How Do You Advance as a Writer?

In the end it comes down to a lot of ass to chair. Photo: Chapendra. Feature photo: The Alieness Gisela Giardano.

One of the students enrolled in Matador U posted this question in the student forum:

What does it take to elevate yourself in the world of writing? What does it take to become an editor or to get noticed to write a guide/book?

Several Matador editors share advice based on their own experiences:

Julie Schwietert Collazo, Managing Editor; Matador Change & Matador Pulse Editor:

First, ask yourself if you *really* want to be an editor or if you *really* want to write a guidebook.

Lots of newer writers look to editorial positions and guidebook contracts as the pinnacle of professional travel writing. Both do have their perks, but you need to ask yourself some important questions. With respect to editorial positions: do you really want to be an editor? An editorial position typically involves very little writing (Matador’s somewhat of an exception, as are some other online travel publications) and lots of time spent in the slush pile, eyes rolling after you’ve read the word “paradise” for the umpteenth time. There are other tasks, too, but the bottom line is this: the job of an editor is very different from that of a writer.

With respect to guidebook writing, you have to consider whether you really know a place deeply and whether you have the skills not just to write concisely about that place given a very rigid template, but whether you have time and money management skills, too. As you progress through the Matador U course, you’ll come across a chapter that’s specifically about guidebook gigs.

Finally, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to take the time to become a good writer. Don’t rush to rise to the top because if you’re not ready to be there, you’ll have a much more difficult time getting back there later in your career.

Lola Akinmade, Matador Goods, Editor:

By leveraging other skill sets such as social networking and marketing skills, and being proactive about your work, you might catch a few eyes.

Carlo Alcos, Matador Trips Co-Editor:

Don’t underestimate the “right place, right time” scenario. While you might not have much control over that, you do have control over being ready, willing, and able to take advantage of any opportunities that come your way.

I’d submitted a few articles to Matador and was very active around the site and community — commenting on articles, responding to forum posts, commenting on other members’ blog posts. This activity was obviously noticed. It’s worth a mention that I didn’t have any ulterior motives to my involvement with the site; I just plain loved to do it and I am guessing that made itself visible.

Back to “right place, right time”. Matador just happened to be expanding operations and changing directions so they were hiring a team of editors. Bingo bango, here I am.

Hal Amen, Matador Trips Co-Editor:

[Getting noticed] is much easier in the online world that in print. Websites, blogs, and social media are accessible to everyone, and interacting through them gives you a chance to communicate one-on-one with editors.

For a year, I was as active as I could be, first within the Matador community and then on their network of themed blogs that launched in early 2008. I friended people. I read blog posts and commented. I wrote my own blog posts. I commented on articles. I submitted my own articles. I Stumbled and Dugg and tweeted Matador content. It didn’t take long before I was on the radar of multiple Matador editors, first as a community and social media contact, then a contributor, and then a member of their pool of “dream team” contributors.

Last March I got an email with the subject line of “New Role at Matador?” inviting me to come on board as co-editor of Trips. I said hell yes.

It didn’t happen overnight, but it didn’t take that long either. Choose your venue(s), put in some effort, participate, behave professionally and positively, and see what happens.

Christine Garvin, Brave New Traveler Co-Editor:

Sometimes, I like to look at this process from the “energetic” perspective, as in how much energy am I putting in to make things happen? I know it can feel pointless sometimes to send out proposal after proposal and get rejected, or worse yet, never hear anything, but I do believe there are forces at work that note that energy. And that’s when something ends up coming out of left field that you had never anticipated, like a random editor seeing your blog and asking you to write a piece.

Tom Gates, Matador Nights Co-Editor:

My advice is to make sure you have climbed each rung on the ladder before trying to advance. I stupidly emailed a few guidebooks early on, thinking hey, I’m a hotshit writer and I like to travel, hire me. I had nothing to my credit but blogs and they (rightly) wanted nothing to do with me.

Now I have a portfolio of articles to show anyone who asks and that seems to go quite a bit further. Also, remember, when somebody asks you for some of your links, MAKE SURE to think about which ones you’re sending based on who your target is. Don’t send snarky or jargon-y things to a prim, don’t send by-the-numbers pieces to somebody who has a bit of ‘tude.

Read the full article at MatadorU →

Community Connection:

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