Author Interview:  Roy Stevenson

How would you describe the type of books/genre you write?

My ten self-published books are about helping aspiring, novice, and veteran travel writers sell their stories to paying media, improve their travel writing, and parlay their assignments into cool press trips and Fam Tours.

The books cover a wide range of travel writing tradecraft from breaking into luxury travel writing to landing press trips, and from writing killer query letters to dreaming up story ideas that will sell. All of the books are educational and help writers learn the steps needed to be successful in the field of travel writing.

What motivated you to start writing?

When I started my freelance travel writing career in 2007, there was practically no information or advice on sales techniques and query letters for beginners, or even veteran travel writers. We had to figure it all out for ourselves. What sort of travel stories sell? Where do we find markets to sell our stories to? How do we write enticing query letters? How do we work with magazine editors to ensure repeat business?

I seem to have inherited some sales and marketing genes because I started selling my travel stories from my first week onwards, back in fall, 2007. I sold two stories in my first week, and went on to sell 2-3 articles/week for ten years. My total article sales now tops 1,000, and my work has been published in more than 200 regional, national, and international magazines, specialty magazines, glossies, custom publications, trade journals, in-flights, on-boards, and newspapers.

I started getting emails from other beginners, asking how I was managing to sell my stories so prolifically. As a professional courtesy, I answered every single email for 3 years. I found this was killing my time, so my wife (an MBA) suggested that I author a website and write some eBooks that I could sell, to get the monkeys off my back.

I recognized the huge gap in the sales and marketing knowledge available to travel writers and my books are filling this void. When I’m planning a new book, I ask myself the question, “What did I really need to know when I started my travel writing career?”

Tell us the journey you went on to get your books published (e.g. direct on your website, self-published, assisted-publishing, traditional publisher)

Once I decided to create a series of books on selling and writing travel articles and breaking into travel writing, we made the decision to self publish and sell primarily through our website (PitchTravelWrite.com). We have only two books available through Amazon.com, to get my name out to a larger audience who doesn’t know me. But our Amazon sales have been minuscule compared with our website sales, mainly because it’s a targeted niche. We find it’s better to sell directly because we get 100% of our book royalties by selling through our website, less PayPal fees. With Amazon.com, you only get 70% (U.S.). And if your book is over $10, you only get 30% (U.S.), so it’s not a good option for us.

What publishing elements do you most enjoy and most like to avoid, and why? (e.g. design, marketing, formatting etc.)

I just write the books and market them. My wife, Linda Popovich, does the publishing, design, formatting and layout. She also has placed two of our books on Amazon.com, plus one print book on CreateSpace. We make a great team, as she’s very artistic and is also a well-published travel photographer.

With the hindsight of being a published author, anything you would have done differently?

What tips or advice would you give an aspiring indie author who is looking to self-publish?

I believe that most authors underprice their work; we price our books based on the fact that if writers use our information to sell their stories, they stand to make a lot of money. Our books are educational products so we don’t sell sell them at bargain basement prices. They have great worth. But we also don’t overprice them.

Our books save writers a lot of time and accelerate their learning curve, so we don’t hesitate to charge accordingly for this benefit. Novice travel writers waste sooo much time figuring things out by trial and error (years!), and most end up dropping out because they never seem to gain traction. Our books cut years off their learning curve and quickly help them become successful at selling their stories.

If someone considers our books too expensive, they’re welcome to figure it all out for themselves and spend years wasting a lot of time. We believe that if someone really wants our information, they’ll pay a fair price for our books, and will probably be more committed to utilizing the information.

Click here to view all of Roy’s books on PitchTravelWrite.com.

What marketing or promotional tools or techniques do you use to reach your readers?

Marketing your work should be done every day as part of your office routine.

We have a free weekly newsletter that is mailed out every Monday. It’s the main way we reach our customers and has been highly effective in promoting our books. We use testimonials from satisfied customers to establish credibility for our books. We hold twice yearly ebook sales and do very well from them.

We consistently use Facebook, LinkedIn, and a travel writer’s social media group to publicize our books. Yes, I know, the experts tell you that you won’t make any sales through social media. But I’ve found that social media keeps reminding travel writers about our books, and that keeps generating sales.

I recently ceased social media posts for two months and our book sales dropped to almost zero. Once I started my social media posts, sales picked back up. That’s proof to me that social media can be used to generate sales.

What impact do you want your books to have on your readers?

I hope my books will help aspiring and intermediate level freelance travel writers get their stories published. I also want my books to help veteran travel writers get more of their work published in a wider variety of magazines, journals, custom publications, trade journals, in-flights, on-boards, newspapers, etc.

What’s your book’s elevator pitch or key selling points?

My mantra is, “If you can’t sell your stories, you don’t get to write them”.

I’ve found no other comprehensive books about freelance travel writing, or freelance writing in general, that provide practical information about how to sell your stories, market yourself and your work, and establish your writer’s brand and platform.

Most “how to” books about freelance travel writing emphasize improving your writing skills (which is obviously important), but advice showing us how to sell our stories is almost completely absent.

It’s no wonder that so many novice travel writers fail and give up; they just don’t know how to sell their stories. Their pitches and query letters abysmally undersell their story ideas, or are so amateurishly written that editors just hit “delete” and move on to the next pitch in their inbox.

What’s next on your writing journey?

I continue to write new manuals and reference books on travel topics like “Query Letters That Got Travel Writers Press Trips“, “Writing For Military and History Magazines“, “How To build Your Travel Writing Platform“, and “How To Break Into The Food, Wine, & Beer Travel Writing Market“.

We’re also hosting a three-day Travel Writing & Marketing Master Class in New Orleans in June, 2020, and a Travel Writing & Photography Retreat in Hoi An, Vietnam, in December, 2020. I coach 10 travel writers (one-on-one) each year, helping them break into paying print media travel writing outlets and land press trips. Our Travel Writing & Marketing Master Class is also online for people who aren’t able to travel to the workshop.

About the Author

Roy Stevenson is a full time professional freelance travel writer and photographer with more than 1,000 articles published in 200+ regional, national, and international magazines, newspapers, trade journals, custom publications, specialty magazines, in-flights, on-boards, and online travel magazines. He’s considered one of the most prolific travel writers in the U.S.A.

You can find our more about his freelance writing career at www.Roy-Stevenson.com

For further information about travel writing and his travel writing books, please visit www.PitchTravelWrite.com

Roy produces a free weekly newsletter for aspiring travel writers. It’s considered one of the most informative e-zines in the travel writing business.

• Subscribe here: http://www.pitchtravelwrite.com/pitchtravelwrite-ezine.html

Connect with Roy:

• Facebook: @Roy.Stevenson.397
• LinkedIn: @RoyStevenson