There’s a snobbery around travel copywriting. Much like there’s snobbery around service journalism (like listicles or simple destination guides and tips articles). It’s not ‘real travel writing’. It’s not cool.
This comment from last week’s newsletter is proof that so many of us dismiss copywriting because it doesn’t suit the narrative we want to tell about our work. We’re storytellers of people and place, not just keyboard jockeys bashing out boring words.
But I’ve been doing copywriting for a decade now and I have to say, some of the best writing I’ve done has been for copywriting clients, and some of the hardest paragraphs I’ve written came from a copywriting brief. I have never been edited and offered extensive feedback like I am when I do my best paid copywriting jobs. Nor have I ever been told to spend several hours or an entire day on just 150 words, unlike the copywriting gig I got last year where I was paid £400 a day to write very little. It wasn’t about filling the page. It was about fulfilling the intention of the words. Not just getting it right, but getting it perfect.
It’s these gigs that have progressed my editorial writing skills far beyond what they once were. And so when I get that ‘this is great, thanks’ reply from a newspaper or magazine editor when I file, I know I have copywriting to thank for developing my prose into something more than readable.
Copywriting is great for flexing that writing muscle. And when you can land those higher-paying clients like I did last year (it was a word-of-mouth recommendation from my former boss), it can be great for your bank account, too.
With healthier rates and, sometimes, more regular work — I even had a retainer client back in 2020, which saw me through the first three months of the lockdowns — copywriting sounds like the ideal job for a travel writer who wants a little more cash. But it’s not always roses. It has, in the past, consumed far more time than I might have liked. I was cash-rich from travel copywriting in 2023, but I was time-poor, which meant I travelled less, pitched less, and let go of some of my editorial ambitions.
It can be tempting to just keep saying yes to the money when the offers land, but do it too much and you might lose sight of that career you had set out to nurture. But that’s a you problem, not a copywriting problem — as with most things in life, it’s about balance. I now set boundaries around my time and will only commit to doing a handful of copywriting days in a month — and that’s usually enough to pay the bills and mortgage. The rest of my time is dedicated to my books, this newsletter, and pitching the fun stuff I want to do for the media, and it feels like I’ve found the perfect middle ground.
Fancy giving travel copywriting a go yourself? We’ve got a brand-new copywriting course by an expert with 16 years in the field. It covers everything from understanding the essentials in the travel industry to the differences between long-form and short-form copy. There’s even a glossary of those pesky acronyms and terms you’ll hear in meetings or see in briefs.
At £279, it should pay for itself after just one day of copywriting. Grab it before the price rises on August 1st.
Don’t forget, we’ve got a whole bank of online resources for travel writers, including the newly updated Travel Pitching Index and our Travel Writing 101 online course. Don’t miss Meera Dattani’s brilliant Travel Writing Webinars, too.
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