The key to landing a pitch | Xmas party invite | Online course re-opening

We're delving into pitching this month. Here's some musings from Lottie.

Before we dig into our pitching piece, we wanted to ask you a favour. An interesting thing happened last month: we ran five stories from five writers of varying backgrounds, exploring ideas around racism and bias in the travel media. During that month, we lost over $1,000 worth of subscribers. Perhaps it was coincidental. Or perhaps they were people who were unwilling to support a publication that champions diverse voices and asks the hard questions. We’ll never know.

But losing that much revenue means it’s unlikely we’ll be able to commission (yes, we pay!) new travel writers to offer new perspectives again soon. If you enjoyed last month’s series, which we made free for all to read, we’d love for you to subscribe using the special offer below (available until Friday) to support our mission: to demystify the travel media and help travel writers get more from their careers.

Finally, enrolment for our online course is opening up again this month. Sign up here to be notified if you’re keen to join our ever-growing cohort.

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Did you ever get taught how to pitch? I didn’t. I did a journalism degree and an NCTJ Diploma, and during my entire three years of study not once did I have to pitch a story. I was never even told about how pitching to editors works. 

Pitching, it seems, is a mystery to many — and often it’s a mystery to us, even after years in the industry. Each editor has their own quirks and preferences, and each publication has different sections freelancers can contribute to. Simply put, pitching is a minefield. 

Unfortunately, it’s also an integral part of being a freelance travel writer and one of the most detested features of the job. I don’t think I’ve ever met a journalist who enjoys bundling their most carefully assembled ideas into a pitch and waving it off to editors in the hopes one might respond. Never receiving a response from an editor can feel profoundly personal, and like a comment on you, your ideas and your writing. I know of many writers who’ve avoided re-pitching a publication because editors didn’t respond to their previous email. However, unless you’ve managed to ensure all work comes directly to you, it’s the bread and butter of a secure and stable income — but also one that can send even the most successful travel journalists into a spiral of self-doubt and despair.

I would wager that every freelance travel journalist, nay every journalist, has felt the crushing suspicion that the pitch you laboured over, whose ideas you germinated with the love and care of a Chelsea Flower Show gardener, isn’t as good as you thought.

Maybe, the reason the editor has not responded is because they’ve actually forwarded your email to all other editors at the publication, perhaps even the security staff and receptionist, with a scurrilous “lol”. even though the likelihood of the editor laughing at you is approximately zero.

As we’ve written before, there’s no concrete answer to the question: what makes a good pitch? The thing is, it’s rarely personal. More often than not, there are a specific set of circumstances that have to align in order for your pitch to land, and it’s often not even about whether or not yours is a good idea. Instead, it’s all about timing: you’ve got to reach the editor at the right time (when they’re ready to receive and commission new ideas), and you’ve got to pitch the story at the right time (before anyone else does and at the time it’s most relevant). 

I also believe a lot of it is about tone. You’ve got to sound confident in your story and your ability to write it but not so cocky that you put an editor’s back up. You need to sound like you understand the publication and its audience but also try not to come across as arrogant and know-it-all. 

There’s a fine balance to strike, and it’s a real challenge. 

It’s something I learned during my Rough Guides days when I got to sit on the other side of the desk and receive hundreds of pitches each week from eager freelancers like I am now. 

I learned how to judge and pick apart pitches so that I could tease the best possible story out of a writer. I learned how to question an idea and how to recognise the potential in an angle or the person pitching it. 

I also learned how not to pitch, thanks to the countless terrible emails I was sent. I could write you 1,500 words on pitching don’ts, but I’m not entirely sure that’s helpful.

So how can you ensure an editor opens — and better still, commissions — your pitch the moment it lands in their inbox? And how can you make each press trip work harder, landing multiple commissions that more than recompense the time you spend both on the ground and back at your desk? These are all questions we’ll be answering this month.

In the interim, check out our brand-new downloadable pitching bundle. It gives you instant access to a PDF with 18 commissioned pitches from some of our favourite travel writers, plus access to Meera Dattani’s pre-recorded editor-led pitching webinar, where travel editors Lyn Hughes from Wanderlust magazine, Ellie Cobb from BBC Travel and Grace Beard from Time Out Travel discuss the fine art of pitching.

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Join this Christmas bash for media bods

The crew at Off The Record is hosting a Christmas party for media types of all kinds, including journos, TV bods and publishing people. Here’s a word from organiser Christopher Beanland: “Off The Recorsd started for journalists but has now expanded to include PRs, everyone working in broadcast media, social media and creatives. We mix great quality networking with an excellent party and offer free drinks, free food, music and surprises in a VIP area on a rooftop in Central London with both inside and heated outside spaces. There will be lots of Xmas fun and we encourage freelancers who may miss out on an office Xmas party in particular to come and join on us on Dec 18.”

Thrillist is commissioning travel

The team at Thrillist is commissioning travel stories and editorial director Joe Erbentraut has written a whole X thread on what they want.

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Tweet of the week

We’re delighted to see one of our mentees from the 2021 Talking Travel Writing & BGTW mentoring programme win AITO’s prestigious Young Travel Writer of the Year award. We’re currently looking for sponsors to help us launch our next mentoring scheme, so if you’re a company looking to support new, diverse writers to break into the industry, please get in touch.

Who to follow

Georgia Stephens at National Geographic Traveller has just been promoted:

Industry must-reads

The Guardian reports on the 10,500 creatives across different industries who have signed a statement warning that companies using their work for training generative AI poses a serious threat to their livelihoods. It’s worth keeping an eye on this one, and the number of suits currently being filed against AI companies, as our days of reckoning with this technology are coming soon.

Awards season is upon us so check out the winners/finalists from the following awards bodies: Travel Media Awards, AITO Travel Writer of the Year, The Baubles.

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This is the first in our November series on pitching. If you want to receive all four editions of this month’s newsletter, subscribe today for just £7 a month. Paid subscribers get access to our entire archive of editor interviews, tips and insights, as well as weekly newsletters that promise to help your career grow.

Don’t forget to check out the back catalogue of Travel Writing Webinars by Meera Dattani for extra tips about pitching, networking, and writing award-worthy features.