One unexpected effect of the global shutdown was the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference went virtual for the first time. I had the opportunity to meet with agents interested in representing my genre from the comfort of my own home. As a travel content creator, I already knew the power of conferences first hand—brand representatives are more willing to work with you after meeting you in person. It’s human nature. I figured agents would be the same way, and meeting virtually was close enough to count.

Instead of querying blind, I saw this as an opportunity to connect with agents already interested in my work. It was an investment, but I crossed my fingers and purchased my conference ticket with Virtual Pitch Slam add-on.

The agents had all reviewed my query letter beforehand and came with helpful feedback and clarity on where they stood—pass, refer me to someone else they knew, or ask for additional submission materials. This was invaluable for an author in the pitching process, where queries often go unanswered. Already, in having a response provided by each agent I was paired with, I was ahead of other authors in the process. Knowledge is power, after all.

Of the agents who requested additional materials, one stood out. She expressed a genuine interest in my story and passion for travel herself. I accepted an offer of representation.

Selling a travel memoir in the middle of a pandemic was no easy feat. There weren’t a lot of comparable books at the time, and despite the rising trend of solo travel, convincing publishers of its relevance, when the entire travel industry was uncertain, was challenging. Thankfully, my agent, Renée Fountain, President of Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management, was more than up to the task. Within six months, we had a book deal. 

My book was published on June 4, 2024, garnering favorable reviews by Kirkus Reviews. It was named a Notable Nonfiction Pick for June by Library Reads, had a full-length feature in Forbes, and won an International Latino Book Award, all within the first few months. 

Check out Jen Ruiz’s 12 Trips in 12 Months here:

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One big milestone was seeing my book at major national airports in Hudson Airport Booksellers. We were part of a limited time summer travel promotion. It was surreal seeing my book sharing shelf space with literary legend, Judy Blume!

I am deeply grateful to Writer’s Digest for such a transformative opportunity, and for providing a platform to emerging authors who want to stand out beyond the dreaded blind submission. I recommend the conference, especially Pitch Slam, to every aspiring author who dreams of being traditionally published.

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Promoting my book on a traditional book tour, seeing my book on Barnes & Noble shelves, reading chapter excerpts to an eager audience, and appearing on television interviews was an incredibly validating experience. I hope this is just the beginning.

I’ve descended into a volcano, swam with sharks, swung off the edge of the world, and flown in a hot air balloon. Yet, my greatest adventure has been betting on myself and sharing the stories and lessons I’ve learned along the way.

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(How My Travel Writing Strengthened My Fiction.)

As a baseline, you must love travel so much that you are willing to ruin it for yourself. Or at least the glamorous veneer of it. Being a writer, after all, is a human experience. It requires the full spectrum of rapturous joy and crushing loneliness. The real work is in the tedious, unseen details. The endless flights and bus rides. The food poisonings and tropical fevers. The fast friendships and faster goodbyes. You must love the elastic FOMO that stretches across every story and drives you to keep searching.

Here’s the good news. Travel writing requires all types of experiences and voices. There is no right way to go about it. However, we (myself and co-author Caroline Clements) have identified a few core principles that have served us well.

1. Follow your interests

This is good advice for life but especially people trying to make their way as a writer. You are always going to create the most authentic work when you are genuinely invested in the story that you are telling. As a travel writer this means exploring your own interests and style of travel.

When we pitched our third book, Places We Swim California—a guide to the best rivers, lakes, waterfalls, beaches, gorges, and hot springs—we knew we would be doing this trip regardless of if it ever became a book. We wanted to explore California’s wilderness and we would be hiking and swimming our way across the state. We were doing it to satisfy our own curiosity.

If you love architecture and food, that is your angle. If you love tattoos and video games, that is your angle. The trick is to be honest with yourself about your interests and you will find an audience.

2. Do the most valuable work before you leave

The more you can prepare before going on a trip, the easier the travel will be. You often only get one chance at a travel assignment but have a long time to prepare. We read books and articles. We speak to friends and search for local contacts who share our taste. It’s a process of making lists and then checking those lists against other recommendations. We start with a lot of ideas and then slowly refine them through our research. The final distillation happens on the road.

