Well, I understand what you are saying but I don’t agree. Somehow you expected this so it shouldn’t be a problem.

I talked about percentages, so I guess you mean me? But I can’t remember that I talked about that you were automatically entitled to anything so can you please enlighten me?
I’m the guy complaining about the low quality, why would I like that people were “automatically entitled” to sell articles?

So what? If you do something because you want to do it you shouldn’t get paid? I happen to like my job, should I stop getting paid for it?

Money spinner
Even if I clearly lack professional level writing skills (or so they say in earlier posts) I manage to sell my stuff.
But hat’s not the point here, and sadly it doesn’t seem that I’m able to explain it to you.


Thank you sir!

I guess I’m not a “real adventurer and traveler”, but I have never claimed to be one.
I think one of my favorite travelers is Helge Pedersen, but he gets paid so he is probably not a traveler, same for my other favorites. Life is hard

Interesting that no one here has mentioned standard magazine publishing rates. I'm not sure about Europe but in the US, it my understanding that a best selling author in a major magazine might be paid two bucks a word. And the average bike rag author scores somewhere between twenty five to fifty cents per word.

There are exceptions like if you are on assignment for Nat Geo or other high-end rags that include expenses. The sad secret truth about writing is that, unless your name is Steven King, there is very little money paid.

Even for books, standard royalty rates start at ten percent of the wholesale price for the first five thousand copies and if very successful, climb to about fifteen percent. First printing is usually 1,500 to 2,500 copies. Reprints are rare. If you sell five thousand books you did ok--ten thousand and you are considered successful.

After four years, my book recently went into sixth printing, is still in hardback with color pics and Nat Geo made a documentary out of it. Royalties to author? About a dollar fifty per copy.

Moto-adventure books sell well in Europe but not in the US. Although there are a few self-published writers here, I don't know of a single US author who has been remotely successful at writing books about international moto-travel. (Neil Pearl is an exception) In order to sell books, they must be well written and reviewed in magazines. Self-published authors carry a stigma and reviewers believe that if they could not get past publishing house editors, their work is crap. And for the most part, that is true.

For my new book coming out in August, it took over a year to find a publisher willing to include color pics and allow me to say what I want to say. In the US, if you offer kind words about perceived enemies of the government, your patriotism can be challenged. Finally, a Canadian publisher recognized what I'm trying to achieve and invested a healthy 50K along with purchasing international paperback rights to my first book.

It's been a long hard road with plenty of doors slammed in my face but now the tables have turned and I receive numerous pitches for TV work and believe it or not, video games. (big money) But absent editorial control, media work is a real roll of the dice. Your dream will be at the mercy of editors who not only did not shoot the original film, but think only of ratings to sell more soap.

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EARTH RIDE!
Understanding the world through adventure travel.
www.strikingviking.net

Strikingviking

I applaud your efforts. It is people like you who SHOULD get paid handsomely for what you do because you are clearly making efforts to make a career from writing, and with a degree of success to date. My gripe is with the idiots who are pompous enough to think they can become self-appointed writing geniuses because of a bike trip without any credentials to back it up.

Without people like yourself who invest their time relaying interesting stories and pursue their dream of writing then we would have neither the sites like this nor the books we see on the shelves. I wish you every success in the future.

Chris

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"Life is too short to drink cheap wine!"

Problem is we need some of these types in that some prove to be good some prove to be bad (I found Nick Sanders books incredibly poorly written). And also you need exposure somewhere and getting a shot at a magazine article is better exposure than nothing. Its almost at the dilema of can't get experience without getting work, yet can't get work without experience. I'm not a writer at all or intend to make a living out it I do like to tell stories however and when I first tried getting into my career which is not relating to writing at all I was severely depressed by the number of flat refusals to employ me due to lack of experience.

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http://www.itchystravels.co.uk/Bigone2009.html

Thanks amigo. The important thing to consider regarding a writing career is, why write? If someone is in it for the money, I would urge them to consider the statistics, and then if still interested, apply their entire heart and soul into their book or even magazine article. And in the meantime, don't quit your day job. After seeking advice from the pros, the consistent and most valuable advice I heard was to write everyday. Set a time and don't miss---ever.

My schedule while on the road was to write four hours per day, without exception. That means even if you are in a remote region under tough conditions, at night, curl up with your laptop (or journal) in your tent and record the days events and what you thought about. Most travel writers just take notes while traveling and then write their book once back home. But much of the introspection and gritty reality that readers want to know about is lost that way.

Consider the painter who paints either from memory or maybe a photograph, to the one who studies the subject live and paints what he sees at that moment. Either way you end up with a painting but which reveals more soul? Anyway that's just an opinion from a beginning writer.

__________________
EARTH RIDE!
Understanding the world through adventure travel.
www.strikingviking.net

Absolutely correct. Jack London received six hundred rejection notices before a magazine editor recognized his talent and finally published his first story. Think about what he went through to get his experiences. Although I first jumped into the fray with a book, I later wished that I had started slower to build a better foundation to "find my voice." Instead of a great story well told, I wound up with a great story poorly told.

Magazine articles are a good way to experience working with editors by learning the basics of syntax and story telling. Allowing someone else to correct our work that we consider flawless will surely rub us wrong but is also an incredibly valuable lesson in organizing our thoughts.

For instance, if you write a thousand word journal entry, with a little effort, you can cut it down to eight hundred words. A good editor can easily trim it to six hundred without losing any of the substance--he just makes it easier to read. This particular process teaches to avoid wordiness and the writers command to always remember, "Make every word count." Do you want your readers to skim your work because it is too long, or absorb every word?

__________________
EARTH RIDE!
Understanding the world through adventure travel.
www.strikingviking.net

(Nothing to do with the recent posts here, harking back a few weeks)Clipped from Sport-touring.net :

Seems that Source Interlink, the company that owns a good number of US motorcycle magazines has filed Chapter 11. They own the following bike related rags.

ATV Rider
Baggers
Dirt Rider
Hot Bike
Motorcycle Cruiser
Motorcyclist
Sport Rider
Street Chopper
Super Street Bike

Several US Based Motorcycle Magazines Go Bankrupt from Bikes in the Fast Lane - Daily Motorcycle News

Source Interlink

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Seek Truth

15 countries in 40 days. Tanks, crashes, minefields and Kalashnikovs

First of all, if a person is taking a ride to lower balfloriean, and is doing it for his or her own pleasure, the cost is going to be paid out of the rider's pocket. Let's say the trip is 700USD. The trip is finished. The rider returns home, shows the photos of his trip to his neighbor who offers him 200USD for ten of the photos, two each of five different jackasses, and a brief paragraph or two about each photo. Is the rider going to insist that he or she should be paid more because the money offered won't even cover the cost of the trip (the one he made without considering selling any photos, but was just for fun)? I know I wouldn't. As for the quality; most of what I read on the forum wouldn't get past an eighth grade level English class, so wouldn't deserve even the 200USD. I teach English Comp at the university level, have written texts on that and other course subjects, and am only marginally qualified to write articles for public consumption. People who write for a living build into it, or as some have noted, luck into it. Most of the riders' tales in print are not predicated upon the quality of the writing, but on the quality of the adventure.

Second: the whole thread is pointless anyhow because the contact address is invalid. I was going to offer some of my photos (already taken and paid for) of the temples of Korea. I figured it would take 30 minutes to make a red hot, sizzling intro, and I already have the photos. Two hundred dollars EXTRA for virtually no effort on my part is better pay than I can get for the amount of time doing anything else that is legal.