One spin through the colorful pages of Patterns of Portugal will have you ready to book a plane ticket. For travel photographers, this ode to the region’s visual identity may also spark a question: How can I get a book deal and publish my work, too?
For that, we turned to Christine Chitnis, the author and photographer behind Patterns of Portugal, which debuted in February 2024. These days, Chitnis pens books and writes for dream publications like Vogue and the New York Times, but she didn’t get to this point overnight.
Brick by brick, Chitnis paved her unconventional path into travel journalism and publishing. We sat down to learn more about her story and the lifestyle publishing world, from the inspiration for unique projects and bringing ideas to life to learning how to stand out in the saturated travel media world.
The Path to Travel Publishing
To an outsider, it may seem like you need deep industry connections to break into travel publishing. Yet, as Chitnis’ journey shows, there are numerous ways to do so.
Before dabbling into travel journalism, Chitnis worked as a grant writer for nonprofits. “When grant writing felt stale, I thought, ‘What if I could write things I really care about?'” she says.
Chitnis started on a local scale, reporting stories about her local Rhode Island community for outlets like The Boston Globe. Little by little, she worked her way up, pitching to larger publications.
Simultaneously, she also relearned an old hobby: photography. “I had darkroom experience from high school, so I had that base of knowledge,” she says. “My goal was to not just write, but illustrate, what I was doing.”
She used this skill set on numerous trips to India with her husband and children. Eventually, a backlog of content, as well as her expertise in the country, presented an opportunity. “I had this huge archive of photography after 10 years,” she says. “I also had a blog, and people kept telling me ‘You have to do something with all of this.'”
Eventually, she did, and that led to her first book, Patterns of India. “I never set out to write that book; I just really wanted to show India through the story of our family and through my lens. I noticed these color stories and the way color, surface, design, and pattern illuminate the culture and history of a place.”
Behind the First Book
For photographers, the idea of capturing visuals for a book can sound exciting. Writing that book, on the other hand, can appear downright impossible. Chitnis shares some advice: “A lot of photographers sell themselves short. If you lead with an image, explain what that image means and what you’re seeing in the photo. It can be as simple as a really well-written caption.”
Short vignettes and anecdotes are ideal for lifestyle books like Patterns of Portugal. “You pick it up, put it down, and can flip to a page and get something out of that page without having to read it from start to finish,” says Chitnis, noting it’s helpful to think less about writing the full book and more about bringing your imagery to life via words.
“If you let photography lead the way and invite people to read just a bit about it, it can feel like an easier way in than thinking you need to write pages, and pages, and pages of text,” she says. “That can come later as you understand the correlation between your words and photos.”
How to Get a Book Deal
Going from idea to book deal is one of the trickier parts of this process; that’s why Chitnis coaches aspiring and seasoned creatives who want to get their ideas off the ground. In general, if you want to work with a publisher (versus self-publishing), you’ll need a book proposal. That’s where a background, or a few classes, in marketing, can help—just like it did for Chitnis with Patterns of India.
“I had quite a big archive by the time I pitched my first book, so I learned to put together a beautiful book proposal and hired a graphic designer to lay it out,” she says, noting the visual approach brought what was proposed as a highly visual book to life. “My fear was, if I tried to explain this stuff, they wouldn’t understand. You need to see it.”
Showcasing the book’s look, feel, and flow is important. Equally crucial: nailing the business side. “A book proposal is a tool. You’re asking your publisher to make an investment in your idea,” says Chitnis, noting this includes not just the book concept but the target audience, market research, competitive advantage, and sales potential. “You’re presenting them with a full argument about why the book not only deserves to be written but why you deserve to write it and why it’s going to sell.”
Patterns of Portugal: Behind the Scenes
After Chitnis launched Patterns of India in the spring of 2020, she proposed a new idea: a visual spotlight on Portugal, a country that brims with patterns, colors, and textures.
“I’d never been, so I pitched it as a research project,” she says. “I’m going to take photographs and spend a few years traveling through Portugal. From the moment I landed, I knew it was the right choice. So much of the country’s history is told through the art, tiles, and traditions—the history’s all right there.”
Like writing careers, book publishing doesn’t happen overnight. It took three years for Patterns of Portugal to go from idea to on-shelf, and that’s pretty common for the industry. Being patient and thorough is crucial.
“I spent hundreds of hours researching where I would go and what I would see,” says Chitnis, noting the people she met along the way helped her uncover unique angles and locations, as did her local library. “I’m always at my public library reading books on the history of the culture and certain art forms. I mean, I read an entire book on rug making in this one specific town in Portugal before visiting it.”
On the ground, it was the same mix of physical and mental labor. “Instagram makes it look pretty and fun, but it’s a massive workload,” Chitnis says. “I’m up before the sun so I can shoot sunrise, and all day long, I’m interviewing, transcribing notes, and planning my itinerary,” Chitnis says. “I’m shooting in the golden light and pulling 15-, 16-, 17-hour days on the road for a book like this.”
A Simplistic and Authentic Travel Photography Approach
Given the real-time research, packed itinerary, and long days, Chitnis has to stay nimble. That’s why she keeps her photography simple, streamlined, and realistic. “I want the camera to be an extension of what I’m seeing and what is beautiful to my eyes,” she says.
As for gear, Chitnis shoots on a Canon 5D Mark IV and relies on a 24-70mm zoom lens for more travel shots, as well as a 50mm lens for textiles. “I’m wearing everything on my back, so I try to travel light and be really adaptable to the situation,” she says.
Do You Need a Massive Audience to Publish a Book?
A social media following may help you land a book deal, but you don’t need hundreds of thousands of followers to make your publishing dreams come true. “It’s not enough just to put a book on Instagram and think it will sell, even if you have 100,000 followers,” says Chitnis. It’s all about how you plan to market and help sell the book.
Her general rule of thumb: “You have to think broad and deep about your marketing plan. How are you utilizing your network and remember your network isn’t limited to social media.” This could include traditional press stories about the book, podcast interviews, TV or radio appearances, or speaking at a conference. “These are all selling points in a proposal.”
While you don’t need a massive following to land a book deal, you do need to prove to the publisher that you’re the one to write this book—and getting to that point in your career can take time.
“You’re not going to have the experience to have a successful proposal right away,” Chitnis says, noting it took her upwards of 15 years to be in this position of expertise. “It might be 15 years, it might be two years, but don’t be afraid to put in the grunt work. By the time you are ready to write a book, it should be at a point in your career where you’re really firing on all cylinders.”
Are you ready to try travel storytelling? Here are seven can’t-miss travel photography tips, plus expert advice for telling a memorable travel story.
