Editors of travel magazines are inclined to stick to writers they know or specialist writers in a particular field, according to editor-in-chief of Wanderlust magazine, Lyn Hughes.

So if you want to get your name in print in a travel magazine, you will have to market yourself well, she told a Travellers' Tales meeting in London.

Hughes told the meeting that a good way to start out as a travel writer is to submit a travel article to a non-travel magazine.

Consumer and business magazines often include travel articles, she said. And websites connected to hardcopy magazines often commission travel articles.

She also suggests looking for new magazines (that are about to launch) or writing an original regular travel section for a magazine or newspaper.

Know the publication, Hughes advises. Who are the readers? What is the style of the publication? Do articles use humour? Are the pieces in the first person?

The letters page will give a good snapshot of the readers.