Dec 11
20
Year-end Round-up and Reminders
The last week of the year is almost here, so it’s a time to take a breath and reflect. When life is moving at a 100 miles an hour—some of that of our own doing with always-on technology—it’s important to step back and look at the big picture.
So first, here’s what is becoming clearer to me each month in terms of what the future holds for travel writers:
1) Newspapers have a dim future, for magazines it’s a slow decline, but books are in better shape than ever thanks to e-readers and tablets. If you have or can build a following, you can sell books without needing a publisher—and keep more than the traditional 10-15% pittance authors used to earn.
2) For writers without a staff position, it’s less and less about landing gigs and more about creating that following. (Nobody reads bylines in print pubs, but they know whose blog or book they’re reading.) Some will win big in this scenario, others will lose big. The best of the best experienced writers will still hang on and keep doing the big stories for the big publications. Everyone from the second tier on down will struggle if they’re mainly doing print work for others. For newbies, “breaking into travel writing” is a tough slog if going the traditional route.
3) While it’s clear that readers are moving from print to digital, with advertisers following them, it’s not so clear how individuals make money in this scenario if they’re just pens for hire. Pay at online pubs is probably not going to rise a whole lot as there are just too many sites/blogs competing for a more fragmented ad dollar. It’s the solopreneurs or small companies with a dedicated readership that are the best positioned in this scenario.
Top posts of the year
Wondering which posts got the most clicks? Here’s what came out on top during the past two months:
Michael Yessis of World Hum
The Cold Hard Truth on Blogging Income
Bob Sehlinger of Menasha Ridge Press
Laurie Gough
Durant Imboden of EuropeForVisitors.com
Four Stages of a Successful Blog
Victor Ozols of Blackbook.com
Lan Sluder
Grace Fujimoto of Avalon Publishing
Anja Mutic
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