Freelancing
Internationally
Travel
Correspondent for an International Company
(Working for the
United Kingdom)
by Nadia Ali
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Tapping into writing gigs overseas is generally
not an easy task to achieve, so when job ads appear from countries abroad
that beckons to a writers soul the best thing to do is to send a query and
see what comes of it.
My assignment as a travel correspondent for a
UK based travel company came as a favorable response to an ad I saw
advertised in one of my writers’ ezines. I sent a tailor made query
detailing my experience in the field of travel writing and in particular
quoting some of the big names I had previously worked with along and
included my resume with published clips. I received a response from the UK
editor and after some to and fro on availability and negotiation, I got the
writing gig.
The time difference did factor into the
weekly deadline and meant that I either stayed up late the night before
to meet the deadline (if I hadn’t got the work done by then) or got up in
the wee hours of the morning. It was then that I realized that the time was
going to be a problem, so I queried the actual time they needed the work by
and had my deadline extended to midday GMT instead of 9am GMT.
The pay was better than a US based writing
gig, as the pound is usually stronger than the US dollar and also
because the word count was far less for what they wanted.
Being paid proved to be an obstacle that
affected most of the contributors (something I learned later on) and despite
the fact that invoices were sent on a monthly basis the pay which was sent
out via check never arrived on time and was generally late by 3-4 weeks
causing a back-up of money owed.
The language was not a problem and they
accepted American spelling rather than insisting I wrote the Queen’s
English.
One of the unforeseen challenges was meeting
the deadline -- only initially though, as I really had to work according
to the time difference. The other thing was the pay issue. The accounts
department was a pain to deal with and insisted on issuing checks rather
than an electronic form of payment.
On the whole though, it was a good experience
and gave me the ability to work for the UK travel company for a year and a
half that inevitably opened more doors in the travel industry and was a
sterling addition to my resume. (No pun intended)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nadia Ali (nadia@freelance-worker.com)
is a Freelance Writer whose niche is in the travel industry. She has worked
for Northstar Travel Media, Wcities, International Living and Time Out
London.
©2005
–
Nadia Ali.
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without the express, written consent of the author. Violators will be
prosecuted.