An A-Z of travel pitching guidelines
Got ideas? Here's where you should pitch them...
Any idea who to pitch for…?
This is a question Steph and I ask one another on a monthly basis. It’s a question that gets bandied around in writer WhatsApp groups I’m in and a question that some people are, often, too embarrassed to ask. I used to think not knowing who to pitch for a particular story made me a bad writer, but really it’s not our job to know who wants to commission what all the time. Keeping on top of what publications are putting out is time-consuming and, frankly, exhausting. After all, you can only read so much before you have to actually do some writing yourself. So it’s OK to ask every now and then — especially if your regular or usual outlets have already declined a pitch.
Thankfully, though, plenty of publications — largely American (come on, Brits, where are your guidelines?!) — offer pitching guidelines that divulge everything you need to know about what that title wants, how much they pay and how to pitch them. These guidelines aren’t always easy to find, so we’ve compiled a handy list below. If we’ve missed any, feel free to send it to us at hello@travelwriting.xyz and we’ll add it to the list.
First, though, let’s remind ourselves of the pitching tips we’ve had from editors in previous Talking Travel Writing editions…
Pitching tips from the editors
Penny Walker, Commissioning Editor, Telegraph Travel
Don’t send a pitch that just says “I’ve been offered this press trip, do you want a story?” That’s not a pitch. You need to think about what the story could be, and what makes it different from what other people on the same trip might produce.
Be open about the fact it’s a press trip, especially a group trip. If it’s a group trip, I want to know so we can get copy in sooner and try to run it before any of the other publications.
If you can demonstrate some kind of expertise — perhaps not in the destination but in the subject matter — that’ll go a long way in your pitch.
Don’t rush. There’s a temptation to pitch immediately when the invite comes in because you know there’ll be big competition for spaces on the trip. But an editor’s day is so busy that they won’t always see your email immediately, so if you spend an extra 10 minutes crafting a better pitch, that could make all the difference.
Katie McGonagle, Editor, Cruise International (formerly Travel Weekly)
My best advice for pitching is to think carefully about each title’s audience and what kind of stories will resonate with them. It sounds like an obvious point and everyone knows it in theory, but in practice — perhaps because writers are pitching to lots of different titles in succession, or because you get set on a specific angle that interests you and then it’s hard to step back and look at it afresh — I still get plenty of pitches that aren’t at all tailored to our trade audience.
Copy and paste is your worst enemy on pitches. It will take longer, but if you can start each pitch to an editor from scratch, highlighting how the piece will offer something their readers can’t get elsewhere and how they’ll come away from your feature having learned something new, you’ll have more success.
Travel pitching guidelines
£100-150/piece
Press trips? Unknown
Email: sam@adventureuncovered.com
$0.50/word online, $1/word print
Press trips? Yes, but disclose in pitch
Email: various, see guidelines
$100-500/piece
Press trips? Yes, but disclose in pitch
Email: pitches@atlasobscura.com
$1/word print
Press trips? Undisclosed
Email: editorial@archaeology.org
~$600/piece + some expenses
Press trips? No
Email: anne.banas@bbc.com or ellie.cobb@bbc.com
£0.33/word online, £0.40 print
Press trips? No group trips
Email: various, see guidelines (format firstname.surname@condenast.co.uk)
???
Press trips: Yes
Email: travel@eater.com
$200/piece
Press trips? Yes
Email: pitches@fodors.com
$100-500/piece
Press trips? Yes, but disclose in pitch
$500/piece + 50% of fundraising proceeds
Press trips: No
???
Press trips: Unknown
Email: ellen.carpenter@ink-global.com, justin.goldman@ink-global.com or celia.almeida@ink-global.com
Outgoing editor Laura Jackson says guidelines are currently being updated; we’ll add them here once they’re finalised and shared in March/April.
???
Press trips? No
Email: Asana form in guidelines
$0.50/word, be wary of slow notoriously payment process
Press trips? Unknown
Email: various, see guidelines
Road Trippers Digital (Roadtrippers, Campendium and Togo RV)
$200-1,000/piece
Press trips: Unknown
Email: pitches@roadpass.com
£220 for 1,000 words
Press trips? Yes, but disclose
Email: submissions@wanderlust.co.uk
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This is extremely useful! Just the information I was looking for! Thanks SOOOO much for sharing! :)