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Writer’s Digest doesn’t bestow this award lightly. “Now in its 26th year, the Annual 101 Best Websites for Writers aims to guide writers of all ages, genres, and skill levels to reputable and useful resources to inspire, educate, and support them in every stage of their writing journey. If you are using writing to make a career as a freelancer, the websites on this list can help make these goals a reality.”

If you’re interested in breaking into travel writing, reaping its marvelous travel benefits, and seeing your name in paying print and online media, please visit www.pitchtravelwrite.com and surf around. You’ll find plenty of solid, actionable information here!

You can order a a digital copy of the current Writer’s Digest issue here

Editorial

Print travel media is alive and well. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! There continues to be a strong demand for good travel writers by print publishers.

Print bylines are considered prestigious. Print media is still the most highly regarded form of travel writing because of its stringent publication requirements. First, you have to pitch your story ideas to the editors and have the editors accept them. Then, you must actually produce publishable articles. The result — print travel articles are held to a higher standard; they have accurate and valuable content for the readers.

The payoff for these higher standards is that you get paid for your efforts. Print magazines continue to pay their writers. Thus the competition to get published in print media is fierce.

Additionally, print assignments carry a lot of weight when you’re requesting complimentary travel assistance at your destinations. Few, if any, travel writers with print magazine assignments are rejected when they apply for complimentary travel assistance at their destinations.

Freelance travel writers who use sound writing and marketing strategies will continue to thrive in print media. Here are my six print media strategies that are critical to help you break into paying print media, increase your outlets, and earn more money.

Strategy #1: Today’s Travel Writers Must Think Beyond “Pure” Travel Magazines

There are 7,293 consumer magazines in America plus 2,800 in the U.K. – and thousands more spread between Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. In fact, as of 2017, there were 16,078 magazines and consumer publications from the combined English-speaking countries. Approximately 2,000 of these are “pure” travel and lifestyle magazines.

And don’t forget, hundreds of other magazine genres publish travel stories. Having a travel story adds a touch of glamor and spice to other magazine genres. For example, I’ve had seven museum articles snapped up by the ham radio magazines Popular Communications and Monitoring Times. And I’ve had numerous travel pieces published in beer, wine and yachting magazines around the globe.

All you need to do is find genres that fit with your story ideas, and start pitching. I’ve had travel articles of various stripes published in military history and history magazines, military vehicle magazines, gold prospecting magazines, sculpture magazines, food and wine publications, lifestyle, lodge and hotel review magazines—even a UFO magazine!

Be creative and pitch your travel stories far and wide - to any appropriate genre!

Strategy #2: Always Be Looking for New Magazine Outlets

Writers who write solely for their regular “gigs” are eventually left high and dry. I get it. It’s easier to be complacent and sit around, milking your regular gig.

However, many of my friends have found out the hard way that all good things eventually come to an end. They’ve had the carpet pulled from under them when their pet outlets folded of the editor changed. Over the years, I’ve received dozens of emails saying, “The magazine I’ve been writing for five (or ten, or fifteen) years, has just gone under. What should I do?”

Here's the strategy: Always be looking for new magazines on your local magazine rack, or online, or in Writer’s Market. You'll be pleasantly surprised to find that new magazines are constantly being launched. Once you find new start-up outlets, send an email and introduce yourself to the editors. Pitch them a few story ideas.

Strategy #3: Look for Smaller, Custom Publications and Trade Journals

Custom publications have sponsored distribution. In other words, they’re legitimate publications that marry the marketing ambitions of a company with the information needs of its target audience. In short, custom publications are packed with marketing content, aimed at their customers.

Their close cousin, the trade journal, also represents golden opportunities for the savvy writer who’s looking for recession-proof, or pandemic-proof security. The “trades” inform people working in an industry about many topics of interest.

Custom publications and the travel trades generally pay well. These magazine editors are screaming out for good content and good writers. I know several writers who only write for these publications and have carved out a nice living from them. There are plenty of these content writers out there, quietly keeping their heads down and cranking out copy for these journals.

A few travel trade magazines are The Business Travel Magazine, Travel Trade Weekly, Business Travel News, Business Traveller, Travel Weekly, Global Traveler, Travel News Digest, etc. From one day researching travel trade publications, I created a list of 60 travel trade magazines!

Strategy #4: Find the Magazines That Hire Freelancers

During the Sub-Prime Mortgage recession (2008-12) when advertising money was scarce, many print travel glossies were forced to run leaner with fewer full-time staff.

