Pitches wanted (backpacking, adventure, environment) (US, Canada) | 50+ cents per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: TRAILS MAGAZINE 

Ryan Wichelns and Stasia Stockwell, Editors at Trails Magazine, are looking for pitches:

We're releasing all of the information about contributing to Issue Two of Trails Magazine, today, on our website: trailsmag.net/contribute

Compared to Issue One, we have a lot more planned out for you: Rubrics to fit your stories, topics to focus on, and a better idea of what we like and are willing to publish. We also have a rounded-out editorial team excited to hear your pitches. Please read through this page thoroughly before sending your ideas in, paying special attention to what we do and don't cover, Issue Two's "thread," and which editors are best suited for the story you're hoping to pitch. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

We wanted to make sure all of this was on your radar as things wound back up following the holidays. Take some time to think and brainstorm and send along your ideas! Our goal is to have most of Issue Two assigned before February 1 with deadlines sometime in March or April. Issue Two will print in May.

IS THERE A BROAD THEME FOR ISSUE 2?

Whether it’s through technology, policy, our own personal hubris, gatekeeping, and more, we as humans are constantly trying to exercise some type of control over what we can’t normally affect: our wild spaces and the time we spend within them. For Issue Two, we’re looking for stories that explore the idea of that control on the micro or macro levels—our instincts and efforts to find it, as well as the difficulties and issues that control poses, and nature’s resistance to it.

Feel free to be liberal with your interpretation of that thread and how you choose to apply it to your pitches. It’s also not absolutely necessary that every pitch you send has an obvious connection to it. We’re happy to work with you to massage it into your stories, assign your story to a later issue, or frankly, to just ignore the prompt altogether (we don’t expect every story to fit perfectly). But the best pitches will have a subtle connection to it.

Issue Two prints in May 2023. Seasonality is not a critical piece of the magazine, but keep the timing of the publication in mind.

HOW MUCH WILL I GET PAID?

We pay our writers a minimum of $0.50/word—that climbs based on the story and your experience. It’s not New York Times Magazine money (or what we assume is NYTM money—we don’t actually know), but as one-time freelancers ourselves, we’re committed to paying our creators fairly, even as a startup, and we hope to treat our creatives even better as time goes on. This is important to us. Trails issues payment to contributors upon publication.

WHO DO I EMAIL?

Before sending a pitch, think about what topic it covers, not necessarily what rubric you would like it to fit. Send your pitches directly to the editor responsible for that topic, as closely as you can.

For gear-related stories (including Unreviewed), stories that center on specific adventures adventurous anecdotes (including Trip Reports or adventure-related features), stories focused on sharing a place or destination (including Outhouse Reviews), as well as opinions, send your pitches to:

Ryan Wichelns, Editor-in-Chief: ryan@trailsmag.net

For stories centered around people and personalities (including profile features), skills (including the Food and Skills rubrics), as well as essays, send your pitches to:

Stasia Stockwell, Managing Editor: stasia@trailsmag.net

CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

• Submissions: ryan@trailsmag.net or stasia@trailsmag.net
• Website: https://trailsmag.net/

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Trail Magazine focuses on backpacking and other human/naturally-powered means of sleeping outdoors: bike packing, canoe camping, even rafting or mountaineering in North America. More information here.
• Review the submission guidelines here.
• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook Database and at SuccessfulPitches.com.
• Do not forget to end your pitch with (1) a short introduction about yourself; (2) a paragraph highlighting your writing experience, relevant credentials and publication credits; and (3) links to your strongest work or portfolio, and online profile.

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