* Submissions to the Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 11 are closed, but we read for anthologies all year round. To submit to next year’s collection (and other Travelers’ Tales titles) please submit your stories at www.travelerstalesstories.com
I’m totally thrilled to be editing another volume of The Best Women’s Travel Writing, scheduled for publication in the spring of 2017 by Travelers’ Tales. This will be the fifth volume I’ve had the honor of editing. Being involved in the series is one of the most rewarding parts of my life. Each year I read hundreds and hundreds of essays in order to select the thirty-some that ultimately make it into the collection. And I have started reading this year’s submissions, and I’m excited! But I need more! The submission deadline is August 31st, so please send me your stories. (It’s ok if they’ve already been published, provided you retain all rights. Here are all the submission guidelines. I look forward to hearing from you!
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Women writers, please send us your best true stories about travel throughout the world for our annual series, The Best Women’s Travel Writing. We’re looking for the full range of experience: adventurous, mystical, funny, poignant, cuisine-related, cross-cultural, transformational, funny, illuminating, frightening, grim, you name it. Stories should reflect the unique alchemy that occurs when you enter unfamiliar territory and begin to see the world differently as a result. Previously published essays are OK, provided you control all rights to the story. Multiple submissions are also OK.
Length & Type of Story
There’s no set length; however, I recommend a range of 1,000-5,000 words. To get a sense of what we are looking for, please take a look at The Best Women’s Travel Writing Volume 10, The Best Women’s Travel Writing Volume 9, The Best Women’s Travel Writing Volume 8, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2011,The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2008,The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2007, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2006, and The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2005.
I strongly (like, really, really strongly) encourage you to read the books, as it’s the best way to understand what we’re looking for.
Remuneration:
$100 honorarium, one free copy of the book, and the right to purchase an unlimited number of any Travelers’ Tales titles for 50% off the cover price (plus shipping and handling).
Submission:
Send your submissions in a doc or docx file to lavinia@laviniaspalding.com AND via the Travelers’ Tales website, here: www.travelerstalesstories.com
Please include on your essay all of your contact information, plus a 3- to 10-line bio about yourself. Essays will not be returned; notification of acceptances only, close to publication date.
Rights
We are interested in non-exclusive rights, in all languages, throughout the world. Our use of the material does not restrict the authors’ rights in any way to have their stories reprinted elsewhere.
Caveat
In most cases we will do some editing of accepted stories for considerations of style, grammar, or length and may also alter the story title.
Essays not selected will be considered for future Travelers’ Tales books, unless author explicitly requests otherwise. We collect year round for this annual collection, so if you miss the deadline your story will be considered for the following year. Also, In addition to publishing books, we like to promote the best travel writing we can find and do so in our Editors’ Choice section and elsewhere on our website. By submitting your story to Travelers’ Tales, you agree that we may post it on our site as an example of good travel writing. You will not be paid for this use, but you will retain all rights to your material, and as a Travelers’ Tales contributor you will be able to purchase any TT books at 50% off. If you do not wish us to post your story, please indicate this clearly at the beginning of your submission. If we select your story for publication, we will contact you regarding permission and payment.
***Due to the large number of submissions received we will only contact you if we decide to include your submission in this collection. Final decisions are made near the end of the editorial process, and all authors whose stories have been accepted are notified at that time.***