Doing the research ahead of time will allow you to prioritize your experience and itinerary once you arrive. You know what can be ruled out and what should be investigated further. Of course, you always leave space for surprises.

Check out Dillon Seitchik-Reardon and Caroline Clements’ Places We Swim California here:

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3. Don’t schedule every minute

The cost of extensive research is that you often feel like you are missing out on something. It’s easy to get caught up in rushing from destination to destination as you try to check things off a list. However, the best experiences are often the ones that you least expect.

You must build time into your schedule to just be somewhere. You need time to sit and observe. To be unhurried enough that you can have conversations with locals and do so without an agenda. It’s the hardest thing in travel writing, but it is important to let a story evolve organically. The story that you plan for is not always the story that you will write.

4. Trust people and say “yes”

Opportunities constantly present themselves to deviate from your well-planned travels. Sometimes it is a nagging feeling that you missed something, and other times it is a well-meaning person inviting you into their world. We try to say “yes” as much as possible.

Most people are unbelievably kind and curious. If you allow time in your schedule for spontaneity, then you will end up in weird and wonderful places. This is a travel writer’s bread and butter. Trust that invitations are sincere and always have a reason to leave if things get too weird.

5. Keep a journal

This is an obvious one, but something we always come back to. Writers are professional observers. Writing in a journal, especially writing by hand, is a way to ground yourself in a moment or place. 

It’s a practice of observing your internal and external environment. How does it feel to be there? What are your senses telling you? These snapshots, no matter how brief, will trigger your memories later and make the writing process so much easier.

6. Be useful, be a curator

The amount of travel information available to all of us is overwhelming. You can find advice about every place in the world, often expressed as diametrically opposing views. So where does this leave the reader? The abundance of information makes trusted brands and sources more valuable. Most people want advice from a couple of credible sources and know that they are in good hands.

You can be that credible source. Be consistent and clear about your offering. Don’t waste your words on negative reviews. What’s the point? Tell people where to go and why it is great. Celebrate the best of the world. If we don’t like something, we don’t write about it. We write about hiking and swimming as a way to explore beautiful places. These are niche, curated experiences for people who share our love of adventure. 

Our job as writers is to trudge through all the mediocre places so that our readers don’t have to. If you can consistently give useful advice, then you will build a community that trusts you. 

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While I caution many authors to be frugal with spending on their careers, I endorse travel with reckless abandon. Even if it means living on ramen and salad for a few months, it’s always a smart use of funds. My most recent research trip was a weeklong trip to Paris, and these are some tips I gleaned from the experience.

Order a copy of Aimie K. Runyan’s A Bakery in Paris today. 

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• Do: Follow the usual smart travel norms: Book well in advance for the best prices and check for warehouse store and credit card discounts everywhere.
• Don’t: Go without checking when things are open. Even in high season in major sites, museums and attractions are often closed 1-2 days per week. And keep an eye on the news for strikes and disturbances in places like France which are known for them.

• Do: Try to use the trip for the benefit of more than one project. When I was in Paris, I used my time to shoot promotional videos and photos for A Bakery in Paris, which was complete, but several months from release. I took an ARC with me and took hundreds of photos everywhere that was important to the plot of the book or generally pretty. I was also researching and drafting Mademoiselle Eiffel, the story of Claire, the daughter of Gustave Eiffel, who built a certain tower we all know. I split my time between the two projects (mostly focusing on the research) but got a lot of mileage out of one trip.
• Don’t: Plan a trip before you know what your research needs are. Going too early in development may result in time wasted chasing resources you won’t need. Conversely, going too late in the process may result in not using your findings or causing substantial re-writes. I think going after you have a very detailed outline is a great phase, and even after the first draft can be useful, especially if you leave yourself the time to incorporate your findings.
• Do: Look into accommodations on a variety of sites… Some of the quirkier options may be the most fun. Don’t be afraid to see if one of the short-term rental sites has a room for rent in an area pertinent to your book. Rooms were available in two places that are featured in A Bakery in Paris and those experiences could have really enhanced my writing if I were in the drafting phase. As I was focused on another project, I opted for a standard hotel near the museum where I’d be working.
• Don’t: Use frequent flyer miles and credit card points if you can avoid it. These expenses may not be tax deductible and you’d be better off saving those points for leisure travel. Also to note, if you’re travelling internationally, the rules for tax deductions become far more stringent. Read up. If you bring a spouse or child along, you may have to convince the IRS that your trip was business related.
• Do: Contact key research institutions well in advance. Some archives have very limited space and are still (thankfully) enforcing some Covid protocols which may limit visitation even further. If you wait to the last minute, you may be out of luck. I was fortunate enough to secure a spot in the archives at the Musée d’Orsay for my aforementioned upcoming historical Mademoiselle Eiffel and secured my place in the archives before booking plane tickets and a hotel room.

