Get paid to share the road trip you already took.
Turn your photos, your notes, and your hard-won lessons into a polished trip guide. Another American family buys it. You earn 70% of every sale — for as long as it's up.
Built like a record deal — except you keep most of it.
A trip guide sells for $9.90 to $19.90 on American Dream Trip. You keep 70%. We keep 30% — and that 30% pays for the store, the credit-card fees, taxes, refunds, and the ads we run to put your guide in front of families.
| If your guide sells… | You earn |
|---|---|
| 10 copies | ~$105 |
| 50 copies | ~$525 |
| 200 copies | ~$2,100 |
| 1,000 copies | ~$10,500 |
No subscription. No setup fee. No exclusivity — you can sell the same guide on your own blog or anywhere else. Payouts are monthly, on the 1st, by direct deposit or PayPal.
We're a young marketplace. Some guides take off, some don't. We'd rather under-promise than oversell you a dream that doesn't pan out.
Four steps. About a weekend of writing.
- 1
Apply (5 minutes)
Tell us about you and the trip you'd want to write about. We approve authors who fit the ADT spirit — real outdoor American families, real trips, real photos.
- 2
Write your guide (usually a weekend)
We send you a free template that's already proven to sell. You fill it in with your day-by-day route, lodging, stops, photos, and the “what I'd do differently” you only learn the hard way.
- 3
We review it (within 5 business days)
We confirm the photos are yours, the recommendations are family-safe, and the guide hits our quality bar. We'll send notes if anything needs fixing.
- 4
It goes live — and earns forever (instant)
Your guide joins our store, rides along in our Google + Pinterest + Meta ads, and starts selling. Every sale pays you 70%. You don't have to lift another finger.
Why sell here instead of Gumroad, Etsy, or your own blog?
| American Dream Trip | Doing it yourself | |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | Built-in. Thousands of road-tripping families a month. | Whatever you can drive. |
| Marketing | We pay for ads. Your guide rides along. | You pay for ads, or hope SEO kicks in. |
| What to write next | We tell you, based on real demand data from our planner. | You guess. |
| Payments, taxes, refunds, support | We handle every bit of it. | All on you. |
| Your take | 70% per sale. | 90–100% — but you do everything. |
| Exclusivity | None. Sell yours wherever you want. | N/A |
In short: you give up 30% so you don't have to run the whole business.
What makes a guide actually sell.
We've seen what works. Strong guides:
- Cover one specific trip you actually took (not “Top 20 US Trips” — too generic)
- Are 7 to 14 days long (long enough to be worth paying for, short enough to plan around)
- Include 20+ of your own photos (not stock images — that's the moat)
- Tell readers what you'd skip and what you wish you'd known (the parts ChatGPT can't write)
- Get priced $14.90 or $19.90 — our sweet spot
Examples of titles that work
- “Utah's Mighty 5 in 7 days — with kids and a 4x4”
- “Smoky Mountains in fall — peak color, fewer crowds”
- “Pacific Coast Highway: Bay Area to LA in 5 days”
- “Yellowstone & Grand Teton — a week with a teenager and a dog”
Where we draw the line.
We're built for families, and we're careful about who represents us. We won't publish:
- AI-generated writing. We can spot it, and so can readers.
- Photos that aren't yours. Real trips only.
- Guides for places you haven't been. Not even close.
- Anything that promotes illegal camping, unsafe hikes, trespassing, or dangerous activities.
- Anything political, alcohol-forward, gambling-related, or otherwise off-brand for families.
If your guide gets rejected, we'll tell you exactly why and how to fix it.
Questions you're probably asking.
- When do I get paid?
- Monthly, on the 1st, for the previous month's sales. By Stripe transfer or PayPal — your choice.
- Do I sign over my content?
- No. You keep ownership of your guide, your words, and your photos. You grant us a non-exclusive license to sell it. End the partnership and the guide comes down — your work stays yours.
- Can I sell the same guide on Gumroad or my own site, too?
- Yes. We don't require exclusivity. We just ask that you don't use our brand or trademarks on those other listings.
- What about taxes?
- You're an independent contributor. If you earn more than $600 in a calendar year, we'll send you a 1099-NEC. We don't withhold taxes — that's on you.
- Can I update my guide after it's live?
- Yes. Message us and we'll push the changes — a stop closes, a price moves, you want to add a new photo. Free, no limit.
- What if my guide doesn't sell?
- You haven't lost anything — there's no setup fee, no minimum, no exclusivity. We'll share what we learn so the next one does better.
- How long does approval take?
- About 5 business days on the application, 5 more on the guide review. So roughly two weeks from “I'm in” to “your guide is live.”
- Can I write more than one guide?
- Yes. Many of our top authors will end up with 3–5 guides across different regions.
Ready to write?
You already drove the trip. You already learned what works. You already took the photos. Now turn that into something families pay for — and keep earning every time someone follows your road.
Free to apply. Free to publish. 70% per sale, forever.
A note from us
American Dream Trip exists because we got tired of generic travel content written by people who'd never been on the road. The web is drowning in it. So we're building a store of real guides, from real families, who actually drove the trips they're writing about.
If that sounds like you — and you want to make a few dollars from the trip you'd be telling your friends about anyway — we'd love to hear from you.
— The American Dream Trip team
Questions? Email support@americandreamtrip.ai. Or check out the affiliate-side Creators Program if you'd rather earn by sharing a link than by writing a guide.