Travel writing has never been more popular. In this article extract from the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2025, Jen and Sim Benson offer invaluable advice about pitches for travel books.
The print media world is fast and furious, and everyone’s always on a deadline. When you’re pitching to a magazine or newspaper, spend a moment imagining what an editor’s day looks like. They’ll probably receive dozens – if not hundreds – of emails pitching ideas for articles every day. So start off by making your email one they have to click on, drawing them in with a catchy subject line. Instead of calling it ‘Article Proposal’, pique their interest with a great title for your piece.
[…] Keep pitches short and to the point. Remember, editors are busy people, so the best pitches capture a great idea in an engaging way and get it across in a couple of sentences. Include your suggested headline, a brief summary of the story, who or what will feature in your piece and why it should be covered now. Having a time limit – for example a festival, seasonal element, launch event or other reason to commission your piece right now – can all be helpful.
Find an angle on your place or story that’s unusual but relevant and interesting to the publication’s readers. Imagine you’re taking a photo of an iconic building or view. You can stand where everyone else stands and get the same photo, or you can be inventive, zooming in or out on your subject, getting other people involved, or visit at an unusual time of day or time of year. As well as your main pitch, you could also include a couple of one-line suggestions for alternative stories or angles on your main story.
In the same way as avoiding reproducing the same ‘view’ on a place, try to avoid using cliche´s in your writing. Travel editors in particular will have read about many crystal-clear lakes, snow-capped mountains and spectacular sunsets, so giving them more of the same is unlikely to capture their interest. Instead, give them a story that explores a place or activity in a new way that they may not have considered before, using fresh, vibrant language.
Jen and Sim Benson are outdoor adventure writers and photographers. They are regular contributors to Walk, Trail, Country Walking and Runner’s World magazines, and have written for the Guardian, The Times and the Telegraph. Their books include The Adventurer’s Guide to Britain (Bloomsbury 2018), Short Runs in Beautiful Places (National Trust Books 2020), 100 Great Walks with Kids (Bloomsbury 2021) and The Camping Bible (Bloomsbury 2024). Find out more at: https://jenandsimbenson.co.uk/.
Comments