#97 - Trying selling travel stories to news editors

Or why foreign news can be a better fit than the travel section.

Which section for the story?
I've always worked on a general theory that a reliable sign of a good travel story is that it will easily slot into another section of a newspaper. For example, one that has a musical angle could be equally valid in the music section; a story about a painter could just as easily be filed under 'arts'.

Cracking the Daily Telegraph
I'm quite a happy bunny today, as I've had my first story printed in The Daily Telegraph. I've pitched plenty of ideas there before, but come up against a brick wall. Along with The Sunday Times, it's probably the most prestigious place I've ever been published. But my story wasn't in the travel section.

Travel story, news angle
I can't think why I didn't think of this before, but I decided to pitch the story to the Telegraph's World News editor. It was a story I'd come across on my travels and it was arguably a travel story with a news angle, but I decided to write it as a news story.

Published quickly
The approach worked - the editor liked the idea, bought the story and it was published within three days of my initial approach. Oh if only all travel pieces went that smoothly...

Out of the way places
It did get me thinking about how many other travel stories I could have taken this approach with. It's particularly useful in out of the way places. In my example, news from Samoa doesn't tend to travel very far. The fact that the country is switching to driving on the left from driving on the right makes for a great story, but because hardly anyone pays attention to what's going on there, it's a story that has barely been written about. OK, it's had a tiny bit of coverage in Australia and New Zealand - but not the rest of the world.

Read the papers, listen to the locals
The experience confirms my beliefs that, for the travel writer, it's worth reading local newspapers, listening to local radio stations and talking to local people about what the current big issues are. There's always almost a story to be uncovered - and one that can possibly be sold to a news section.

PS - Yes, I know Samoa isn't an island; it's a collection of them. That's the joy of sub-editors for you.

PPS - If you want more of my nonsense, you can find me at GrumpyTraveller.com and on Twitter.

#75 – Use anniversaries as a hook

Or the joy of nice round numbers.

Travel editor difficulties
One of the difficulties of being a travel editor is creating a reason for running a story on a certain destination. In all honesty, there’s no real reason to run that quite nice story about flea markets in Paris – it’s just personal choice. And frankly, it doesn’t matter which issue it goes in – it’s hardly topical, is it?

Anniversaries and topicality
So editors love to have something topical. They like to have stories on places that are in the news, and they often end up running things related to anniversaries. Look out over this year, and you’ll see plenty of stories with tenuous links to some anniversary or other.

From Galileo to the Berlin Wall
I should know – I’ve got commissions to write about some of them. It’s 400 years since Galileo Galilei invented his telescope; it’s 200 years since Charles Darwin was born; it’s 90 years since the Nazi party was founded and it’s 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down.

Nice round numbers
In all honesty, most of these are not that significant, but humans buy into anniversaries in a big way. If it’s a nice round number of years since a major event, people will always find some excuse to celebrate it. And travel editors are interested in what people are celebrating. Thus 1,000 meandering words on the lovely English town of Shrewsbury suddenly takes on more urgency when Charles Darwin was born there 200 years ago.

Keeping track
As a writer, it’s always worth keeping track of anniversaries that are coming up. If you can get in there before everyone else starts writing about them, you’ve got a high chance of making a successful pitch.

#72 – Respond to rejection with a new idea

Or striking while the iron is lukewarm.

Being rejected by editors
For the freelance travel writer, having your ideas rejected by editors is all part of the package. It happens all the time and always has. The key thing is how you respond to that rejection.

Response to rejection
The response for some writers is to take the rejection of one idea as a rejection of all ideas. They will write the publication off, thinking they have no hope of being published there, and will not pitch any more ideas.

Negative responses as a positive
Other writers do it the smart way and see that rejection can be a good thing. It is far better to get a response from an editor than none at all, even if that response is in the negative. If they have taken the trouble to respond, then you are doing something right. OK, so they didn’t like the idea you sent, but that’s not to say they won’t like another one.

Send another idea
So why not send them another one pretty much straight away? You’ve clearly got the editor’s attention, so you may as well strike while the iron is at least lukewarm, if not hot.

Voice of experience
The second one may not get a positive response either, but there’s probably no better time to send it than after the editor has just taken the time to contact you. I speak from experience on this – I’ve got a lot of work through quick follow ups to rejections.

