Don't waste your time pitching these publications
They don't value your words, and writing for free is rarely a good investment of your time
It’s a five-Tuesday month this month, so here’s a bonus email for paid subscribers only. Don’t miss out on useful content like this — become a paid subscriber today from just £5 per month.
“Sorry, we’ve got no budget for something like this." We’ve probably all heard (or read via email) these words before. Or perhaps it was a “We don’t pay, but we can offer you exposure to our [insert number here] readers.” Or maybe it was on a job ad: “This position is voluntary.” All too often, travel writing is undervalued as it is, and in many cases it’s entirely devalued when publications refuse to pay writers for travel articles.
Many get around this by only sending staffers on press trips or asking in-house shift writers or interns to pen listicles. But many are much more brazen, and will commission your sparkling pitch, and then drop the bomb that there’s no budget to pay you. We’re sick of hearing about writers being undervalued and extorted, so here’s a list of publications you can skip next time you’re pitching because they won’t want to pay you.
Disclaimer: we have compiled this list from our own latest knowledge and the knowledge of our industry friends and colleagues. If you spot something that’s incorrect, we’ll happily make a correction — just drop us a line.