Judy Colbert

About

I've written three dozen books, most travel-related, including "100 Things to Do in Baltimore Before You Die," "Insiders Guide to Baltimore," and two booklets about hotel history (Omni Shoreham Washington, DC, Statler Hilton, Washington, DC). I am a freelance author and writer/occasional editorial photographer. I specialize in travel and the business of travel. However, I've written about child-proofing hotel rooms, Super Bowl trivia, temper tantrums, and therapeutic programs for injured military personnel. My articles appear in NextAvenue.org, BinduTrips.com, ThePointsGuy.com, RoadTrippers.com, Washingtonian, Northern Virginia magazine, (the late) WOW (WOW Airlines in-flight mag.), Southern Maryland This Is Living, Mini Storage Messenger, Miami Herald and other print and electronic publications.Specialties: I am a genius at the 150-250 word write-up. I can find unusual and unlikely pegs for story ideas and thrill when editors say, "No one's ever pitched that idea before. I like it." and when readers say or think, "I never knew that." I love writing about cruising and the people who make cruising possible.My most recent books are: Virginia Off the Beaten Path Discover Your Fun (12th edition), 100 Things to Do in Baltimore Before You Die, Chesapeake Bay Crabs cookbook, Peaceful Places Washington, DC, It Happened in Maryland, It Happened in Delaware, and an update of Scenic Routes and Byways Virginia. I love writing about Maryland, D.C., Delaware, and Virginia, and I do have a current passport so I'm available for travel.I've spoken about:Marketing ideas -- fun and financially fulfilling suggestions for free-to-relatively-inexpensive ways to promote your business to and through the media.How to sell what you write -- how to "read" a magazine or publication or Web site so you can send more targeted queries and pitches.