Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers...

1. How Freelance Writers Can Avoid Taking Lower Paying Jobs

2. How To Capitalize on Opportunities

3. 5 Tips for Working in the Midst of Chaos

4. The Freelance Writer's Guide to LinkedIn

5. 6 Tips for Freelance Writers and Authors Who Can’t Pay Their Income Taxes

A Travel Bloggers Scholarship Fund for TBEX?

Travel blogger Caitlin Fitzsimmons has come up with a novel and innovative way of raising money to get to this years TBEX’10 Travel Bloggers Conference.

She has set up a Send Caitlin to TBEX in NYC project over at Kickstarter with the aim of raising $500 to help cover the costs of travel and accommodation in NYC during the conference.

In return for everyone’s support, Caitlin promises to provide up to date summaries of conference content and conversations to help people who can't attend.

And within two weeks of her trip to New York, will create and publish the following on her Roaming Tales blog:

- an edited video
- at least one post from each of the five boroughs
- two restaurant reviews
- a hotel review

As of today, the Send Caitlin to TBEX in NYC project has raised reached the goal of $500.

But all this got me thinking that maybe now is the time that a travel bloggers scholarship fund, similar to the one created by the Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC), was established to help travel bloggers get to TBEX.

Last year I was one of the grateful recipients of WBC’s scholarship fund. And while what I received wasn’t financially huge, it did make a huge difference to me being able to attend the event.

Dependent on donations on wineries, PR agencies, wine business industry members, and individuals, the WBC scholarship fund will be funding up to 11 wine bloggers at this year’s conference in Walla Walla, Washington. Anyone with a wine blog is encouraged to send in an application describing their blog, their financial needs pertaining to the Wine Bloggers Conference, and why they are deserving on sponsorship. The successful wine bloggers are then chosen through a committee selection process.

Sounds like something that TBEX travel bloggers could easily do. After all, travel bloggers are a generous lot.

All you have to do is look at the results of the Passports with Purpose fundraisers organized by four Seattle travel bloggers. The first one raised over $6000 dollars, the second one well over $25000.

So maybe it’s time we start being generous to each other as well by creating a TBEX scholarship fund for TBEX’11.

Sure sounds like something that everyone should be discussing at this year’s TBEX.

In the meantime, why not make Caitlin the ‘inaugural TBEX scholarship’ recipient by donating to the Send Caitlin to TBEX in NYC fund.

(For more on TBEX'10, check out the TBEX facebook page and follow on the TBEX twitter.)

(cross posted at Perceptive Travel blog)

Travel Writing Course in Morocco...

Tour operators Steppes Travel announced this week a one-off travel writing course in Morocco. Run by author Paul Gogarty, this seven day course will consist of personalised one-on-one private tutoring, feature-writing assignments and daily workshops intermixed with a series of field trips around Marrakech.

At £1,850, it's not cheap. But imagine learning the tricks of the trade while wandering around such a colorful and interesting place.

Dates: 27 September to 3 October 2010

For more information, visit www.steppestravel.co.uk

(via cntraveller.com)

Planet Eye Traveler is looking for Travel Bloggers...

Planet Eye Traveler is hiring travel bloggers for the following positions - Las Vegas, Berlin, and cruising.

Editor Mary Jo Manzanares (aka @flyawaycafe) says while Las Vegas, Berlin, and cruising are her top priorities at present, Planet Eye Traveler is also looking for travel bloggers to write about the following...

Destinations:

Athens
Bangkok
Berlin
Cape Town
Denver
Hong Kong
Las Vegas
Mexico City
Montreal
New Orleans
Paris
Rome
Singapore
Tokyo
Toronto

and niches:

Family travel
Cruises
Green travel

Offering a modest base pay plus bonus structure, these positions won't pay the mortgage but are a great place to build up a travel writing portfolio in a supportive environment.