Victory from the jaws of defeat
On another note, when that acceptance does come through as a result of this method, it’s tremendously satisfying - even more so than normal. There’s nothing like snatching victory from the jaws of defeat to improve the mood.

#65 – When to pitch a story by phone

Or the contact that editors don’t want you to make.

E-mails
As a general rule, most editors don’t like being phoned up with pitches. They get enough e-mails as it is, but at least e-mails can be dealt with when the time is right. If all of those pitches were coming in by phone, they would never get anything done.

Dealing with the situation there and then
But sometimes, pitching by phone is the right way to go about things. It can work for precisely the reason that editors hate it – they have to deal with the situation there and then rather than postponing it for a more convenient time.

Successful pitches
If I analysed it, I’d guess that a higher percentages of my successful pitches are done over the phone, rather than by e-mail. But I also don’t see the point in annoying an editor without good reason – constantly phoning up is liable to have you earmarked as being hugely annoying.

Reasons to pitch a story by phone
For this reason, I will usually only call an editor for one of the following reasons:

1. The pitch is time-sensitive/ topical, and I need a quick “yes” or “no” in order to be able to pitch it to someone else if the editor I originally pitched to is not interested.
2. To clarify confusion over a brief/ editorial requests. Sometimes a quick phone call can solve what days of e-mail tennis can’t quite manage.
3. I am following up a pitch, and they have not responded to the follow-up e-mail. And I’ll always make sure I’ve left a couple of weeks after the follow-up e-mail to do this. By this stage, it’s generally a no lose situation – you’re expecting a “no”, and it’s better to have the “no” confirmed than have it hanging in the air. If it’s a “yes”, then it’s a bonus.

Professionalism vs pestering
I think, in these scenarios, you’re on the right side of the professionalism/ pestering line. It’s probably best to not make a habit of calling up though – you may start to find that the editor is constantly “away from the desk” every time you call.

#63 – Getting the commission that seals a press trip

Or looking for angles in the itineraries.

How to get on a press trip
In Tip #60 I explained that the way to get on a press trip (or junket, if we’re being honest) is to secure a commission in advance from a publication that the PR company or tourist board wants coverage in.

Getting the commission
This is a lot easier said than done, especially if you’re seeking the commission from a publication you haven’t worked for before. Most editors don’t like handing out commissions to people they don’t know, especially if they haven’t even been to the destination yet.

Vague press trip invitations
The other problem is that press trip invitations can be incredibly vague. They will often invite you to “explore the history of Snotsville” or “get active in Snotsland’s wonderful Snotty mountains”. If this is the case, the first step should be to e-mail the PR person back and ask what exactly this entails. Respectfully state that you would be interested in the trip, and could potentially secure a commission, but you need more information to pitch to the editor with.

Itinerary or waffle?
One of two things happens here – the good PR people send back an approximated itinerary, with details on each aspect of it. The bad PR people direct you to a website or send you back a whole lot more waffle on the wonders of the area. In other words, they don’t even know themselves what will happen on the trip.

Ones to avoid
Avoid the latter – chances are it’ll end up being a trudge around new hotel developments, and a series of half-arsed tasters of what the region has to offer. If the former, take that information, and hunt for an angle.

Example
If, for example, a whale watching tour is part of the trip, take a look at the company website and try and dig out something unique about the company or the whales in the area. Is the ship’s captain a former whaler who switched to tourism? Are whale numbers in the region rapidly increasing due to protection measures? That is the sort of thing that could be pitched out.

Selection of angles
It may take a little more research than just looking at the itinerary presented, but a good trip should present a selection of possible angles to pitch to editors. Find the angles, pitch them out, hope the editor bites, and then go back to the PR people saying that Publication X has commissioned you to write a story as a result of the trip. As long as the publication in question is one they want coverage in, your place should be secured.

#62 – Pitch topical stories to editors who respond quickly

Or how to stop your story dating.

Topical hook
So you’ve got a good story, but one that will date quickly... It’s juicy, topical, has a good hook and should be an easy sell. But the editor you have pitched it to isn’t responding. Grrrr.

Slow response
This is an all too familiar tale. I’ve lost out on numerous good story ideas in the past, simply because by the time the editor has got round to responding, the story is out of date. It’s intensely annoying.

Avoiding the gamble
And this is why it is only on very rare occasions that I’ll pitch such stories out to publications that I don’t already have a relationship with. Sure, these publications may pay well, and the story may provide a springboard to getting more regular work with the publication in question – but I’d sooner place the story and get paid slightly less than gamble.

