Travel Pitching 101

How to get your articles published in major media outlets

So you want to be a professional travel writer for major media outlets? It’s more accessible than you think.

Every Tuesday I write a 101 post to tell you more about the paid travel opportunities I share on my Substack account and how you can take advantage. Today, we’re doing a deep dive into pitching freelance travel writing articles.

Who am I?

By way of background, hi! 👋 I’m Jen Ruiz, a lawyer turned professional travel writer and content creator. Freelance writing is the first income I made in this field, in 2016.

Since then, I’ve won 7 national travel journalism awards, been published in outlets like National Geographic, TIME, and Fodor’s Travel, and am currently the destination editor for Lonely Planet’s Central America guidebooks.

When you write an article for an outlet but are not on staff, you’re considered a freelance writer/contributor. Payment for your work is either a flat rate or per word. In some cases, you might be a free contributor, but I’d like to get you to the point of getting paid, and take you from hobby to business.

Most outlets have a process for accepting article ideas from writers. Primarily, it relies on pitching your idea to an editor or editorial team to be considered and possibly commissioned.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when crafting the perfect pitch:

Digital and print are two different things

The timeline for having your digital article published goes much quicker. You can write an article that goes live on the site tomorrow. With print, pitching is done months ahead of the publication schedule.

Print can also be more lucrative than digital, with rates that can range from $1-$2/word, whereas digital might be $.10-$.50/word.

You need to have writing samples

An editor wants to know that they’re not taking a gamble when they hire you. Seeing proof of your work in other major media outlets is important. It shows you can write, know how to work with editors, and can meet deadlines.

If you don’t have these bylines yet, you can start by contributing to places that take unpaid submissions, like Buzzfeed, Thought Catalog, and She’s Wanderful.

Evergreen content isn’t as compelling

Evergreen content is content that is still relevant years from now. Think “top 10 things to do in X city.” This would be good for blogs, and many media outlets have this core content that is done (and regularly updated) by staff writers and editors.

That’s not to say it won’t be assigned, particularly if it’s a fun roundup like best pet friendly hotels or where to find bioluminescence around the world, but having a timely tie-in gives you an edge.

Journalists like writing about newsworthy, trending content. How can you tie your article idea to a current news hook?

An excellent example I just saw of this is a friend who lives in Thailand that wrote a piece about what White Lotus got right and wrong. I picture editors salivating over that piece, given how much traction the show was getting, since their job is to commission articles that generate views to the website.

The more you can tie your article to timely news, the stronger it is. This is the difference between journalism and guidebook or copywriting work, for instance, which I can explain in a future 101 post.

Whenever possible, pitch the editor

Certain outlets like Fodor’s have a bulk submission form where everyone, even veteran writers, pitch through. Otherwise, you want to send your pitch ideas to a specific editor.

Ideally, the right editor to commission the piece you want to write. Different outlets assign different editors to oversee different sections. It helps to address the editor by name, know what section of the site or magazine you see your article fitting into, and confirm that they haven’t already published an article on this topic in the past.

What makes a good pitch? (Structure + Ingredients)

A basic pitch format you can follow is:

• Subject Line: Catchy, clear, clickbaity headline for your article (NOT subject line: Pitch for X Magazine)

• Greeting: Use the editor’s name

• Intro: One sentence, not about you at all, rather “Please accept the following pitch”

• Title of article: Make it so readers would want to click, put it in bold so it stands out, mimic the format and tone of other titles for that publication

• Hook: What’s your angle/tie-in?

• Summary: 2-3 sentences on what the article will cover

• Bonus assets (optional): Are you providing any photos? Videos? Exclusive expert interviews?

• Why You: Brief bio (2-3 sentences max) and links to writing samples (2-3 samples, mix of the most relevant to the topic you’re pitching and most recognizable outlet names)

• Close: “Happy to provide more details if needed. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.”

Sample Pitch

This week I put up a call for pitches from Hotels Above Par. A few people pitched me, not clear I wasn’t the contact. If I were pitching this opportunity, knowing the editor’s inbox is flooded right now, here’s what I would write:

Subject line: Luxury glass domes in the desert in Jordan

Hi ::name::,

I saw your call for pitches on boutique hotels. Please accept the following:

Stargaze and digital detox at these glass domes in the Jordanian desert

This Jordanian desert camp lets you sleep under the stars in luxury

Memories Aicha Luxury Camp is a unique property featuring panoramic glass domes that open up to the desert sky. Stargaze from your king sized bed under plush, high thread count sheets. Notably, only Bedouin owners can set up properties in the Wadi Rum Desert, so this area is different in that there are no chain hotels allowed. I have high res images and video to accompany this piece.

By way of background, my name is Jen Ruiz and I’m an award-winning travel writer. Please find my work samples below.

Kind regards,

Jen

Work sample link one

Work sample link two

—

This property has already been covered by the publication which is why I use it as an example here (don’t pitch this!). Before pitching, always check to see if they’ve written about what you’re pitching already.

Strategies to note:

• I put info about the hotel in the subject line so the editor can scan quickly through the hundreds of emails they received

• I created sample titles in the voice and format of other titles on the website

• I led with my idea and not my bio

• I made clear how this was relevant and responding to the call for unique boutique properties as opposed to chain hotels

What to avoid

Common beginner mistakes include:

• Pitching a destination rather than a story

• Writing long-winded pitches (limit your pitches to one idea per email!)

• Using generic ideas without a unique angle

• Not proofreading pitches

• Pitching the same idea to more than one editor at once. If one commissions it, you have to go to the others and be like, “sike!” and it burns a bridge. You don’t want your article sitting forever with an editor that’s indecisive or that you haven’t heard back from, so you can always follow up after a week or two and say “if I don’t hear from you by X date I’ll assume it’s a pass and pitch elsewhere.” I’ll address follow-ups in a future post.

There’s more than one way to pitch

In addition to cold pitching editors, editors often put out calls for pitches.

These are easier to get assigned since the writer is looking for someone to write the article immediately, and are just looking for a person who meets that criteria. I saw calls for pitches yesterday for residents of particular areas in the UK and France to write local guides. If you were one of these residents, you would reply, and your chance of being commissioned is much higher than a bulk, unsolicited pitch.

Writers can also pitch through contributor programs and portals, like the Matador Creators Community (I share the paid opportunities from here but they have unpaid opps for beginners looking to build a portfolio).

By being a member of the Jet Plane Crew, you’ll get these opportunities straight to your inbox so you can pitch time sensitive ideas and respond quickly to calls for pitches before the article is assigned to someone else.

Ask any questions, and I’ll see you next week for another 101 post!