That's good news for freelancers, because it means the travel magazines need to hire more freelancers for their content. Keep your distribution list up-to-date and keep note of whether their policies have changed regarding hiring freelancers. You can do this by checking their writer’s guidelines, website, and masthead of employees.

Strategy #5: Produce High Quality Articles

Print media is valued for its high quality writing and content and accuracy. Editors hire writers who produce well written, well researched, and thoughtful articles. Magazine subscribers continue to buy magazines with good content. Think of how many times you’ve been browsing through magazines and found two or three articles that were so enticing you just had to purchase that issue and later, subscribed. Pitch solid, unique, or trending story ideas, and turn them into well-written travel stories and the editors will love you for it.

Strategy #6: Send Out Queries as Part of Your Daily Schedule

Of all my print media strategies, this one cannot be overstated. Don’t be complacent. Make pitching part of your daily routine. The only way you'll have a steady stream of work is by sending out a steady stream of query letters every day. Keep the pipeline filled with queries and the work will follow.

Summary

These six print media strategies are important for every freelance travel writer to thrive. Prioritize the strategies you can easily work into your schedule and note the print media strategies you still need to incorporate. When you're doing all six, you'll have greater success by selling more articles and making more money.

• Travel Writing for Military & History Magazines
• Break Into Travel Writing with Museum Stories
• Break Into the Boating, Yachting, Sailing & Cruising Travel Writing Market
• A follow-up eBook about Query Letters for Travel Writers

Finally, I'd like to thank you for reading this newsletter, taking my online and in-person classes, buying my eBooks, and following my travels. It's been a pleasure working with so many of you and keeping you up-to-date on what’s new in travel writing.

Roy Stevenson,
www.PitchTravelWrite.com

500 Print Magazines - Current Customers

Also, if you find any links that aren't working or any magazines that are no longer published, please let us know so we can get the word out to everyone.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you about which magazines you’ve pitched successfully and what stories you've sold to the magazines on these lists.

Have You Written a Travel Memoir?

Featured Post

My Best Ever Travel Writing Assignments

They’re all different kinds of trips, and I’ve included links to articles I’ve written for travel websites for some of these trips if you want to read more about them. Without further ado, here are six of my favorite trips . . .

READ THE ARTICLE

Our Latest Travel Writing Success Story

Emily Corak: My Freelance Travel Writing Story

When I left my job in education after 12 years, I never remotely considered writing as a feasible option. I’d always loved writing – I’d even earned an MFA in creative writing because I loved it so much, but it felt like a means for personal expression and enjoyment. I’d even had a few things published, but never received a dime. The act of being published was its own reward!

Making money as a writer? Ha! I’d leave that endeavor to the real writers.

But whenever I had a few spare moments, I kept googling travel writing courses. I told myself it was strictly out of curiosity, not because I thought it was a realistic option.

I’d spent a lot of time traveling when I was younger - I took my first international trip at age 14 to Tunisia to visit where my dad had grown up. I visited a friend in Norway numerous times, taught in China, went scuba diving in Belize, spent summers volunteering in Bangladesh, and studied abroad in Italy.

But when my children came along in my early thirties, I feared my traveling would be limited to quick coastal getaways with the occasional trek to Disneyland.

I stumbled upon Roy Stevenson’s workshops online in 2019 on one of my many Google explorations and I had an inkling that this was something I should do. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I bookmarked the page and kept coming back to it, reviewing all the details about his workshop in Charleston even though I was still a high school English teacher at the time. I worried that it would be impractical and a little self-indulgent because who did I think I was? The most adventurous trip I’d taken recently was braving impatient toddlers in line for the teacups!

Luckily, my intuition won out and I booked the weeklong masterclass with Linda and Roy in Charleston, SC, for the summer of 2020. Roy’s course was postponed for 2 years due to the pandemic, but I finally got to attend it there in June 2022.

Here's my journey . . .

Read the rest of Emily's inspirational story here . . .

Upcoming Posts

Inspirational Travel Quote

Pitch Travel Write: Most Requested Links About Dreaming Up New Travel Story Ideas

A huge factor in getting your story ideas published is the quality of your ideas. While this may seem self-evident, finding an interesting story to pitch is a daunting task for novice freelance writers. 



