Freelance travel writers & travel service writers needed

Since the majority of our editorial content is assigned to freelancers, we are always open to new writers. Below you’ll find brief guidelines to help you craft a compelling pitch. EDITORIAL FOCUS Wild Blue Yonder readers are active, educated travelers (median age: 40) who most often take shorter trips, such as three-day domestic jaunts, rather than 10-day international vacations. Here at Wild Blue Yonder, we believe that travel is about more than just seeing a destination—it’s about experiencing the authentic and unique qualities of each place. Through our “True to Travel” focus, we aim to deliver compelling, locally grown content, up-to-the-minute advice, and reliable insider information in order to help our readers make the most of each experience. WHAT TO PITCH Feature articles should be 1,500–2,000 words and fit within our editorial focus of day trips and 3-day weekends in a specific city or region (see destination list below). As long as you provide a fresh perspective and use active storytelling, we are open to pretty much anything. Just be sure that you are pitching a specific topic with an interesting angle, and not simply a piece on a destination or single activity. Especially interesting to us are stories that take a recent trend or hot news item and spin it to be of particular interest to travelers. Also, because all travel stories are visually driven, it is imperative that you include a link or contact for high-quality, high-resolution images that help to tell your story. Service articles are 200- to 700-word pieces on anything that will help our readers travel better, travel smarter, or find a better value. Identify a common problem that travelers face and provide solutions. Also attractive are guides to products and services that are relevant to travelers. If you have a particular area of expertise, let us know when you pitch. If you are well-versed in a certain field, such as business or family travel, you could become our go-to person as we assign stories in the future. Current service categories include Business Class (trends in business travel), Well Traveled (health, wellness and travel) and Wish List (travel-related or seasonal shopping) but we are open to new angles and ideas. Dining articles are 1,000–1,200 words and should cover a compelling food-related subject with a travel focus. Recent examples include “Organic Farm Dinners” (a feature about three leading-edge companies who prepare gourmet meals with local ingredients, on-site at farms throughout the country) and “Portland Pinot Pairings” (a destination-focused piece with food and wine woven in). True Traveler city guides are approximately 1,200 words and must be focused on one of the cities listed below. We want must-see and must-do information, from a local’s perspective. What are the first things that you do, see, and eat with friends visiting from out of town? What are the fabulous, fun, or quirky spots that only true locals know about? For example, is there an otherwise-unknown dive bar that truly serves the best Buffalo wings in Buffalo? Is there a must-see specialty boutique, or a particular spot in the park with unrivalled views of the setting sun? Guides should be packed with information about attractions, dining, nightlife, shopping and lodging. Each guide follows a very specific template, with regular categories, and must include an interview with a notable local. Please request a sample PDF for more information. WHAT NOT TO PITCH Nonspecific ideas about a destination will not be considered, nor will pitches that have no foreseeable travel angle. Remember, a destination in and of itself is not a story—give us a fresh perspective and good storytelling. You might also familiarize yourself with our editorial calendar to ensure that the story you’re pitching wasn’t in the last issue. LEAD TIME + PAYMENT Minimum of three months, but the more lead time the better. We pay upon publication. PITCH FORMAT Be clear and get straight to the point. Introduce your idea in one or two sentences, then provide several brief bullet points that tell us why your story is relevant and what is so great about this place or this experience. Follow this with a quick summary of your qualifications and include one pertinent, published writing clip. We prefer to review the actual published piece, and not your copy deck. If you have a website, you may provide links to specific articles. We may request additional writing samples. Send your pitches via [login to view URL], Or by postal mail to: Staci Amend Executive Editor Wild Blue Yonder Magazine 900 South Broadway, Suite 300 Denver, CO 80209 FRONTIER AIRLINES DESTINATIONS Albuquerque, NM Anchorage, AK Aspen, CO Atlanta, GA Austin, TX Billings, MT Boise, ID Bozeman, MT Chicago, IL Cleveland, OH Colorado Springs, CO Dallas / [login to view URL], TX Dayton, OH Denver, CO Detroit, MI Durango, CO El Paso, TX Fargo, ND Ft. Lauderdale, FL Grand Junction, CO Houston, TX Indianapolis, IN Jackson Hole, WY Kansas City, KS Los Angeles, CA Milwaukee, WI Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN Nashville, TN New York, NY Oklahoma City, OK Omaha, NE Orange County, CA Orlando, FL Philadelphia, PA Phoenix, AZ Portland, OR Rapid City, SD Sacramento, CA Salt Lake City, UT San Antonio, TX San Diego, CA San Francisco, CA San Jose, CA Seattle, WA Spokane, WA St. Louis, MO Tacoma, WA Tampa, FL Tulsa, OK Tuscan, AZ Washington, DC Wichita, KS Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Cancún, Mexico Cozumel, Mexico Mazatlán, Mexico Puerto Vallarta, Mexico San José, Costa Rica