Applicants need to be passionate and knowledgable about their topic and be able to provide 4 posts a week. WordPress familiarity is important but they are willing to train the right people.

Contact Mary Jo at @flyawaycafe for further details.

Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers...

1. Working from home — Avoiding isolation and finding motivation

2. How to Use Twitter Lists to Find Freelance Writers – and Freelance Writing Jobs

3. 13 Nuggets Of Business Wisdom I Learned In The Corporate World

4. Business Plans for Writers

5. 6 Editing Tips for Writers From Copywriters, Editors, and Freelancers

TED Talk: Gary Vaynerchuk at Web 2.0 Expo 2008...

I found this TED talk video via Cuaderno Inedito

It's a talk that Gary Vaynerchuk from Wine Library did at Web 2.0 Expo 2008.

His advice - do what you love with no excuses!

Matador Network looking for Travel Blogger with Video Editing Skills...

Are you a passionate and savvy travel blogger / social media / online publishing ninja with video editing skils?

If so, Matador Network wants you.

They are looking for an intern to working directly with Matador Video editor Joshywashington, and helping with such tasks as:

*formatting and publishing video posts

*practicing the art social media promotion with the Matador editorial team

*helping build content at MatadorTV

*engaging the travel video community

*helping produce content about travel video at The Traveler’s Notebook

If interested, email josh [at] matadornetwork.com

Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers...

1. 10 Things You Should NOT Ask a Freelance Writer

2.Your Blog is Your Portfolio: Landing Blog Writing Gigs

3. How to stand out in a niche full of jerks


4. Writing and the Law of Attraction – 8 Steps to Getting Published Via Visualization

5. 6 Cool Keys That Unlock the Block

Upcoming Travel Writing Seminar in Washington D.C.

Jason Clampet, editor of Frommers.com, is holding a 'Breaking into Travel Writing' Seminar on April 26, 2010.

Topics to be covered include...

- The fundamentals of compelling travel writing
- Useful insider tips for selling your articles
- How to identify markets
- How to earn money
- What makes a good travel memoir

For more information, head over to Mediabistro

TBEX '10 Calling for Entries for Community Keynote

TBEX'10, the travel bloggers event of the year, will take place in New York City on June 26 and June 27th.

I had hoped to go this year but life got in the way and instead I will instead be cruising on the high seas while TBEX'10 is on.

But thanks to the TBEX'10 Communtiy Keynote, there is a way that I and others unable to attend, can participate.

The community keynote offers independent travel bloggers a chance to have their work presented by Pam Mandel and Mike Barish at the TBEX ’10 Community Keynote session.

Interested?

Then check out Kim Mance's post, CALL FOR ENTRIES: TBEX '10 COMMUNITY KEYNOTE, over at Travel Exchange.

Here's the highlights...

You do not need to attend TBEX ’10 to submit work for inclusion in the Community Keynote (though we’d love to see you). Simply review the list below and submit one of your favorite blog posts that fits into a specific category. All work must be original, written by you, and published on your blog (whether old or new). There is no compensation for entries chosen (beyond TBEX fame and a link), and author retains their own copyright. One submission per person, only!

1. Twinkle in a Traveler’s Eye – The Ideas That Inspire the Trips

2. In Transit – The Perils (and Joys) of Transportation

3. Talking to Strangers – The People You Meet

4. Spit or Swallow – Culinary Conundrums

5. The Power of Places – Inspiring Destinations

6. You Did What? – Adrenaline Rushes and Adventures

7. Love at First Flight – Tales of Romance on the Road

8. Trips & Falls – Embarrassing Tales & Travel Fails

9. Home, Bittersweet Home – Reverse Culture Shock & Many Happy Returns

Tom Swick Writes about the evolving role of the travel writer

There's a great article, Not a Tourist, posted over at World Hum about the evolving role of the travel writer in modern times.

Written by Tom Swick, it is part autobiographical, part historical as it traces the history of the travel writer through the ages.

