Steppes Travel Writer of the Year

Whether you are a budding explorer, wild about wildlife or prefer to observe local culture from the comfort of your hotel balcony

- We want to hear your stories

Selected entries will be judged by award-winning travel writers Paul Gogarty & Jonathan Lorie and there are some incredible prizes on offer for the winners.

Why not join Paul Gogarty on our new Writing workshop in Morocco this autumn?

How to enter:

To enter, all you have to do is write an original (i.e. not previously published) 750-1000 word travel article about a memorable travel or holiday experience. To get you started find some travel-writing tips below. The competition will close on 31st October 2010 and the winner announced in November 2010. To enter, send your submission to: competition@steppestravel.co.uk Please note acceptable formats are either PDF or Microsoft Word document (.doc). All entries must display in the subject line of the email - Steppes Travel Writer of the Year 2010. No entries will be returned to the sender so please keep a copy of the original document as unsucessful entries will be destroyed for security and plagiarism purposes.

Prizes:
The judging panel will be Paul Gogarty (Paul was Chief Travel Writer at the Daily Telegraph for more than a decade as well as a regular presenter on BBC1’s Holiday programme) Jonathan Lorie ( Jonathan is the Director of Traveller Tales and the ex editor of the Traveller magazine). Nick Laing (Chairman and founder of Steppes Travel). Kieran Murphy ( Managing Director of Steppes Travel).

First prize: Travel discount to the value of £1,500 towards a holiday with Steppes Travel for two people* and a free place on a course of six travel writing lecture/workshops at the London School of Journalism; your feature will appear on the Steppes website. * For full terms & conditions please see below

Second prize: A course with Travellers’ Tales www.travellerstales.org, the training agency for travel writing and travel photography. The winner will receive a complimentary place on their London based 2 day weekend course “Compass Points”, which runs twice a year in May and November. This course is taught by a guest tutor travel editor from a national newspaper.

Highly commended ( Runners up) will receive a signed copy of Paul Gogarty’s new book Winning at all Costs – Sporting Gods and their Demons.

Terms & conditions for Travel discount prize: This discount only applies for a Steppes Travel holiday and may be used as part payment for a higher value booking, but not as a deposit. It is allocated at a minimum spend of £750 per person for two people and is not redeemable for cash or transferable. If the amount of the booking is a lower value than £750 per person, no refund or cash amount will be given.

FOUR TOP TRAVEL TIPS

1. Avoid writing the feature in an impersonal guide-book style (eg ‘Luxor is a picturesque town located on the banks of the.......’). Instead place yourself firmly in the story (imagine you’re writing a novel) so that you write it in the personal voice (‘As our dhow brought us into the bank, a sea eagle swooped..........’). Remember it is your experiences we are most interested in.
2. Try to avoid clichés such as ‘paradise’, ‘heavenly’ etc; instead show us how it is heavenly etc.
3. The best way to grab our attention is by starting with some action (show, don’t tell).
4. Remember that if you want to tell us a little bit of history at some point, it’s always more interesting if you are quoting someone – characters and dialogue help to bring a travel feature to life.

Terms & conditions: Only one entry per person is allowed. Do not send in any images or photographs to support your article. Entries can not be returned so please ensure original copies are kept by the sender/author. Steppes Travel reserve the right to publish the winning and highly commended articles on their website and in any company literature, as well as in any local and international press/ publications. All personal details or named persons in your story must have full knowledge and have given their permission for details / their name to be mentioned and published. Steppes Travel reserve the right to publish photographs of the winner alongside his/her article and a covering story in local and international press and their website and company e-newsletter.