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Editorial: Is It Worth It to Pitch Travel Stories to Newspapers?

But writing travel stories for newspapers is different now. Are they worth pitching?

During my entire third year of freelance writing, around ten years ago, I systematically and relentlessly bombarded newspapers with travel story ideas. I wanted to see if I could make a nice sideline income from newspapers.

Every month I’d send travel queries to travel editors in the top two newspapers in most of the 50 states, plus a few overseas ones. It would take me a day to complete this onerous task, but I figured it might pay off.

The results were underwhelming. I sold only five articles from a total of 1000 queries. The newspapers that picked up my stories were the Sunday Oregonian, the New Zealand Sunday News, the South China Morning Post, plus two U.S. regional newspapers. That’s a dismal .005% publication success rate compared with my magazine publication rate of 90%.

I stopped pitching my travel stories to newspapers. There was no point flogging this dead horse.

Things have changed dramatically in the newspaper arena. The Internet has caused many newspapers to contract and, sadly, many have closed their doors.

As newspapers cut their budgets, they resorted to pulling travel stories off the Associated Press line. Those stories don't cost the papers anything. Entire travel columns have been eliminated.

During the newspaper boom times, from the 1970s - 1990s, there were more than 100 full time newspaper travel editors in the U.S. Today, there are less than 12.

Newspapers no longer pay a livable fee for travel articles from freelancers. The larger papers may pay $200-$500 per story, plus extra for photographs — and the smaller regionals only pay $50-$250 per story, if you’re lucky.

And, newspaper travel editors do not accept pre-travel pitches like most magazines.

For these reasons, the top travel writers have long since written newspapers off as potential outlets for their work. Travel sections are now loaded with insipid stories that read like they were written by a fussy grandmother.

To add insult to injury, there’s also an outdated ethics rule with newspapers: major newspapers will not publish travel stories by writers who have accepted comped travel. This means you can’t write for a newspaper if you’ve just got back from a sponsored press trip, no matter how much juicy material you gathered.

The realities of today’s travel writing market make it impossible to take our trips without the assistance of ‘comped’ accommodations, attractions, and meals and travel costs. That’s a problem.

So, the tattered remnants of newspaper travel writing has devolved into a murky, “Don’t ask, don’t tell” situation. Newspaper editors don’t want to know if their writers received ‘comps.’ Hardly an ideal situation.

But, all is not lost.

Novice writers can still find homes for their travel stories in the surviving smaller suburban and regional newspapers. The editors of suburban newspapers are screaming out for good copy.

Just this week I received an email from one of my newsletter subscribers telling me that he’d had several travel stories published in his local newspaper. And, small suburban newspapers don’t give a hoot if you received ‘comps’ on your trip.

I’ve met dozens of travel writers on press trips who have established comfortable, permanent relationships with their local newspapers. These regular newspaper assignments almost guarantee them ongoing press trips.

You won’t get paid much, if at all. But when you’re starting out, your main goal is to rack up those bylines to enhance your credibility. Being compensated for your stories is secondary. And, at least they’ll provide you with solid print assignments that you can parlay into comped travel.

Check out the health of suburban, regional, and national newspapers in your own city, region, and country. Call your suburban editors and ask if they accept articles from local residents. Inquire with your local CVBs if assignments from suburban newspapers can be used as collateral for comped travel?

Despite this checkered review, some of your will still want to pursue newspapers. It’s easy to find the names of newspapers in your suburb, region, and country.

Here are some excellent national, regional, city, and suburban newspaper listings for you: Daily Earth Newspaper Directory, USNPL, 50 States Newspaper Listing, World Newpapers Lists.

If any of you are achieving consistent success with writing for newspapers, I’d love to hear about it.

This Week's Featured Post

The Best Websites For Travel Writers

In my fourteen years as a travel writer I’ve checked out many online resources for travel writers. Although I’ve abandoned some, outgrown some, and others have fallen by the wayside, I still refer to many websites to keep up with the industry.

Our updated website resource list is worth browsing for travel information, story ideas, networking, and fun.

You’ll find websites to provide you with offbeat, unique, and downright weird travel destinations and attractions; an expert on all things aviation; a source of marvelous travel writing; a free travel writer’s membership group; a networking website; travel copywriter’s websites; a website for a group that hosts a great linkup between writers and top flight travel magazines, and other juicy travel writing intel.