Definitely worth reading...

Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers...

1. 5 Tips For Filing Your Taxes Easily

2. 10 Terrific Blogs for Freelance Writers That Aren’t About Freelance Writing

3. How to Create a Strategic Writing Plan – Tips for Organized Writers

4. How to Find the Best Sources

5. Developing The Perfect Pitch

Heather Hapeta to Hold Travel Writing Course at Daku Resort, Fiji...

New Zealand travel writer Heather Hapeta aka 'the kiwitravelwriter' is running a 7 day travel writing course at the Daku Resort in Fiji in August.

Sounds like a great way to combine a beach holiday with your writing and travel passions. The course is geared to teach you the ins and outs of writing travel articles, blogs,etc.

Topics include (but not only):

· How to write for specific publications
· Know your market
· What works – what doesn’t?
· Where to sell your stories – locally and internationally
· Finding your own style, and the secrets of style
· Use your senses; quotes; fact files
· Query letters, and the taxman
· Considering other markets
· Photography and travel writing

. . . plus exercises, daily expeditions, and lots of talking in-between, and one-on-one time with your tutor as required.

By your last day you should have a perfectly formed (and critiqued) article ready to pitch to an editor and start earning.

Course requirements: enthusiasm and curiosity are essential.

Add notebooks and pencils; a camera; perhaps your laptop or an audio cassette – and, as we are on a Pacific island – sunscreen and swimming costumes are highly recommended!

$NZ500 discount for early-bird bookings – by end of April 2010 - for THIS travel workshop only. The price includes flights from New Zealand, accommodation (twin share) meals, and visits associated with the course, and naturally, an exciting week-long holiday retreat at Daku Resort.

For more information on click on travel writing course at Daku Resort.

52PerfectDays.com's 3rd Annual Travel Writing Contest...

52 Perfect Days has launched their 3rd Annual Travel Writing Contest.

This year's theme is National Parks.

Submissions should be 1000 words focusing on a National Park, National Monument, National Seashore or Historic Parks in the United State or Canada, highlighting how to spend a perfect day there.

Head over to 52 Perfect Days for full submission guidelines

Deadline is 31st October 2010

First Prize is a trip to Oahu, 2nd Prize 2 Nights in Palm Springs, 3rd Prize a Wordpress Website, and 4th Prize a Tom Bihn Travel Bag. And 10 runner up prizes of a a copy of Best Travel Writing "True Stories from Around the World".

Travel & Words 2010: A Pacific NW Travel Writers Conference...

If you are heading for the Pacific Northwest this summer, you might want to consider attending TRAVEL & WORDS 2010.

Where: Courtyard Marriott, 1515 Commerce Street, Historic downtown Tacoma Washington

When: June 26 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m

A one day workshop for freelance travel writers, journalists, photographers, editors, and travel and tourism industry professionals, TRAVEL & WORDS 2010 is designed to provide participants with...

...timely information on changes and trends in the freelance writing world, particularly the use of social media in managing and marketing one’s brand and developing income-producing web sites related to travel writing.

...encourage networking with editors and travel and tourism industry professionals who highlight Pacific NW destinations, including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, and British Columbia.

...discuss the process of marketing freelance articles and photography to both print and online publications in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

For more information, check out the Travel & Words 2010 Conference website.

The Vacation Gals Are Giving Away a Personal Assistant...

Got too much to do and not enough time? Fighting against deadlines? Need more time for research, proofreading, etc, etc, etc?

If so, then you could probably do with a personal assistant.

And the Vacation Gals have one to give away.

Here's what's on offer...

TaskUs, an hourly virtual personal assistance service, has teamed up with the fabulous Hyatt Place hotel brand to offer The Vacation Gals readers an incredible giveaway: 30 hours of virtual assistance to use by August 2010, and a two-night stay at any Hyatt Place property in the United States with no blackout dates or expiry date.

How to enter...

