Tips for Travel Writers: Finding a Niche?

Answer 1

With the proliferation of online and print venues in which to be published, travel writing has become a popular career. In my Tips for Travel Writers series, I will share helpful information that I have learned during my decade of professional travel writing. Many travel writers have a “niche,” or specialty, that they write about on a regular basis. Here are some helpful tips for finding your niche as a travel writer.

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Identify what you like to write about. Your niche should be something that you genuinely enjoy. If you are passionate about a topic, your enthusiasm will transfer onto the page. Plus, it’s a lot more enjoyable to write about what you love.

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Identify a need.Travel writers who do well professionally tend to fill a void. In other words, let’s say you’re interested in cooking. There are a lot of travel writers who specialized in French cooking, but fewer who specialize in Appalachian cooking. If you add your voice to the chorus of writers in the same niche, it’s more likely to get lost. However, if you identify a niche that not many people are covering, you are more likely to stand out.

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Learn as much as you can about the topic. Once you’ve identified your niche (or niches), strive to learn as much as you can about the topic so that you can position yourself as an expert in the field. When you travel, you should build in plenty of time to learn about (or experience) your niche topic. The more authoritatively you can write on a topic, the more likely it is that you will gain a following.