READ THE ARTICLE - ACCESS THE LIST OF RESOURCES

Upcoming Posts

PitchTravelWrite.com Success Stories

Tim Cotroneo: My Story as a Golf and Travel Writer

After the workshop my wife and I planned a trip to the Turks and Caicos Island of Providenciales. I emailed the golf professional at the island’s only 18-hole course in advance of the trip and presented myself as a golf and travel writer. I thought to myself, “I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”  On the trip I met with the pro and played the course. 

My First Yes

During our stay in Providenciales, I noticed a glossy magazine on the coffee table in our hotel room and read it. Upon returning home to Minneapolis, I pitched this magazine a story idea about what I experienced at the golf course when I played there.

 The editor said yes! 

I wrote the story and got paid $300. I was officially a travel writer and have been writing about golf and travel ever since."

Here’s Tim Cotroneo’s exotic golf and travel writing journey so far . . .

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

It takes some groundwork to become savvy at recognizing and mining gold nugget travel story ideas.  A huge factor in selling story ideas and getting them published is the quality of your idea. 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 salable story? Here are 6 tips to help you . . .

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 salable 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 always what they’re looking for. They are looking for new ideas and fresh perspectives.

There are some common themes for travel articles, there are travel articles that focus on "the best" that a place has to offer, and there are travel stories based on specific areas of interest. This might include things like luxury travel, adventure travel, beer and wine, just to name a few. This post will give you some idea of the types of travel stories you can write and sell.

Inspirational Travel Quote

RESOURCES FOR TRAVEL WRITERS

Featured Book of the Month: 100 PRINT MAGAZINES THAT WANT TO PUBLISH YOUR TRAVEL ARTICLES

This compilation is far more specialized than what you find in Writer’s Market. Compiled over ten years from a wide variety of on-line sources, field resources and book references, this comprehensive listing also includes international publications for the English-speaking market.

If you want to be a successful travel writer and get your articles published in paying print publications, you need to be highly proficient at finding travel magazine leads. 

Having a solid list of magazines makes it easier to find assignments that will help get you invited on Press trips.

You can get $5 off the price of the book if you use promo code MY5 at checkout: BUY THE BOOK

Here’s what professional travel blogger Chris Backe has to say about 100 Print Magazines That Want To Publish Your Travel Articles reference manual: “The title tells you exactly what to expect. Roy introduces the concept of a ‘distribution list’ early on, his approach to simultaneous submissions, along with the need for writers to research and add places of their own to the list.

The list itself is well-organized and offers a paragraph or so for every noted magazine (though some descriptions do look copy-and-pasted from a magazine’s own page ). Look for the website, a link to their guidelines, the editor’s name, and an e-mail address – note of course that you’ll want to confirm everything’s still up-to-date before sending off your pitches.”

“Writers will be hard-pressed to find a resource as great as Roy Stevenson's, "100 Print Magazines that Want to Publish you Travel Stories." This is packed with insider details and contact information that will help any writer winnow down markets by developing target-specific lists for publishing their articles.”
Karin Leperi, Award Winning Travel Writer/Photographer (USA)

Learn more and buy the book . . .

Group Coaching Mastermind Community

If you missed out on the opportunity to join this session, you can get on the waiting list for the next session starting in the fall:

Learn more and get on the waiting list

Live Workshops

Here are the 2022 dates:
June 17-20, 2022, Travel Writing & Photography Retreat
June 22-24, 2022, Marketing Master Class for Travel Writers

We've had lots of interest already. You can sign up for our no-obligation interest list for these workshops and receive our substantial early bird discounts when we open registration:

GET ON THE 2022 LIVE WORKSHOP NO-OBLIGATION INTEREST LIST HERE

Did You Know . . .

You can access the list of the top ten travel writing workshops at the link below:

Travel Writers Exchange workshop list: #1 Marketing Master Class

Online Travel Writing & Marketing Master Class

Who's it for?

• If you’re a novice travel writer, or you haven’t had much luck selling your articles to print magazines, this Online Travel Writing & Marketing Workshop is for you.
• If you weren’t able to travel to our Live Master Class, here’s the opportunity to attend anyway - without any travel costs and at a substantially reduced cost!
• If you work a full-time job and can’t get time off to attend the live class – you can still attend on your own schedule after working hours.
• If you’ve wanted to attend our Live Marketing Master Class but can’t get your schedule to fit with the dates it’s offered – here’s your opportunity to attend at your own convenience.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

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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. 




We're thrilled to announce that www.PitchTravelWrite.com is once again on The Write Life’s list of 100 BEST WEBSITES FOR WRITERS! 

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Roy Stevenson
Pitch Travel Write
www.pitchtravelwrite.com