Quick response
It gets to a certain stage where you get to know the foibles of your regular clients. I know which editors will usually respond quickly – often on the same day, and certainly within a couple of days. I also know the ones that will sit on a pitch for ages. And thus when I have a topical story that is great if run soon and useless otherwise, it will be the editors in the former category that get the pitch first.

Convenience versus money
These editors may not be the ones at the best-paying publications, but they are the ones that allow me to mobilise quickly, get the job done and secure the commission with a minimum of hassles. And sometimes that convenience is worth more than the money – it leaves more time to concentrate my resources and time on another story for someone else.

#59 – Following up on an initial pitch

Or what is pestering?

Time to move on?
So you’ve sent your pitch and you’ve heard nothing back. Is it time to move on? Well, I’m sure if you ask most editors, they will say: “If you haven’t heard anything, we’re not interested.” Usually, of course, this is true.

Standard fob-off
But sometimes it isn’t. It can be used as a standard fob off. Sometimes, if the editor is being honest, they will have to admit that they haven’t read your e-mail. And this is why it is always worth following up.

Second e-mail
Sending a second e-mail that politely enquires whether the initial pitch was received and whether it would be of interest can sometimes pay dividends. The editor may not have seen the original e-mail, or forgotten to reply to it, or glossed over it without reading it. A second e-mail is more likely to illicit a response, irrespective of what happened to the first one. In fact, I have one editor who almost inevitably only responds to the follow-up e-mail.

Fine line
But there is a fine line between following up and pestering, and it is difficult to know where that line lies. There’s no real correct answer when it comes to the best time to follow up – different writers will give you different responses.

Relationship and frequency of publication
I’d argue that the length of time before a follow-up e-mail depends on your relationship with the editor and the frequency of a publication. Monthly magazines obviously have longer decision making processes, so I would probably leave it at least a month before following up with an editor at such a magazine. And that’s if I have worked with them in the past. It’s probably six to eight weeks for a blind pitch sent to someone I’ve had no previous dealings with.

Weekly travel section
For a weekly travel section or website, I’d argue that it can be followed up more quickly. Probably two to three weeks for an editor I do know and maybe four for one I don’t.

Arbitrary timeframes
These timeframes are fairly arbitrary, of course, and are largely based on what I feel constitutes pestering. Other writers will have different opinions, and if they’d like to share them by adding a comment, that would be wonderful.

#56 – When is it best to e-mail a pitch to an editor?

Or the secret of timing.

Best time to approach?
On a forum I frequent from time to time, an interesting topic recently came up: When is the best time to approach an editor?

Monday morning pile-up
The range of responses to this question was fascinating. Most writers seemed to agree that the worst place for your pitch to be is in the huge Monday morning e-mail pile up. But some said that editors often read e-mails on the weekend when they have a bit of peace and quiet. I can vouch for that – I’ve occasionally received an unexpected e-mail from an editor on a Sunday.

Friday afternoon and weekend mode
Others suggested avoiding Friday afternoon, as that is when weekend mode has kicked in and the mind is not on work. There’s a counter argument to that as well – perhaps a response is more likely when an editor is relaxed?

Print deadline
There were strong arguments for Tuesdays, others for Thursdays, and frankly it’s possible to argue any position with a reasonable degree of validity. But I think everyone would agree that the worst time to pitch is just before the print deadline.

All hands on deck
When the paper or magazine is about to go to press, it’s usually all hands on deck, fairly intense and there can often be a state of blind panic. So if you know which day of the week or date in the month press day is, don’t pitch then. Pitch a day or two afterwards when the ship has sailed.

Instant response
The other thing I try and do is to try and pitch when the editor is likely to be at their desk. This is purely because I know what I’m like – I’ll often respond to an e-mail straight away if it provides an opportunity to distract myself from what I am supposed to be doing.

E-mail backlog
An especially good time is when the editor is clearing the backlog of e-mails that have arrived since the end of the previous working day. Send then, and yours goes to the top. If not during, then just after is a good time – it’s still fresh, and the mind is still in response mode before starting to tackle meatier matters.

#55 – Why specially formatted sections are the easy way in

Or supply and demand for regular slots.

