Traveling the world writing travel stories and taking travel photos might sound glamorous, but doing the job right, getting stories and photos published and making money from it takes skill, knowledge and work.
That's why The Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) holds its annual Institute for Travel Writing & Photography, the longest established course in travel writing and photography in the nation. Now in its 13th year, the course will be offered January 25-27, 2008, in Orlando, Fl.
The Institute (ITWAP) provides 15 hours of instruction for writers, experienced travelers and others considering careers in print and online article writing, guidebook work and travel photography. It has been key in launching a career or enhancing the skills of those who have taken the course.
The course is lead by top travel editors and writers who debunk the glamour of travel writing as an extended vacation and teach the course as a career that must be approached with real world skills, goals and expectations.
"Instruction is intense, the ambiance collegial. Relationships extend for years after," says Institute chair Herb Hiller. "Graduates tell me what they especially value is our realistic approach. Articles and books result."
A registration fee of $345 covers course materials, all meals, breaks and social events. Host hotel is the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne, a historic inn in downtown Orlando. Rooms are $99 per night (www.orlandohistoricinn.com).
ITWAP's faculty of nationally published writers, photographers and editors focus on travel and guidebook writing, web publishing, article queries and book proposals, contracts and negotiations, independent publishing, marketing and photography. Institute registrants can also have their writing and photography critiqued at no extra cost. A complete breakdown of the weekend events is at http://www.satwinstitute.org (SATW Institute for Travel Writing & Photography).
Joining the faculty for the first time is Christopher P. Baker, author of the award-winning literary travelogue, "Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba", and more than a dozen guidebooks for Lonely Planet, National Geographic Society, and others.
Instructors and their major credits include:
Christopher P. Baker (as noted above), www.travelguidebooks.com
Steve Blount (decade-long editorial consultant to more than a dozen magazines including Caribbean Travel & Life, Saveur, Islands; currently publishing director, Conceive Magazine)
John Byram (editor-in-chief, University Press of Florida)
Lee Foster (Globe-Pequot, www.fostertravel.com, www.lonelyplanetimages.com)
Herb Hiller (University Press of Florida, Pineapple Press)
M. Timothy O'Keefe, Ph.D. (former head of the journalism division, University of Central Florida; six independently published guidebooks; GuideToCaribbeanVacations.com)
Veronica Stoddart (Deputy Managing Editor for Travel, USA Today)
Bruce Whipperman (Moon Handbooks)
Primary sponsor of the Institute is the not-for-profit Society of American Travel Writers, a non-profit professional association of writers, editors, photographers, electronic media journalists and public relations professionals in is 52nd year. Other sponsors are the Orlando Downtown Development Board and the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
For more information, contact Institute chair Herb Hiller at (386) 467-8223.