It takes some experience to know what constitutes a viable travel story. And deciding whether a story idea is a dog or a shooting star is an important first step in the pitching process. So where, and how, do travel writers start their quest for a marketable story? 

Here are 6 tips to help you sell more stories

For novice freelance writers, trying to figure out what story to pitch to an editor is a daunting task. Because of inexperience, you have no frame of reference.  Often, beginners lack confidence in their story ideas. So where do you start? If you want to boost your bylines, try my winning system. These seven techniques can be used to constantly generate marketable ideas

The beauty of travel writing is that you can write an article about almost every aspect of your travels and find a home for it somewhere. Editors get tired of being pitched the same kind of roundup story. They see it all the time and it’s not what they’re looking for anymore.  They are looking for new ideas and fresh perspectives. This post will give you some idea of the types of travel stories you can write and sell

MORE RESOURCES FOR TRAVEL WRITERS

Featured Book: Rock Star Travel Writers

Our eBook, Rock Star Travel Writers, reveals—through a series of in-depth interviews—insider tips, tricks, and secrets that 10 leading travel journalists use to land assignments in the most prominent travel glossies, and be paid well for their efforts.

I wish I had this information when I started out on my travel writing journey!

If I’d known, early in my career, what the successful travel writers were doing to get published in top flight magazines, this knowledge would have sped up my entry into this competitive field.

This stellar lineup of highly respected travel journalists offers excellent practical advice and encouragement to help you move up the travel writing food chain.

See how Kimberley Lovato, Bill Fink, Mark Andrews, Irene Levine, Nick O’Connell, Allen Cox, Keith Lyons, James Ullrich, Pam & Gary Baker, Jessica Pickett, Chuck Warren, & Sandy Bornstein get their travel stories consistently published.

You might ask, “What qualifies these contributors to offer expert advice on the art and science of travel writing?”

The proof is in their bylines. Read through the (partial) list of their bylines that follows this introduction. Collectively, these writers have had their work published in the world’s most prestigious and heavy hitter travel magazines like National Geographic Traveler, AFAR, BBC Travel, Lonely Planet, Condé Nast Traveler, American Express, Robb Report, Business Jet Traveler, Australia & New Zealand Magazine, plus in-flights like American Way, Hemispheres, and Delta Sky, and many other notable publications.

These are the publications we all drool over. We enviously thumb through them at the bookstore and library racks, thinking “I’d love to get one of my stories into this magazine.”

The detailed interviews you’re about to read get right down to the nitty gritty of travel writing. They tell the personal stories of these writer’s journeys and show how they’ve managed to get their stories published in the world’s most treasured travel publications.

For the next 30 days you can get an additional $10 off this eBook when you use PROMO code: rstw-ten (expires June 15th at midnight)

Learn more and buy the book

A Note from Travel Writer Tim Cotroneo

Tim curates a popular website called Travel Dreams Magazine and encourages aspiring travel writers to contribute to this website. Here’s what Tim has shared:

Hi Roy,

Here is an idea for you to communicate with your legions of admirers.

Several times per month I receive emails from writers proposing that they write for Travel Dreams Magazine. The overwhelming number of these pitches don’t say what they want to write about.

I’m willing to help just about any aspiring writer get a start. But I am very reluctant to invest time, and possibly receive spam, from someone who fails to pitch a specific article idea. 

Best regards,

Tim Cotroneo
Travel Dreams Magazine

A Note from Sailing & Boating Publisher Jeff Watson

I welcome your input if this is something of interest.


Thanks!

Jeff Watson

Founder/Publisher

VIP Magazines
Jeff@30amag.com

Free Travel Guides

Here’s a link to five websites where you can download Free Travel Guides

Our aim is to provide you with practical, nitty gritty information to help you gain entry into the travel writing realm and all the enjoyment that comes with it. 

If you know someone who will enjoy this newsletter,
please forward or sign up

HERE.

Awards and Accolades

This listing helps match up travel journalists with magazine editors who are looking for specific stories.

Here’s the link to the download: PRontheGo Pitching Guide

Our website was selected for the 2023 Writer’s Digest Magazine’s “101 Best Websites For Writers” in the June issue. We’ve previously been chosen for Writer’s Digest Magazine’s 101 Best Websites For Writers in 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022. WD doesn’t bestow these awards lightly. We’re the only travel writing website on the lists!

Travel Writers Exchange Top 10 Workshops

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Roy Stevenson
Pitch Travel Write
www.pitchtravelwrite.com