A Writer's Life

August Is Travel-Query Writing Month!

Date: August 6th, 2008 |

1 comment

Friends over at Almost Fearless have put together an initiative to help push ourselves to get our work published. The idea is to write a query letter a day, throughout the ENTIRE month of August, and keep an open log of it. Ok, ok, we’re already 6 days into August, but it’s never too late [read more]

Scarce Posting

Date: May 26th, 2008 |

2 comments

Sorry about the scarce posting over the last few weeks, looks like both Nick and I have been swamped with different things.
I’ve been wrapping up things here in Madrid before I leave for Dubai to spend 3-weeks with my family; I haven’t been home in 18 months. My brother and cousin arrived here two days [read more]

New Writing Website: The Midlist Writer

Date: March 19th, 2008 |

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Good friend, fellow traveler and writer Sean McLachlan (who has shared his advice for us here before), has entered the blogging world to share his writing experiences.
Sean has been to 20 countries on every continent (except Australia and Antartica), is author of Moon Guidebook to London, the Insider’s Guide to Phoenix, and Globe Pequot’s [read more]

Making Money As A Writer. Good Money.

Date: February 13th, 2008 |

7 comments

“It’s possible to make a good amount of money as a writer. Most writers don’t. You should assume, strictly for business purposes, that you won’t, or at the very least, won’t for a very long time. It’s not all about you, it’s also about the market. Don’t get defensive. The median personal income in the [read more]

My New Digs: Brooklyn, New York

Date: January 30th, 2008 |

2 comments

I am now officially a Brooklynite. About two weeks ago I relocated to Greenpoint, in the northwest corner of Brooklyn. It’s a mostly Polish community, but has recently seen an influx of hipster types escaping the Manhattan-like rents of nearby Williamsburg. My wife and I were actually expecting to land in Manhattan, but begin looking [read more]

Writing for Suite101.com and About.com: Is It Worth It?

Date: June 4th, 2008 |

8 comments

Again and again I get questions about whether it is worth it to write for websites such as Suite101.com or About.com, so I thought I would breakdown my experience with Suite101 and what I have heard about About.com.
Suite101
I began writing for Suite101 about two years ago when very few people had heard about it. I [read more]

Trying To Be A Travel-Writer: My Story So Far…

Date: March 29th, 2008 |

7 comments

One of our recent posts here stirred up many comments and thoughts. Although I assure you we’ve never meant to be impersonal, some of the commenters have expressed that this site lacks a personal touch, and many often ask for Jen. Unfortunately, as Nick has mentioned, Jen has retired from this site. She can be [read more]

Writing Online: What You Write Vs. How You Write

Date: March 9th, 2008 |

43 comments

I don’t know about you guys, but with the explosive growth of the online publishing industry and the constant debate over the authority definitions when it comes to journalists, bloggers or writers, I am often left confused and lost as to 1) what I should be writing 2) how should I be writing about it [read more]

The Harsh Realities Of Life As A Lonely Planet Travel-Writer

Date: February 7th, 2008 |

6 comments

Dreaming to write for the Lonely Planet is often where your inspiration to become a travel-writer comes from. I remember I frequently used to spend time in a book shop reading and taking down notes from the biographies of the writers of each LP edition: what their background was, what they aspired to, and if [read more]

What Travel-Writer Personality Are You?

Date: January 28th, 2008 |

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For those of you who haven’t seen this already, Rucksack Wanderer Tim Patterson over at Brave New Traveler has come up with 6 most original travel-writer personalities:
-The Intrepid Monk
-The Epic Adventurer
-The Naked Introvert
-The Walking Party
-The Public Relations Professional
-The Guidebook Writer
Read and and have a giggle over the descriptions, he plays with numerous interesting characteristics of [read more]