Too many stories
The editor of one of my outlets usually has more than enough stories to fill her travel section with. She could probably fill it four or five times over every week, even though there’s a high pagination. Understandably, therefore, it is not really in her interests to put out appeals for yet more stories.

Pleading e-mail
Relatively frequently, however, I will get a pleading e-mail from her. She’ll want to know whether I have any stories that fit a particular slot in the paper. This slot is around 700 words long, and is in an identifiably structured format.

Written specifically for the slot
This format means that there isn’t much flexibility with any articles going in that slot. Realistically, they have to be written specifically for that slot. And that’s probably why she’s always short of pieces to fill it with.

Supply and demand
Most of the articles she’ll be sent are the ones we all enjoy writing – travel narratives in an essay-style format. And I’m sure this applies equally to other magazines and newspaper travel sections. Logic dictates, therefore, that these specially formatted slots are the easy way in. There is less competition; supply and demand.

Same structure
Most magazines and newspapers have such slots (often called departments in the United States). To anyone who has read more than one copy of the publication, these sections are easily identifiable - they follow the same structure every issue.

Lack of competition
And due to the lack of competition, a pitch aimed at that slot or department is more likely to get the editor’s attention. Craft a pitch specially designed for that slot, put the name of the slot in the e-mail subject heading and make sure you highlight why your idea is good for that slot – not just the publication as a whole.

Breaking into new publications
In the past, I have found this an excellent way of breaking into new publications. Editors who have ignored rafts of e-mails suddenly become responsive, and in one instance I’ve ended up taking over that slot as my own regular gig.

#50 - Pitch a story, not a list of destinations

Or how to avoid annoying an editor.

Annoying freelancer habits
The other week, I asked one of my editors what freelancer habits annoyed her most. This was her response:

“I think the most annoying emails are the ones giving someone’s life story and then just saying ‘so I can write any kind of article you like’.
“A close second would be ones that just give a list of well known countries the writer is about to travel to and asking me if I’d like any articles written about them… it’s up to writers to pitch story ideas to me, not the other way round.”

The freelancer’s job
OK then. Hands up – who has made a pitch like that at some point? I know I have, and it’s very easy to see this editor’s point. It is the freelancer’s job to come up with a story idea. It’s important to get to the point in a pitch. You are selling an idea, not asking whether an editor would like to give you some work.

The destination is not a story in itself
If you put yourself in the editor’s shoes, would you be likely to commission someone on the basis of a list of countries they are going to? Of course not. I refer back to my earlier point – a destination is not a story in itself. And if that mantra doesn’t stick, then be aware that you’re going to annoy a few editors.

#21 – Why editors love round-up articles

Or playing the numbers game

Money-spinning list articles
Round-up – or list – articles are brilliant money-spinners for the freelance travel writer. I’m afraid that if you keep coming back to this site, you’re probably going to get bored of me saying that. I’m not going to apologise for this – it is a point well worth emphasising. Even if it is with a sledgehammer.

Editor response
I will always remember the response of one of my editors when I pitched him one of these best-of pieces. I can’t even remember what it was now (probably something like Top Ten Adrenaline Rushes in Australia), but the e-mail he sent commissioning it was very illuminating.

Number on the cover
I’m paraphrasing a little here, but his response was something along the lines of: “Yep, sounds great. And it’ll keep the publisher happy – get a number on the cover and all that.”
It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? But an enticing magazine cover is a hugely important factor in getting readers to pick up and buy a magazine.

Top Ten or Fifty Best?
And list articles will do that. Think about when you read through a magazine or travel section. Most of us will flick past stories about destinations we’re not interested in. But when there’s a Top Ten, Fifty Best or 100 To Do Before You Die, we’ll look. Well I certainly do, and magazine sales figures suggest that others do too.

Menu of choices
Why do we do this? It’s partly out of curiosity – we want to know which has been deemed the best, and want to argue over it. It’s also partly because we like having a menu of choices – if we fancy going to a tropical island, it’s nice to have bite-sized round-ups of a few tropical islands to look through.

Selling more copies
To the publisher, however, it’s all about the bottom line. Sell more copies, make more money. And if having a few numbers on the front (30 greatest, top 50, whatever) sells more copies, then they’re going to want articles that allow them to do that.
And unless the editor doesn’t want to keep his or her job, (s)he is going to be looking for that sort of piece to put on the cover too. The magazine can have some of the best writing in the world, but ultimately the editor’s performance will be based on how many people buy the thing.

