“In story after story,” Andrew McCarthy wrote about volume 11 of The Best Women’s Travel Writing, “the refreshing absence of bluster and bravado, coupled with the optimism necessary for bold travel, create a unifying narrative that testifies to the personal value and cultural import of leaving the perceived safety of home and setting out into the wider world.”
You can read the whole review here, and you can submit an essay for consideration to the next volume, coming out in 2025. This will be the thirteenth volume in the series, and the seventh I’ve had the honor of editing. Please find all the guidelines below.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Please send us your best true stories about travel throughout the world for our award-winning series, The Best Women’s Travel Writing. We’re looking for the full range of experience: adventurous, mystical, funny, poignant, culinary, cross-cultural, transformational, romantic, illuminating, frightening, grim, sexy, spiritual—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.
Submission Deadline: September 30th, 2024.
Previously published essays are OK, provided you control all rights to the story. Please check that you retain rights, before submitting. Multiple submissions are also OK.
Length & Type of Story
There’s no set length, but to get a sense of what we generally publish, please take a look at The Best Women’s Travel Writing Volume 12, The Best Women’s Travel Writing Volume 11, 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. (In general, somewhere between 1,200-4,000 words is recommended, though we do publish shorter and longer works.)
We strongly (really, really strongly) encourage you to read the books, as there’s no better 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:
Editors of magazines, websites and literary journals may email essay nominations to lavinia@laviniaspalding.com. (Please do not email directly unless you are an editor nominating contributors’ essays published in the past several years.)
Make sure to include on your essay all of your contact information, plus a 3- to 10-line bio about yourself.
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 collection, so if you miss the deadline, your story will be considered for the following edition. Also, In addition to publishing books, we like to promote the best travel writing we can find and do so in the Travelers’ Tales Editors’ Choice section and elsewhere on the website. By submitting your story to Travelers’ Tales, you agree that Travelers’ Tales may post it on the 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 Travelers’ Tales to post your story, please indicate this clearly at the beginning of your submission.
If your story is selected for publication, we will contact you regarding permission and payment.
***Due to the volume 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.***
