);
• Publish text and images to earn re-qualification for the professional travel writing/photography associations;
• Keep track of which images are published where for Access Copyright, the agency that pays creators in Canada a small annual royalty for their print publications. Your country probably has a similar government agency.

St-Malo. © Julie H. Ferguson 2011

Obviously to achieve the above writers must keep detailed records of where and when their work/images were published in print and online. I record in several ways:

• On a detailed spreadsheet for both articles and images;
• Print out all images and articles, and keep them in binders in date order;
• On my publication list, which I keep up-to-date on my website;
• On Flickr, I note the publication info for every image as part of its caption. I collect my published images in a Flickr "set" by year and occasionally by location too. This also makes it easy for editors to view them if I give them the set's URL, rather than URLs for individual images. (Click on © statement below each image here and you'll see the captions). These URLs on Flickr also provide a "paper trail" should I need it, especially for Access Copyright.

I'm sure other readers have pet methods of keeping track and I'm interested in how others do it. Please let us all know in the comments. Thx.

© Julie H. Ferguson 2011

TRAVEL MEDIA ASSOCIATION OF CANADA

I'm proud and excited to announce that the Travel Media Association of Canada has approved my membership. It took me a while to meet their standards and requirements, but I like an organization that demands proof of professional ability and performance.

I am very grateful to the following travel editors who accepted my articles and images, and colleagues who answered questions and gave me advice in the spirit of generosity. In no particular order, they include:

• Teri Fogarty, www.europeupclose.com
• Bobbie Jo Reid, www.seniorlivingmag.com
• Devin Gadaulet, www.intheknowtraveler.com
• Jack Barker, www.travelmag.co.uk
• Irene Butler, www.globaltrekkers.ca
• John Geary, wwwbearlair.ca
• Margaret Deefholts and Jane Cassie, www.travelwriterstales.com
• Ruth Kozac, www.travelthruhistory.com

Many, many thanks to everyone for playing a part in helping me reach my goal ....

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE: ANTHONY DALTON, ADVENTURER AND AUTHOR

© Antony Dalton 1995

“I’m forever looking for trouble to see if I can get out of it!” Anthony Dalton chuckles. “So far, I have avoided the worst outcome, but I’ve had close calls with baboons, elephant seals and Royal Bengal tigers, to name a few. And I almost died alone in the Arctic.”

An explorer, author, photographer, sailor, speaker, and a bit of a romantic, Dalton is a man of countless experiences and a thousand stories whom I interviewed last summer to write a story about him. He's been places and done things most of us only dream of ....

Enjoy the result here online or in print in Senior Living's Vancouver edition, January 2012.

Dalton Collection - 1980

ENJOY TWO MORE ARTICLES ABOUT FRANCE

St-Malo: Then and Now, 1944 and 2011 tells the story of the remarkable restoration of the town after its destruction in WWII. Enjoy the article and images at Europe Up Close.

Prowling Around Provence describes one of my many day trips from Marseille to three very different but Provencal villages. Find the story and images at Europe Up Close.

IMAGES: (c) Julie H. Ferguson 2011

Reuters UK also published both articles. 

  Related articles:

• STAMP: Evenos, France

• STAMP #1: Dinard and St-Malo, Brittany (stampsinmypassport.blogspot.com)

TODAY AT A TRAVEL WRITING SYMPOSIUM

Here are some keepers from today's BC Association of Travel Writers' Annual Symposium:

Panel at BCATW
(c) Julie H. Ferguson 2011

• Travel writers must include not only text  for travel editors, but also still photos, videos, and clear indication of frequent activity on a blog, Twitter, and Facebook. This will help you stand out from the competition.
• Include in your profile to PR companies your recent publication list and URLs of your Flickr page, Youtube page, blogs, and FB biz page. Don't have them? Get them!!
• To be successful, your travel blog must have visuals, original content, and excellent writing. Post often to improve your rankings ...
• The travel memoir is gaining in popularity. Make sure yours include a fundemental truth, a journey, and a transformation caused by your travel experience. (Ruth Kozac's presentation)
• Make sure other characters as well as you are engaged in your travel memoir.
• Include in the memoir more attention to setting and characters, as well as dialogue.

Question: What pro-d do you do to improve your travel writing?