• Don’t: Assume that things are the way they were in 2019 and before. Many of the most popular sites now have timed entry tickets. I very nearly missed the opportunity to go to the top of Eiffel Tower, which was a rather important part of my reason for going to Paris, given the topic of my book. I was able to finagle a ticket through my credit card travel rewards. It cost more because I had to be on a tour, but it was worth ensuring I was able to visit for the first time in over 20 years.
• Do: Plan meals thoughtfully. Make sure to take advantage of the local cuisine, and if you can eat in establishments that were in business when your characters were alive (if you write historical) or that they would love (if you write contemporary), you’re making the experience that much more immersive. I ate tons of baked goods for photo opportunities for A Bakery in Paris and had authentic French Onion Soup with the original recipe from the Café de la Paix that Claire Eiffel might have enjoyed before an opera at the Palais Garnier. Remember, calories are tax deductible when you’re traveling for research.
• Don’t: Overload your itinerary so much that you exhaust yourself for the remaining days of your trip. Take public transport if you’re getting weary and plan time for a bit of rest. I used some downtime to organize my notes and photos back at the hotel, and it was a smart use of time.
• Do: Be flexible. Travel conditions can be unpredictable, so always have a Plan B ready so that when the unexpected happens (and it will!) you can adjust without losing precious research time. Case in point, I was asked to change my research days at the Musée d’Orsay while I was already in Paris, and because I’d made a detailed plan for my time, I was able to shift things around without difficulty.
• Do: Enjoy every moment and remember to savor the magic of travel and marvel at the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of our characters.

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Well, it turns out that lessons learned from one job can sometimes apply to another. The more I worked on my memoir manuscript, the more I realized that while I certainly needed to adjust my mindset, my experience as a travel writer could help make my new book better.

Regardless of the type of work you do, you’ve probably already learned important skills that can apply to memoir writing, too—whether it’s how to connect with people, how to share a compelling story, or simply how to manage time and expectations. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.

(Marcia DeSanctis: On a Decade of Traveling Through Essays)

1. Write an opening that truly hooks the reader.

When I’m traveling on assignment, the first paragraph sometimes pops into my head before I even start typing my report. Other times, I struggle to find the best way to begin my story. Either way, a strong opening is crucial for grabbing readers’ attention.

For my memoir, I began with a powerful visual—namely, the dramatic arrival of my mother in New York City, her face bruised and her arm in a sling. I figured that would pique readers’ curiosity and set the stage for the main storyline, which highlights how we dealt with her physical decline as we revisited our lives together. I thought I was all set.

But I wasn’t. After reviewing the chapter with a trusted friend, I decided that while this was certainly an appropriate way to begin the story, I was throwing readers too quickly into a rather bleak situation. The chapter opening failed to hint at the humor and quirky flashbacks that are also an integral part of the book. To remedy that, I wrote a prologue that was set several decades earlier, describing a lighter moment from my childhood (specifically, how I neglected my seventh-grade homework because I was too focused on creating my own imaginary airline. I was a weird kid). This brief prologue gives readers a preview of the funnier moments that appear in later pages.

In addition, I worked with my wonderful editor and publisher at Vine Leaves Press to come up with a title that’s also designed to lure readers: Prepare for Departure: Notes on a Single Mother, a Misfit Son, Inevitable Mortality and the Enduring Allure of Frequent Flyer Miles.

2. Read other people’s work.

My travel writing gets better when I read the work of other journalists. The same goes for memoirs—especially when I focus on authors with a voice or story that’s similar to mine.