Not an isolated incident
This editor wasn’t the first to mention this tendency to me either – another said much the same thing when I proposed 50 Things To Do In Australia For Free to her. “Ooh – that’ll look good on the cover...”

#17 – Go against the reputation to find a story angle

Or why opposites attract

One of the easiest ways to find a good angle on a destination to write about is to think about what the city or region is best known for. And once you’ve thought about what gives the destination its reputation, search for the opposite.

New angles on old favourite destinations
As I’ve said before, editors are constantly looking for new angles on old favourite destinations. And if I had to pick one rule-of-thumb trick that works in what they’ll go for, it’s this reputation twist.
Instead of rambling on about ways to do this, it’s probably best to just give a few examples of pieces I’ve written before.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Reputation? ‘Coffee’ shops, red light district and debauchery.
Opposite: The serious side of Amsterdam – Anne Frank’s House, the Dutch Resistance Museum etc.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Reputation? Ludicrous building projects, huge shopping malls and general ostentatious wealth.
Opposite: The non-blingy side of Dubai - the largely immigrant-populated area of Deira, the beaches away from the Jumeirah strip, public ferries on the Dubai Creek.

Hunter Valley, Australia
Reputation? One of the great New World wine regions.
Opposite: The growing micro-brewing industry in the area – the beer makers that are taking on the wineries.

Brussels, Belgium
Reputation? A bit boring, full of politicians.
Opposite: The fun side of Brussels – most entertaining attractions and best places to go for a party atmosphere.

Oslo, Norway
Reputation? Tear-jerkingly expensive.
Opposite: How to do Oslo on a budget – good value for money hotels, cheap eats etc.

See, it’s a relatively simple (almost lazy) trick. But it often works. Try applying it to the destination you’re planning to visit next, or one in your local area, and send out a few pitches once you’ve looked into how you could write an article on the opposite to the stereotype. You may well get a bite.

#16 – When the destination IS a story in itself

Or when editors need to cover their areas

Here I go, contradicting myself again. Having just said that a destination isn’t a story in itself, I should point out the rare occasions when it is. Be forewarned, however – this doesn’t really apply for those that haven’t already got a good relationship with an editor.

Fancy a story?
If everything goes well, at some point in your career, you will get to the stage when a few editors know you well enough to be able to trust you to write a good piece, irrespective of the destination or subject.
At this stage, with certain editors, you’ll be able to drop a quick e-mail saying: “I’m off to Sicily in a couple of weeks’ time – fancy a story?”
And a lot of the time, they’ll say yes.

Rapport and relationship
Frankly, this is a bad habit to get into. It can work, but only when that rapport and relationship has been built to the point where you are a trusted regular contributor.
And even then it only works when they’re looking to cover a particular area or region.
This works in a different way with newspapers and magazines. For newspapers it’s a case of not wanting to tread over the same old ground all the time. If there’s a fairly large travel section that comes out every week, it only stands to reason that the editor will want to get a reasonably good geographical spread over time.

Caribbean commissions
A classic example of this is one of the papers I work for in Australia. Earlier this year, I said I was planning to head over the Caribbean for a couple of weeks, and the editor was immediately interested. She said that they never got any stories from the Caribbean, and immediately commissioned pieces on four or five islands.
Even then though, I had to give an idea of what sort of angles I may cover in the piece (ie. Watersports, particular hotels, celebrity spotting).

General guide pieces
For magazines – particularly ones focused on a particular country – it may simply be a case of them not having covered a particular region or city for a while and feeling that they should have a piece on it before long.
These tend to be very general guide pieces, or ones with a slight slant. But to be honest, it doesn’t really matter; if a magazine about Australia hasn’t covered Adelaide or Perth for year or so, it’s going to need a feature on Adelaide or Perth relatively soon.

Advertising sales
Be aware that this can often be advertising fuelled – the sales team may want to mine a fruitful area, and doing a feature on a certain destination can help pull in advertising dollars from companies with links to it.
See – I told you that it helps to bear the link between writing and advertising in mind, didn’t I?

Informal pitching – not for beginners
But I do say this rather reluctantly. For a new writer starting out, the informal pitching of destinations you’re going to without specifying a strong angle is a sure-fire loser. Only contemplate it when you have a strong relationship with the editor and you understand the needs of the publication.

