There are plenty of high-profile, often paying markets for travel writers beyond National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, and the other big glossies. The following 10 publications and websites are not all travel-specific, but then, travel writing is not always travel-specific, either. Consider the angles of your experience – it may be that a creative nonfiction magazine or a lifestyle website is the perfect forum for a place-based story.
1. Verge
Verge is “North America’s magazine for exploring opportunities to study, work and volunteer abroad.” Verge is a quarterly print publication with digital edition. Readers are generally young (between 17 and 40 years old) and articles are aimed at “people who travel with purpose”.
Submit either a completed manuscript or a detailed query by email (if submitting a manuscript, attach as a Word document; if a query, paste the text in the body of the email message). Pitches should include a description of your idea, a sample title, subtitle, and opening paragraph, outline, an indication of whether or not you have photos to include, and a bio including previous publication credits.
Verge will reply within 8 weeks if they are interested in your idea. To query or submit, email contributing@vergemagazine.ca
2. The Guardian
The Guardian is a major national daily newspaper in the UK. To query, contact the commissioning editor for the section you’re interested in writing for by phone or email with a brief outline of your idea. The Guardian has separate editors for the in-print and online editions of the paper, so consider where your article should be placed before querying.
Travel Editors: Joanne O’Connor (online), Andy Pietrasik (print). Email pitches to travel@gaurdian.co.uk (online) or travel.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk (print).
The New York Times is a major daily United States newspaper, respected internationally. It has both a print and online edition.
The travel editor is Danielle Mattoon, who was appointed earlier this year. According to the site, queries and articles should be sent to travelmail@nytimes.com.
The travel section will not publish articles written as a result of subsidised trips and will not purchase pieces that have been published elsewhere. Submissions should be no longer than 1500 words. Usually if a submission is being considered for publication, “the writer will be informed within two weeks.”
4. The San Francisco Chronicle
The San Francisco Chronicle is the largest newspaper in Northern California. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has an online home in edition to the print edition: SFGate.com, which includes some features not available in the print edition of the paper.
The Travel Editor is Spud Hilton: shilton@sfchronicle.com
The Huffington Post’s travel section features “beautiful photography, breaking news, destination briefs, trends”. The editor writes: “we’re fully committed to the idea that travel, no matter how close or far you go, is in everyone’s DNA.”
The travel editor is Kate Auletta, who has stated in an interview that she is open to receiving submissions from travel bloggers and writers – “As far as I’m concerned, the more voices, the better. Have people shoot me an email to travel@huffingtonpost.com with what they write about and where they have traveled, their writing experience. etc.”
It is worth noting that there is no compensation for Huffington Post contributors, though the site is highly regarded and gets plenty of traffic.
6. The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international news organisation, “global, both in practice and in spirit”, which delivers coverage via its website, weekly magazine, daily newspaper, email newsletters, and mobile site. Although owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, MA, The Christian Science Monitor is not a religious publication and is regarded as a serious news source.
There is no specific Travel section, but the “Home Forum” section is looking for upbeat, personal 400-800 word essays. The editors say, “these are first-person, nonfiction explorations of how you responded to a place, a person, a situation, an event, or happenings in everyday life. Tell a story; share a funny true tale.”
The Home Forum editors are Susan Leach and Marjorie Kehe. Submit via the website.
All material must be original and previously unpublished. Do not e-mail the section’s editors directly. They will not respond to individual submissions but will contact you within 3 weeks if they plan to use your essay. Include your contact information (e-mail address, daytime telephone, mailing address) and a word count with your submission.
Creative Nonfiction is a literary magazine with a circulation of about 7,000 which publishes nonfiction prose.
No editor is named, but the editorial board can be found online.
Creative Nonfiction often publishes “theme issues”, but also accepts general submissions year-round. They are looking for “strong reportage” with “an informational quality or instructive element that offers the reader something to learn (an idea, concept or collection of facts, strengthened with insight, reflection and interpretation”.
Submissions should be 5,000 words maximum with word count clearly marked. They do not accept queries, multiple submissions, or submissions via fax or email, though they will respond to submissions sent from outside the United States by email. Submissions should be sent by post to:
Creative Nonfiction Foundation
5501 Walnut Street, Suite 202
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
USA
Pay is $10 per printed page. Response times vary; though they try to respond as soon as possible, “it is not uncommon for a response to take up to 6 months”.
8. Afar
Launched in 2009, Afar is a travel magazine, published six times a year, with an emphasis on “experiential travel” rather than “consumerist travel”. Says founder Greg Sullivan about the magazine’s approach to travel: “we now search for meaning wherever we can find it.”
Afar recommends that new writers suggest ideas for departments, which include Wander (“where should I travel to next?”), Resident (“a local introduces readers to…his or her neighborhood”), Nomad (“Q&A with a modern nomad”), Feast (“a two-page spread about a local dish”), and Stay (“Recommendations of places to stay”). Each section has its own editor, so check the guidelines on the website to ensure you address queries to the right person.
For instance, to submit a query to the Wander section, email April Kilcrease at april@afar.com with a brief description of your idea, bearing Afar’s mission and values in mind, as well as samples of or links to your previously published work.
Note that the magazine only covers destinations outside of the United States.
9. GreenFutures
Green Futures is a magazine published by Forum for the Future, a sustainable development charity. The magazine focuses on the latest environmental solutions and sustainable futures. The audience includes “politicians, business people, local authorities, campaigners, the media, educators and students”, so the magazine aims to be “engaging and entertaining as well as authoritative”. The editors write: “stories should be aimed squarely at the mainstream, rather than specialists or activists. Successful articles will avoid either a campaigning or an academic voice. If you want a benchmark, think in terms of the weekend supplements of any of the quality broadsheets”.
Propose ideas on topics including “energy, travel and transport, food, health, business, entrepreneurs, finance, cities, countryside” by emailing post@greenfutures.org.uk. Explain “what you plan to cover and how you will undertake the reporting” and attach relevant samples of writing.
The Editor in Chief is Martin Wright and the Deputy Editor is Anna Simpson.
10. Salon
Salon is an online news and entertainment website, featuring “original investigative stories, breaking news, provocative personal essays and highly respected criticism.”
Submit articles and story ideas via email, with the text of the query or article in the body of the email and “EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS” in the subject line. Also include a brief bio with your experience as a writer and your qualifications for writing the story you’re pitching. Include clips or links to previously published pieces if possible.
Submissions should be sent to the relevant editor, so queries for the Life section, for instance, would be directed to: life@salon.com.
Response time is about three weeks, though Salon does not always respond to all queries.
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