Instructor

Travel writing online course: Pitching Workshop (Video)

90 Minutes

All levels

22 lessons

0 quizzes

103 students

Overview
Curriculum
Instructor

Pitching Workshop

A 90-minute live recorded travel writing workshop, held at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival.

‘Real life’ value: US$150. Now available online for just US$49.

Introduction

This workshop took place at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival in the beautifully renovated Tai Kwun Centre For Heritage & Arts. The exclusive one-time event was conducted for 30 students – all of whom were beginning their journeys as travel writers.

The workshop covered many different topics and was designed to provide highly practical, useable, useful insights into the travel publishing process. This workshop will give you the tools to immediately start selling story ideas to editors.

“Thanks so much for your time and expertise today. That was, without doubt, the most practical and useful workshop on writing that I have ever attended, and I’ve been to plenty! I’m excited about the prospect of pitching!”

Vici Egan, Workshop attendee

To read more testimonials CLICK HERE

Sample lesson

More free lesson previews available in the curriculum tab.

Key Learning Outcomes and Skills

The workshop deconstructs one of the best pitches I have ever received as an editor. We explore why the pitch worked, how it differs to pitches that fail, and lays out an easy-to-follow formula for constructing your own travel story pitches.

The workshop also looks at places to find ideas for stories, and gives real life examples of great pitches that four different freelance travel writers used to win assignments. These assignments were published in CNN Travel, The New York Times, South China Morning Post and BBC Travel.

James Durston

I'm a freelance travel writer and travel editor, now teaching others how to realize their own travel writing dreams. Over the last 20 years I’ve written and commissioned articles for many different products and genres. I started as a finance writer in London, but for the last 10+ years have specialized in travel, both writing and commissioning articles as an editor. I've worked for international news organizations, inflight magazines and new startups. Some of my past clients and employers include CNN, Travel + Leisure, VICE, Men's Journal, SCMP, GQ, Condé Nast, Discovery, The Daily Mail, Travel Weekly and more. And now I’m revealing exactly how I sell articles as a freelancer, and what I’m thinking when I buy them as an editor. The tools and insights you find on Travel Write Earn provide a compact, practical and fast-track guide to rapidly master and then apply everything I’ve learned over those years. If you're a total beginner, I can answer your questions and help you hit the ground running as you start your travel writing career. I provide the real-life insights you just don't get in lecture halls and classrooms, but that you need to succeed quickly in this industry. If you're an intermediate travel writer, I can help you earn more from your articles, fine-tune your pitches to increase your sales rates, and help find new ways to write about the places you go and experiences you have. If you're an established and expert travel writer ... what are you doing here? Go write! No seriously, I can also offer help answering any questions you have about the editorial and publishing world the other side of the email divide. This could be especially useful if you have no experience as a commissioning editor, and would like some insights into that murky pond.