Leave a comment over at The Vacation Gals telling them

- What’s the first thing you think you’ll have your TaskUs virtual assistant do? (Check out TaskUs.com for examples of services.)

and

- Where do you think you’d use your credit for two nights at a Hyatt Place hotel? (Name a city; check out the Hyatt Place website for a full list of locations.)

It might just result in a perfect match.

Sadly only US residents can enter which leaves me out.

Lonely Planet looking for amazing food stories for new anthology...

Ask any travel writer about their favorite travel memories and you can just about guarantee that food will be involved.

In fact, according to Lonely Planet author and editor Don George, ‘every traveller has some unforgettable food story – a larger-than-life feast, a mind-bending immersion in a rural market, the homemade, heart-opening treat shared by a stranger on a claptrap train, an adventure on the trail of an edible exotic. In all these tales, food is an agent of transformation, taking travellers to a deeper and more lasting understanding of and connection with a people, a place and a culture. And if they’re really lucky, it tastes good too!’

With that in mind, Lonely Planet is looking for submissions for the upcoming anthology, A Moveable Feast: Life-Changing Food Encounters Around the World.

All you need is a (true) tale of travel and food. He's looking for original, unpublished pieces of exceptionally high literary quality.

Length is from 1,000 to 3,000 words. Deadline is April 19.

If you have a great food story to tell, email it to Don at don.george@sbcglobal.net with Food Anthology in the subject line. All submissions are on speculation.

A Moveable Feast will be published this fall.

Rolf Potts to Lead Travel Writing Workshop in Iceland...

Travel writer and author Rolf Potts, fresh from his Paris workshop in July, will be leading a 5 day Travel Writing Workshop in Iceland on August 1st, 2010.

At this travel writing workshop, the emphasis will be on participants creating travel stories, memoirs, and experimental essays that examine sense of place, cross-cultural inquiry, and personal discovery. Rolf will be offering direction and guidance, with the aim for each student to have one completed non-fiction article ready for publication by the end of the workshop.

The cost - $$1950.00 - includes:

5 days travel writing workshop with Rolf Potts
7 nights accommodation (based on double occupancy) at House of Spirits Guesthouse
7 breaksfasts, 7 lunches, 7 dinners

For more information, head over to Angela Richie's Ace Camp website.

For more on Rolf Potts, read this Write to Travel interview with a travel writer.

Guerrilla Freelance Turns One and Celebrates with Giveaways...

Guerrilla Freelancing, a website 'dedicated to helping every freelancer still in the trenches, working as hard as they can to build up a solid freelance business'is turning one and wants to celebrate by spending this week giving away some great prizes.

Here's their list:

Monday – Media Loot is giving three people a one year subscription to their resource site.

Tuesday – Paymo Biz is giving five people an unlimited time tracking and invoicing account.

Wednesday – Rockable Press is giving away 2 ebook copies of “How To Be A Rockstar Freelancer” and 2 ebook copies of our “Freelance Statistics Report“.

Thursday – Giant Themes is giving away 5 free copies of the iSocialize wordpress theme.

Friday – Guerrilla Freelancing is giving away a free ebook titled “Guide to Guerrilla Freelancing” which will showcase some of the best notes from this site as well as new and informative topics for every freelancer who’s in the trenches!

Obviously it's too late to enter Monday's giveaway but all the rest are still up for grabs. so head on over to Guerilla Freelance and start entering.

Personally, I wouldn't mind winning a copy of “How To Be A Rockstar Freelancer”

Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers...

It's been a while but Write to Travel is back with the weekly 'Weekly Top 5 Blog Posts for Writers".

1. What Magazine Editors Value From Freelance Writers

2. What Avatar Can Teach You About Repurposing Your Content

3. The Importance of a Writers Agreement

4. 10 Lessons I Learned from A Magnificent Failure

5. 10 Amazing Life Lessons You Can Learn From Albert Einstein