getting money from publishing articles
 

Has anyone been paid to have an article published in a magazine about there trip? If so how much were you paid?

If you did weekly/ monthly reports to the paper or magazine - how much did you get paid for that?

I write some articles from time to time.
Prices differs over the world but up here it’s generally around 200-300€ / page.
The articles opens some doors concerning sponsors.

Personally I avoid weekly / monthly reports because it makes to much influence on the journey. I find it’s better to write when you are in the mood and you have enough good pictures.

Interesting! How do go about getting them published? Do you write an article and then send to several publishers or do you pick one and offer them sole publishing of the article. Have always wondered how people get articles published.

Cheers
Wilky

There are multiple ways of doing this and the way I have chosen is the way I believe have less influence on my travels.
I write for only one magazine and usually I take contact before I go on a trip. From time to time I have written articles without prior agreement and except once it has been published, but it might take some time. It depends on the story..

It’s normal that the magazines don’t like that you write for several magazines. There are ways to work around this issue, but I have found that in total it’s best (for me) to keep it this way. If you write for several Magazines I think it’s important to tell it to your customers.

There are different magazines and different people but most magazines are keen on good pictures. The text can be rewritten when you get back home but that’s more difficult with pictures so you need to get it right. Bad pictures = No story. My articles usually have more then 50% pictures.

So what to do…. Find some of your best pictures; get them printed in big size (at least A4) and arrange a meeting. Tell them about your plans, tell them about prior trips, tell them something nice about the magazine. Be extremely careful and don’t promise them that they will have an article about you drinking tea with the Touaregs on their table in six weeks, because your bike will brake down, or you will have visa-problems or you simply meet a girl…. Don’t make any stupid promises.

This may be a stupid question - but what makes a good or bad picture...
what do they like to see??

I know when ever I was stuck in deep mud or taken a bad spill, I never thought about getting my camera out. I was just concentrating on the task at hand!

First of the entire picture the picture should be sharp and it should remain good quality when printed in a large size. The exposure should be correct and the pictures should not contain big areas that are completely black or white.
Books have been written about technique (and composition) and it might be wise to read one and then start to practice.

As a traveler you have the opportunity to take pictures which are different then the rest in the magazine. That’s a good thing and you should use it for what it’s worth.
Look on what types of pictures that’s in the magazine and try to make something different, it shouldn’t be to difficult.
Often you find that your location is completely different, it might be the nature, the people or whatever.
Don’t take 100 pictures of your bike in the sunset; try to mix it with some local stuff. Some action-shots are nice, but difficult if you travel alone.

The pictures should be varied and the text should fit the pictures.

Take a look at other pictures in blogs or here at Horizons, see what you like and what you don’t like. Then go through your own pictures…..

If you have an interest besides just travel, you'll have better luck, ie, I write for dog magazines about dogs overseas. Pay is anywhere from $200 to $900 an article with photos. I write for dog mags in Australia, England and the uS. If you have farming experience, you could write for farm journals about techniques overseas, doctoring, mechanical etc. all with an overseas angle. It helps if you feel passionate about your subject!

Lorraine

Very interesting thread.
 

I have thought of doing this myself, but like others, I haven't known where to start. Which sort of magazines are interested in travel stories? Are we talking about travel specific magazines or general weeklys? How do you set up meetings do see if they would be interested in your stuff?

Magazines
 

I have to be a bit sheepish as I haven't yet had anything published myself but: I e-mailed the editor of Bike magazine.( UK m/c mag.) who answered that they are always after WELL written articles and pay £1,000. I checked and that is about 6 pages of the right words in the right order and 2 pages of relevant pictures. Don't have a copy here but if you need his e-mail address I can get it tomorrow. Linzi.

Nice one Linzi, I'd appreciate any info you could pass on. But let's keep the sheep talk to the bar shall we!

Bike
 

Hi, do you know anything about the various UK magazines and what sort of bike and riding do you have and do? Linzi.

Magazines
 

Bike magazine editor: steve.rose A-tt bauermedia.co.uk

Motorcycle Sport and Leisure editor: tcarter A-tt mortons.co.uk

I just learnt that "10 meg is minimum file size needed at 300dpi print."

They really DO want top quality photos. Magazine quality actually, funnily enough!

Seems I need a new camera, curses. Tight-fisted Linzi.

Has anyone heard from the lad who was asking for articles a few months ago? Apparently they were to be published in TWO magazine and the lad was blasted by a number of people because no payment was being offered.

Did anyone write anything or did TWO even publish any such series or articles?

Thanks for the info Linzi. I have a feeling that my camera isn't up to the task either, I'll look into it.

The 300 DPI-rule is old but is still used as a rule of thumb. The quality of the pixels is better then they used to be. If you follow this rule you need 20 mega pixels to make a double page like this (Sorry about the crappy scanning.):

http://www.actiontouring.com/afart1.jpg

http://www.actiontouring.com/pic/afart2.jpg


You don’t find many 20 mega pixels cameras but you still se a lot of big pictures…
The number of megapixels is just a small part of the equation.