Comments on: Travellers Calabria Contest: Q and A with Travel Writer Lara Dunston Part 5 of 5

By: Terence Carter

Terence Carter — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:34:34 +0000

Do you make an adequate income out of this?
Adequate? Yep. But Lara and I have both made more money as department managers in publishing and academia, but we can always go back to that when we’ve had enough. This is entirely hypothetical, but it’s also impossible to compare making US$50,000 at an office job compared to US$50,000 as a travel writer. I don’t have to keep office hours or work in an office which I would have problems ever doing again. I always worked harder than everyone in an office anyway and I’d rather work 14hrs plus a day to never have to do it again!

Can you project your income for the next two years, for example?
Well, we’re freelancers. We’re looking a few months to a year ahead but because we have so many projects at different stages of development it’s hard to tell. For instance a job I did a few weeks ago that took two weeks was the equivalent of two months pay at my last job. A couple of jobs potentially coming up will be six months duration each and pay very handsomely – and with creative control. If they don’t come off, that’s cool as well, we could sit in a room for six months, not travel anywhere and simply write up stories and edit photos. We actually wouldn’t mind that option if other projects fall through! And we have only dabbled in consulting, which is something we could pursue.

I know some people find the thought that we don’t know how much money we’ll earn over the next couple of years scary, but you just need to say what the hell, this is how it goes when you’re self-employed. One thing that I just thought of, how many self-employed small business owners can call travelling to a new destination a business investment? Which is exactly what it is…

Thanks so much Terry; great answer

By: Mark H

Mark H — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:57:14 +0000

Entertaining, behind-the-scenes interview that goes to a litle more detail than most. The contrast with travelling as a vacation is quite striking.

Glad you enjoyed, Mark!

Mark H´s last blog ..The Exotic Wonders of Turkey

By: Kim B.

Kim B. — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:28:07 +0000

Thanks Terry! Interesting to hear more of how your team works together!

We’ve got the guidebook at the bookstore where I work in Paris, and I’m still working on convincing my husband to take me to Diamante, where his family has a beach condo!! (We’ve known each other five years and I’ve been to Turin several times but never to Calabria! Bummer!)

Maybe you’ll come down for the Peperoncino festival, Kim!

By: nyc/caribbean ragazza

nyc/caribbean ragazza — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:25:30 +0000

I loved this series. Bravo Michelle, Lara and Terrence.

Thank *you* for reading

nyc/caribbean ragazza´s last blog ..“The Sack Of Rome” by Alexander Stille, “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, “The House At Sugar Beach” by Helene Cooper.

By: helena

helena — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:22:17 +0000

Do you make an adequate income out of this? Can you project your income for the next two years, for example?

I’m assuming this is for Lara, so I’ll forward; as for me, adequate yes, predictable not really

By: lara dunston

lara dunston — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:07:59 +0000

Hi all

Just wanted to say thanks for all your wonderful comments, and for reading this week. Glad you’ve enjoyed it.

Feel free to drop by to our blogs at any time and ask follow-up questions, writing advice, or travel recommendations. Remind us that Michelle sent you and you’ll get the VIP treatment when it comes to travel tips!

Hah, I know you’d give them the VIP treatment anyway…I don’t think you know another way!

lara dunston´s last blog ..Postcard from Mallorca: savouring sunsets

By: Terence Carter

Terence Carter — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:58:31 +0000

I’ll jump in and answer Kim B’s questions as Lara in knee-deep in research material. It’s a good and relevant question and not impolite at all.

Firstly we’re not a seamless team, if you look closely you can see that while we have been hand-stitched by Italian craftsmen (craftspeople?) occasionally a thread pops.

Secondly, it honestly hasn’t made any difference with guidebooks and the money that the publisher pays us. Usually Lara or both of us are contracted to do the text first and then the photography is commissioned separately – usually by a different department and usually with a different timeframe. 95% of the time they don’t care that we are a team – for better or worse. Generally the photography is paid on a per-image basis that is a standard fee contract-to-contract for the number of images. The advantages the publisher really gets is synergy between Lara and myself as well as the ability to make adjustments to the shotlist while on the ground. For instance, if I have a restaurant on the shotlist (often written before Lara has had her input) and it’s a tourist trap, then we have the ability to take it out and photograph a better restaurant. On the ground in Mallorca we did this a lot. It does make for a better book, for sure.

It does make more financial sense for us to have two contracts for the one destination for sure, so it’s a big thing for us, but we survived quite well when we were both just writing.

When it comes to magazine work, however, there have been a couple of occasions where a publisher has tried to short-change us – where the fee looks great for the number of words but we’re throwing in the photos for free. We judge that on a case-by-case basis.

On a more positive note, while I can’t give too much away, there are a lot more interesting projects coming up where we’ll be able to better utilise the synergy we have and the vision that we share that can’t really be fully brought to fruition with the usual guide book work. This is where we see ourselves headed.

By: ann-marie

ann-marie — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:39:23 +0000

i enjoyed these posts so much~thank you again for always spoiling us! ann~marie

Thanks for reading Ann~Marie

By: Josephine Tedeco

Josephine Tedeco — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:05:55 +0000

It really is true – you either have time and no money or money and no time. But rarely does time and money come together. That is why having a career that you love can be so rewarding. The economic times are certainly grim, but it is still possible to dream and get the flavour of a place – that is where a well-written guide book makes all the difference. I love the boxed asides (I assume they are in the Calabria book) where you learn a little known but interesting fact, something that makes the scene you are looking at take on a new meaning. This happened to me in Paris, where as an aside I was told that this was the room that “Napoleon preferred to use” when in Malmaison. I looked at it with new interest and found myself noticing things like the proportion of the room, the view etc. That is what good travel writing can do for you!
Jo

By: Irene

Irene — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:29:09 +0000

Good, sound advice. We are all travellers in our own respective lands. Some have the opportunity to travel or live in different parts of the world. And we all write since we blog. We might as well make it interesting, useful and beautiful.
(P.S.I must see Calabria!)
Irene´s last blog ..A restaurant and two wet eyes