#15 – The destination is not a story in itself

Or learning how to play the angles

If there’s one phrase that crops up time and time again in editorial guidelines for a travel section/ travel magazine it is: “The destination is not a story in itself.” Too right it isn’t.

Would you like a story on Venice?
Say you’ve been to Venice, had a wonderful time, and written what you think is a brilliant piece about your experiences. It may be a superb piece of writing, but the likelihood is that this isn’t enough to sell it.
Let’s face it, the editors you try and pitch it to have probably heard “Would you like a story on Venice?” a hundred times before. And you’ve not given them a good reason to pick yours over anyone else’s.

Venice story angles
What you need is an angle – a focus on an aspect of Venice that is interesting, and preferably hasn’t been covered very much. ‘Venice’ isn’t a story, but the campaign to save Venice from sinking is. So is Venice’s newest hotels. So is a day in the life of a gondolier.
Then there’s Venice on a budget, the military history of Venice, the population exodus, the rejuvenation of the Lido, Venice’s best coffee, places to avoid in Venice etc. For the record, when I went for four days in February 2007, I got four full stories out it, and numerous snippets that I used at a later date.

One visit: four stories
One was a general Best Of Venice guide piece (which I had been commissioned for in advance – one of the rare occasions where the destination WAS the story ; they just needed a guide to Venice). The others I sold later – one was on exploring Venice in the dead of night, one on the arty islands of the Venice lagoon and the third on how nearby Treviso is trying to fight its way out of Venice’s shadow.
Looking back, I could have easily got a couple of other stories, but the visit was at the end of a long trip and I was exhausted. My brain and body just said “no more” for at least half a day.

New approaches to old favourites
Exactly the same principle applies for other destinations – look for the angles. The more novel and intriguing the angle, the better chance it has of selling. Editors are crying out for different approaches to old favourite destinations. Give them what they want, and you’ll start making some money very quickly.

#14. Don’t send attachments with pitches

Or why Word is out.

In my previous tip, I sang the praises of sending articles on spec when trying to crack a new publication. However, when sending that article, don’t make the mistake of sending it as an attachment.
Many of us will use Microsoft Word as a matter of course when writing, and it would seem logical to send a completed article as a Word document. I’ll give you three reasons why you shouldn’t.

#1 – Not everyone uses Word.
In practice, most publications will have Word on their computers because they know they will get sent Word documents from time to time. But it will be used surprisingly rarely. The big papers have their own software, others will work with Quark Xpress and Adobe Indesign when laying out pages.
While Word isn’t necessarily incompatible with these programs, it can throw up some oddities that are annoying and time consuming to get rid of.

#2 – Firewalls and internet security
In these days of appeals for money from Burkina Faso, malware and endless spam about Viagra, internet security at publishing companies has to be reasonably tight.
Filters and firewalls are set up to stop nasties getting into the system. And often that this means that an e-mail with an attachment sent from an unrecognised source can end up in the junk folder. Yes, that means your masterpiece that you sent on the word document.

#3 – Making it easy for editors
The third reason is relatively simple. Making the editor open an attachment gives them an extra thing to do, and thus they’re less likely to read your story.
If it’s pasted into the body of your e-mail, below the pitch or your signature, then they can just scroll down and take a look.
They’ll probably only skim read the first paragraphs, but that’s two more paragraphs than you might get if sent as an attachment.

#13. Writing travel articles on spec

Or letting the dog see the rabbit.

Waiting for commissions
For this nugget of advice, I return to tip number nine - If you want to write about travel, do some travelling. I mentioned that odd breed that will set at home, not going anywhere until they’ve got a commission, and thinking that this is the only way to make money/ get into travel writing.

Back the pitch up with an article
These are also the people that will send endless pitches, and are probably the ones obsessed with getting a stack of ‘clips’ that they can show to editors to back up their pitch.
Well I reckon there’s something a lot better to back up the pitch with – the article itself.

Try on the editor’s shoes
Put yourself in the editor’s shoes. What do you prefer? Is it to e-mail back to someone you’ve never worked with before, saying that you quite like the idea, and would be interested in seeing the story? Or is it to see that story instantly, be able to immediately decide whether you want it or not, and then send an e-mail offering to buy it? It’s the latter, obviously.

