All Posts in Category: Pitching
How to Pitch Five Magazines Looking for Chef Profiles
Welcome to the Friday Freebie Five, a new weekly feature on Dream of Travel Writing’s Six Figure Travel Writer blog.
Each week, we comb our Travel Magazine Database to bring you five magazine sections open to freelancers around a theme–front-of-book trend pieces, long-form first-person features, short narrative postcards–to inspire your pitches.
OnTrak
“Chef Spotlight” is a 200-to-250-word profile of a Pacific Northwest chef who is contributing to culinary developments around the region. It’s written in third person, and offers a deeper, more personal look into a well-known restaurant around Portland, Vancouver, Seattle, and beyond. The writing style is detailed and fast-paced. Each article also offers a background of how the chef came to prominence, and why he or she chose to open a certain restaurant in a given city. A recent “Chef Spotlight” examined the daily operations of David Sapp, the chef at Portland’s Park Kitchen, who teaches cooking classes at Sur La Table, while sourcing everything at his restaurant from local farms, wineries and distilleries. Another article profiled Canadian chef and entrepreneur Erik Heck, who founded Vancouver’s Flying Pig eateries, and serves only sustainable seafood on-site. Text is accompanied by one image, and no sidebars.
Five Magazines Looking for Hotel Profiles
Welcome to the Friday Freebie Five, a new weekly feature on Dream of Travel Writing’s Six Figure Travel Writer blog.
Each week, we comb our Travel Magazine Database to bring you five magazine sections open to freelancers around a theme–front-of-book trend pieces, long-form first-person features, short narrative postcards–to inspire your pitches.
Gentleman’s Journal
“Travel” is a 750-word article which covers a luxury hotel somewhere in the world. In a third-person conversational tone, the writer describes the history, location, amenities, décor, and food available. A recent example includes “The White Thrill” which describes the luxury ski hotel, Hotel Tannenhof in St Anton, Austria including how the area became popular and how the hotel appeals to affluent skiers.
Five Magazines Looking for Weekend Trip Itineraries
Welcome to the Friday Freebie Five, a new weekly feature on Dream of Travel Writing’s Six Figure Travel Writer blog.
Each week, we comb our Travel Magazine Database to bring you five magazine sections open to freelancers around a theme–front-of-book trend pieces, long-form first-person features, short narrative postcards–to inspire your pitches.
How to Spend It
“From Desk Till Dawn” takes the form of a weekend itinerary to destinations worldwide focusing on adventure travel and extreme sports. There is a 200-word introduction which covers the destination and the activities the writer will do there. This is then followed by a 1,500-word recount of the writer’s trip from Friday afternoon to Sunday night. The article is divided into timeslots in which the writer describes, in a first-person narrative style, the adventure activities they did in the destination. There is often a sidebar at the end of the piece called “Fast Facts.” This includes information on the flight and tour company, with the prices, phone numbers, and websites included. Examples from a recent issue include “Kayaking and Hiking in Newfoundland,” in which the writer recounts his trip exploring remote Newfoundland, Canada, searching for whales and ice bergs, “Cliff Climbing and Kayaking in St Lucia,” which covers the writer’s weekend kayaking, trekking, and cliff jumping in St Lucia, and “Ultra Running on Reunion Island,” which covers the 165km mountain crossing race on Reunion Island.
Want a Sneak Peek of What We Publish in the Travel Magazine Database?–Check Out These 70 Magazine Sections Waiting for YOUR Pitches
One of the main questions we get from people about how to use our Travel Magazine Database is whether there’s any point signing up if you aren’t already sending a lot of magazine pitches.
Or if you don’t already know how to write pitches at all!
The thing is, we actually created the Travel Magazine Database to teach people how to write better pitches.
Does Summer Travel Season Automatically Mean Slump Time for New Freelance Writing Business?
Summer is such a tricky time for travel writers.
If you have a family or friends that you travel with, it’s a time with much travel, but a frequent struggle between balancing the leisure side of travel (not just for you, but those you’re with!) with the demands of traveling as a travel writer, and all of the note-taking, picture-posing, and interview-grabbing that entails.
If you primarily get your work travel done in the off-season, summer can be a great time to relax and take a staycation to reset…but only if you have enough paid work on your plate.
Daily Free Travel Writing Webinars for March
These webinars are only available at the times listed, live, but you can catch the replay in video, audio, and transcript form, along with the webinar slides, at any time in our on-demand webinar library.
Check out the full schedule of March’s webinars and register for your favorites below.
Wondering Why Your Pitches Aren’t Getting Responses? We’ve Got Your Answer Right Here
Today’s holiday trivia: Thought the exact observed date changes every year, January 9 is the first day for the celebration of Hōonkō, one of Japanese Jodo Shinshu Buddhism religion’s major festivals in honor of the passing of its founder7 As the name of the festival translates to “return of gratitude” and “to clarify the meaning of” or “gathering,” temples typically open their services to all, including non-Buddhists, and temples offer the shōjin ryōri or monastery cuisine, which consists of dozens of simple yet creative variations of basic ingredients from tofu and wheat to herbs and vegetables.
In our webinars, retreats, and online pitching programs, I frequently talk about putting my “editor hat” on.
I don’t usually mean these literally–as in “it’s time to edit your work!” I actually mean that it’s time for some very tough love that you rarely get to hear: exactly what an editor would think if your pitch rolled into their inbox without warning.
This is an incredibly important process for writers who are stuck on their pitches (in yesterday’s offer, I mentioned a writer who has attended our Pitchapalooza event who is now landing $1 per word assignments because of “aha” moments like this). But it is also very unlikely to happen to most writers for the simple fact that they aren’t sitting there, pitching editors in person, seeing their responses in real time.
Why December Should Be the Busy Time of Year for Your (New) Freelance Travel Writing Business
Paying dues.
Such an obnoxious term.
As an adult, with years of experience at something, anything, it feels icky to have to start at the bottom of the totem pole in a new profession.
But, I’m not here to tell you that’s what you need to do when you are ramping up or transitioning into a new freelance travel writing business.
Not exactly.
If an Editor Doesn’t Need Freelancers Now, Should You Try Later?
Welcome to the Dream of Travel Writing–the Monday Mailbag! We often get questions from readers, folks in our accountability group, or coaching program members that we think would apply to a lot of you.
Now, with permission, agony-aunt-style, we’ll be sharing a new one with you each Monday. If you have a question you’d like to see included, please send it to us at questions [at] dreamoftravelwriting.com and make sure to include a line saying we have permission to reprint your question.
On to the tricky travel writing questions!
Five Magazines Looking for Profiles of Interesting People
Welcome to the Friday Freebie Five, a new weekly feature on Dream of Travel Writing’s Six Figure Travel Writer blog.
Each week, we comb our Travel Magazine Database to bring you five magazine sections open to freelancers around a theme–front-of-book trend pieces, long-form first-person features, short narrative postcards–to inspire your pitches.
SilverKris
“Close-Up” is a 300-to-350-word profile of a remarkable globetrotter. It’s written in third person, and often features a range of explorers, photographers, tech giants, artists, influencers, chefs, and journalists. One recent “Close-Up” caught up with motorcyclist Lois Pryce to learn about her solo travels through Iran, covering what she encountered there, how she navigated the land, and why she chose to embark upon the journey in the first place. Other profiles have covered award-winning underwater photographer Tony Wu, Michelin-star connoisseur Any Hayler, and CNN anchor Richard Quest. These profiles are always written with a travel news peg, whether that be linked to past trips, upcoming trips, a travel book release, or an unbelievable experience endured along the road. Text is accompanied by one central image and no sidebars.