I’ve also learned to be realistic as a memoirist—namely, to be aware that I’m not famous and very few people will immediately care about my story. Sure, we can all find inspiration in bestselling celebrity memoirs, but unless you’re a big name too, your memoir really falls into a different category of work. So when you set out to tell the story of your own life, keep in mind you’ve got a bigger hill to climb than the sparkly folks in Hollywood or Washington, D.C.

You can certainly learn from mainstream celebrity memoirists, but you can learn just as much from lesser-known authors who know how to tell a good story. It’s those writers, in fact, who’ve taught me the most about how to craft a compelling memoir.

3. Engage the senses.

Travel is a multisensory experience, and effective travel writing should be, too. When I’m crafting a travel story, I not only describe what destinations look like, but also how they smell, taste, sound, and feel. Successful memoir writing is similar. To connect with readers, you’ve got to take them on a journey that engages all the senses.

This can be challenging at times, especially when you’re writing scenes that took place decades ago. I’ve found it easiest when I’m seated by myself in a quiet place. I sometimes close my eyes and “look around” the scene that I’m about to write, imagining the sensory details. Whether it’s the slick vinyl seats of the giant Ford my mother drove as she scolded me for sticking my foot into a cake, or the aroma of jet fuel that ignited my wanderlust at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, multisensory descriptions go a long way toward making scenes more realistic.

4. Know your audience.

As a travel writer, I visit places that appeal to different kinds of travelers with diverse interests and budgets. My job isn’t to berate a hotel or restaurant because it doesn’t fit my own personal taste. My job is to understand the interests of the audience I’m writing for and to serve their needs. I must match what I’m writing about with the readers who would appreciate it the most.

A memoir, on the other hand, may seem to be all about you since it is, well, all about you. But if you’re truly looking to get published, you must think beyond the fact that this is your own personal story. Step back and ask yourself: Who are you writing for? What will readers get from this book? Why should people who don’t know you care about your story? Is it funny, educational, emotionally moving?

Comparing your work to other memoirs can help you to identify your audience. In my case, for example, I think readers who enjoy the work of David Sedaris, Samantha Irby, Augusten Burroughs, and Jenny Lawson might like my memoir, since it’s a quirky story that deals with serious topics with a healthy dose of dark humor.

IndieBound | Bookshop | Amazon

5. Cast a wide net when looking for publishers.

I admit it. I dreamed of hooking up with a big-name publishing house for my first memoir. But if I’d held out for that, I still wouldn’t have a published book on my shelf today.

I began my career as a travel writer by thinking small. I volunteered to write a monthly travel column—with no pay—for a tiny free newspaper in New York City. Was it glamorous? No. Did it make me famous? No. But it got my name out there, proved that I could write, and gave me clips that I could show to other publishers that did pay. From there, I worked my way up.

I’ve taken a similar approach to memoirs. Sure, you can still pitch to the most legendary literary agents and big-name publishing houses (I certainly did). But unless you’re an established writer or a celebrity, you may not attract much interest. Don’t get discouraged. Keep moving. Submit to indie publishers, too (and you can do it without an agent, like I did). If you’re truly passionate about sharing your story with the world, you’ll find a way to do so.

6. Never give up.

As a travel writer, I’ve pitched countless articles to dozens of editors over the years. And I’ve weathered countless rejections—as well as “nonresponses” where the editor never even acknowledged my pitch. I’ve learned to not take it personally. I’ve worked as an editor, too, so I know they’re busy people.

My extensive experience with rejection helped me immensely as I turned my focus to memoir writing. While some of the students in my writing class were upset about negative responses they received from agents and editors, I was barely fazed. I just kept submitting. Rejections should not be taken as a judgment of your work. They’re just a determination of whether your story is a good fit for a particular agent or publisher, at a particular time.

To bolster my self-confidence as the rejections piled in, I submitted essays from my manuscript to several literary journals. Having my work published there assured me that I was on the right track with my book; there was indeed an audience for it.

Whether you’re a memoirist or a travel writer, the most important lesson of all is to not give up until you reach your destination—whatever that might be.

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