Sending on spec to break into new publications
Most of the times when I have broken into a new publication, it has been by sending an article on spec like this. This was certainly the case when I was starting out.
Editors simply haven’t got time to respond to endless pitches from people they haven’t heard of or worked with before. But if your story pops up fully formed in their inbox and appeals to them, you can jump the queue.

A matter of trust
Many travel writers discourage this approach, saying that in doing it, you are putting the time in for no certain gain. Well, when starting out, that’s pretty much what you have to do. When the editor becomes a regular client, they’ll trust you and are far more likely to trust that what you eventually send will be good.
But when they don’t know you, why should they trust you above every other freelancer that’s trying to crack the publication? When the piece is sent on spec, they don’t need to. They can see exactly how good the story is.

Format the story for the publication
This said, you should be careful to make sure the story is a good fit for the publication – roughly the same tone and word length, with the fact boxes in the same format the newspaper/ magazine/ website uses. Don’t just send them any old tosh.
It takes a little more time to format things properly, but it gives your piece a much higher chance of being accepted.

Move on until you get a bite
And if it isn’t accepted (or, more likely, completely ignored)? Then move on to the next publication that you think may be a good match for the story. Re-format accordingly, then send away. And keep on moving down the line until someone bites.

#6 – Spell the editor’s name correctly

Or how not to clatter headlong into the first hurdle

Simple common sense
This tip should be simple common sense, but to some people, evidently not. In a previous incarnation, I was the editor of a backpacker magazine in Australia. I did the job for four years, and I quickly established one golden rule: never give a job to someone that can’t spell my name.

Filtering process
Because the magazine employed staff writers on working holiday visas, and they could only legally work for three months at a time there was a high staff turnover. Therefore jobs were being advertised all the time, and my inbox was constantly full of applications. There had to be some sort of filtering process.

Incorrect spelling equals instant deletion
Mine was to delete anything from someone who spelt my name incorrectly. This may seem harsh, but come on, if you can’t get the absolute basics right, then anything more complex is likely to be a disaster. My name was printed in the masthead, and printed on top of various articles within the magazine. It was also stated quite clearly in the job advertisement.

How not to get the job
Yet I would still get a disturbingly large percentage of applications addressed to Mr Whiteley or Mr Whitely. Clearly from people that were incapable of processing simple information. And, unsurprisingly, none of them got the job.

Pointlessly careless mistake
It’s such a pointlessly careless mistake to make, and even if other editors don’t apply my ruthless filtering system, then an incorrect spelling will at least annoy them. And do you really want to start a potential working relationship by pissing someone off?

Jane or Jayne?
So, even if it seems straightforward, check. Is it Jane or Jayne? Is it McClare, McLair or McClair? Getting it wrong could prove extremely costly.

#5. Find the editor’s real e-mail address

Or how to get past the filtering system

When sending a pitch to an editor for the first time, one of the key things is to send that pitch to correct e-mail address. This seems fairly self-explanatory, doesn’t it? But it’s not quite as simple as you might think.

Using the e-mail address from the masthead
The trap that many freelance writers will fall into when sending a first pitch to an editor they have not contacted before is that they will use the e-mail address that is printed as the editor’s address in the masthead of the magazine/ contents section of the paper.
Believe it or not, this address is rarely the editor’s actual address.

Generic editorial contacts act as filters
Many publications will put the editorial contact as something like travel@newspaper.com or editor@magazine.com. If it is something this generic, then the address is almost certainly a holding pen. It is used as a filter to stop the editor’s real address being bombarded with letters from readers, press releases from PR companies and – most importantly – pitches from freelancers.
Most e-mails sent to this address will eventually get read, but it could be by any member of the editorial team.

Phone up and ask reception
So how do you find the editor’s real e-mail address? The one where e-mail goes to them, or them alone? There are a few ways. The best is to simply phone up and ask. If the person on reception gives the same address that is printed in the magazine, rephrase the question.

Company e-mail format
Ask what the editor’s name is – being careful to get the correct spelling – and ask what the company’s e-mail format is. It may be firstname.lastname@company.com or initiallastname@company.com – something like that. Either way, it’s a fair bet that the editor’s direct address follows that format.

Intelligent guess from the masthead
Of course, it is possible to make an intelligent guess at this direct address from looking at the masthead. Often the advertising people on a publication WANT to be contacted directly – they will have their real address printed in the masthead.
From that, it can be easy to deduce the company’s e-mail format. Apply it to the editor’s name, and you should strike gold.