Women Travel Writers Wanted

Submission Guidelines
Attention women travel writers (guys’ perspectives welcome too)

Thank you for considering The Travel Belles as a home for your travel-related stories. Our goal for The Travel Belles is to be a high quality, inspiring and practical place to conceive and perhaps even someday plan the trips of your dreams.

A writer for The Travel Belles most definitely doesn’t have to be from the South! Heck, she can be a he, as long as the piece is written with our audience in mind. Before submitting we advise you read at several of our articles to see the kinds of things we publish and take a look at our About page. Also please note that for writers who are new to us, we generally prefer completed pieces, but if you feel you have a great pitch, go for it!

We like to share stories that seek out “value luxury” travel experiences, where luxury is a personal choice and value means maximizing your dollars for the greatest experience. (read more about Value Luxury Travel in Value Luxury: Finding First Class Travel Experiences on an Economy Budget, an eBook co-authored by our editor.) Heads up: Although that intersection of where an individual’s budget and dream vacation meet varies from one Travel Belle to the next, generally, we are not backpackers or perpetual campers!

We are looking for 500 – 1200 word pieces including:

Lively traditional destination pieces that don’t read as if they were plucked from a tourism brochure. Some of the information can be, but aim to provide things that are purposeful, authentic and practical.
Insider pieces about metropolitan areas or destinations where you either live, or you know intimately. We think lots of writers are sitting on a mother lode of information about places people would love to travel. What would you share with your best friend or mother that can’t be found in a traditional travelogue? Tell us about the bistro several blocks off the beaten path located in an old laundromat, the boutique hotel or bed and breakfast that you’ve never seen in the pages of a glossy travel magazine, the best place to picnic and watch the sunset, or the funky museum. Strong point of view OK.
Pieces with a personal touch on just about everything related to travel, such as specific hotels, restaurants, products, health and humor. We also love books and movies about travel and destinations! Keep in mind we’re a positive place and come a little bit from the school of grandma that says, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Bottom line: Keep it constructive.
First-person stories that only you can tell, keeping in mind the travel slant.
Photo Essays featuring eight or more photos with at least 400 words or copy plus captions.

So dazzle us with your unique voice, point of view, jaundiced eye and sense of humor. Work from comped or discounted travel is fine, but remember, sparkle first, promotion second. Links are included at editorial discretion.

Also, we Travel Belles love inspiring photography, so please include original images with your story if you have them. If not, don’t fret! We can source photographs from the web, so don’t let a lack of images stop you from submitting a great story.

Payment Details: We pay $10 (ten US dollars) per article. We pay via Paypal in American currency at the end of the month. At this time we do not pay for accompanying photos. Stories will be edited for length and content.
Rights: We run previously unpublished material. We hold exclusive rights for 6 months, reserving the right to re-run on a different permalink, and print and all electronic anthology rights. We keep your article archived on the web indefinitely.
Guest Posts: We accept limited number of guest posts. If you are interested in discussing sponsored posts, please refer to our advertising page.
Scheduling accepted work: Please note that we generally work at least several months out. We receive many submissions and things can change rapidly and often. If your piece is accepted, it generally will not run for at least 2 months after acceptance. “Generally” is the operative word. Once we know when it is scheduled to run, we will let you know.

Very important so your work gets considered!

How to Submit: Submissions can be sent to Editor with “Submission” written in the subject line of a new email thread. Please either paste the written content in the body of the email or send as a Word doc saved in “rich text format.” Improperly submitted pieces will not be considered. Simultaneous submissions are fine. Photographs are desired and please send them along either as links on a photo sharing site or as attachments (620 – 700 px on the long edge, medium quality to make file sizes more managable, 900px on long edge for photo essays) with your submission especially if you feel it enhances your work. If photos are unavailable, don’t let it stop you. Please include a short bio (2-5 sentences or so, see examples here on site) and an email address associated with a Gravatar so your lovely visage will show up properly with your bio should we accept and run your work. We appreciate your submissions, and ask for your patience. We are a two woman show and extremely busy, but if you haven’t heard from us in a month or so, feel free to give us a nudge via email!