BootsnAll Travel Community

Perceptive Travel, a new web magazine for independent travelers, launched this week. The first issue features a prestigious list of travel authors and editors:

- Rolf Potts, author of “Vagabonding”

- Bruce Northam, author of “Globetrotter Dogma” and editor of “In Search of Adventure”

- Jen Leo, editor of three women’s humor collections from Travelers’ Tales: “Sand in My Bra,” “Whose Panties are These,” and “The Thong Also Rises”

- Peter Moore, author of “Vroom with a View,” “Swahili for the Broken Hearted,” and “The Full Montezuma”

- Harold Stephens, author of 24 books including “Take China: The Last of the China Marines,” “The Strange Disappearance of Jim Thompson,” and “Return to Adventure Southeast Asia.”

“I’m thrilled to be featuring such a high level of quality writing in the initial launch,” says Tim Leffel, editor of the publication. “Like a lot of independent travelers, I’m constantly frustrated by the sameness of the travel publications I see on my local newsstand. It’s getting harder each year to find travel magazines that are not devoted to conspicuous consumption. This is our attempt to serve curious travelers who are looking for more.”

Each issue will feature travel narratives from book authors, as well as a collection of travel book reviews and world music reviews. The current issue reviews the books “Don't Let the World Pass You By,” “Shadow Cities,” and “Signspotting.” Music reviews cover Pete Murray, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, Cheikh Lo, and a collection of Nigerian Music, “Lagos Chop-Up.”

Perceptive Travel will initially be published bi-monthly, with the next issue out in March. “We already have a long list of well-known authors lined up for future issues,” Leffel adds, “including Jeff Greenwald, Doug Lansky, and Ayun Halliday. I believe we will continually be able to attract highly-regarded writers looking for a showcase for their best work.”

To see the first issue of Perceptive Travel, go to www.PerceptiveTravel.com

Sadly, for those of us who might be interested in getting into travel writing, this is from their writers guidelines:

"It may sound snobbish, but only articles from published book authors will be accepted. First, this is an automatic quality filter... "

Oh well.

quote:

Originally posted by WanderingAtty:
Sadly, for those of us who might be interested in getting into travel writing, this is from their writers guidelines:

"It may sound snobbish, but only articles from published book authors will be accepted. First, this is an automatic quality filter... "

Oh well.

sheesh, not even published articles would sway these literary travel tyrants??! you have to be a (((book))) author to get 2,000 words published on the web?? cross-promotion doesnt help freelance writers?? well *huff* obviously they couldnt be that picky in print, so... eh..... more power to ya.

I'm done hating now. I know the editor posts on BnA so I'll not say too many disparaging things, and get to work instead on my book

Looks like a fine publication.

Hello folks,

Yes, I do post on here and I understand that this requirement isn't going to make aspiring writers happy. But let's be real--there are at least 100+ travel web sites out there you can submit material to whose requirements are less stringent. Some of them are quite good and I contribute to a few.

But the only way Perceptive Travel could leapfrog over all those is if it was truly something special and featured writers with some name recognition. People whose bylines adorn magazine/newspaper stories and not books don't have much of a following--that's reality in any kind of writing except maybe those with editorial columns at newspapers. Do you think I would get the kind of name writers I've lined up to participate for a mere $50 if they weren't confident this was going to be a top-tier publication? Setting the bar this high makes that a sure thing. March is already filled up and May is close.

While that is valid reason enough, I also needed to find a way to avoid getting bombarded by query letters, from a practical standpoint. I am doing this in my spare time, on top of a dozen other projects, so I need to keep the numbers manageable. So in terms of differentiation, marketing, quality, and workload balancing, the "authors only" requirement is achieving its purpose--traffic is excellent so far.

Tim
Editor, PerceptiveTravel.com

I'm popping this back up to the top of the page because there's a new issue out, with lots more great writing. Even the esteemed Jeff Greenwald joins us this time. Pop by when you get a chance!
Perceptive Travel March/April

It's not necessarily better on the other side. I have been running Urban Lowdown for a few years now. We accept contributions from those living abroad (study abroad students and young expats) who do have to apply, but it's not difficult to get something published on the site, primarily because we want to encourage those with an interest in, but without the experience of travel writing.

I routinely get reamed for the fact that we don't pay our contributors, but running a profitable website is not an easy task (just ask the guys & gals here at bootsnall who've worked plenty hard...) I've been told I am exploiter, a freeloader, a pariah, and all of this after working 4 years for 0 dollars (round about).

Anyway, Tim is right - there are lot's of other opportunities out there - bootsnall, Urban Lowdown and a few other sites that neophytes can cut their teeth on first.

To all the neophyte writers out there:

If you submit free stuff to websites in order to cut your teeth/receive feedback, that is fine. I love Bootsnall for that reason, and because it's a great community. Where else do you get feedback from a Travel Articles forum and a separate Travel Writing forum? I'll continue to post stuff here even if I someday manage to sell to paying markets.

However, Bootsnall (and a handfull of similar sites) are the exeption.

Here's the thing: when it comes to pitching an article/book to an editor or agent, I won't tell him or her about my publications on free websites.

Why? Because publications on free sites, like PoD, are poison to a writer's credibility. Forget publishing for 'exposure'. The only thing a professional editor or agent gives a damn about is whether or not you have enough credibility to sell to a paying market. That's why Tim Leffel only looks at authors who have published (books).

To all the website-editors out there who don't pay their writers:

Accept that the market is over-saturated. Most sites won't make money. Unless you have something real to offer in return (not just 'exposure'), don't fish for articles.

Every now and then, these guys pop up on the rasfc forum where I lurk, and they never get a good reception. Many of the writers on there sell to print publications who struggle much more to keep afloat, work through bigger slashpiles and take much greater risks, but who pay their writers. That's the only way to ensure credibility.

Much as I appreciate the big fat kill fees I occasionally get from big circulation mags who forgot to examine the mouth of the prize pony they thought they were getting, I also appreciate a nice-looking if low paying forum where my work is published exactly as I wrote it, with an editorial courtesy the bigger fish seldom exhibit. Sometimes it's okay to let it go for peanuts. Like when you have a book to promote.

But I'm not sure that I agree with this comment about free sites = poison to an aspiring writer's credibility. Possibly your time might be better spent making your own blog or zine, something you can really imprint with your own personality, and whose harvest is yours to reap, but I see nothing wrong w/ exercising your writerly skills in a public forum. Who knows? In ten years, the editor of one of those free sites could be the President of Conde Nast.

Thanks for the plug Ayun (and for your fine story). I agree with the writing for free paradox. WorldHum doesn't pay anything and they're far more respected by most writers and book publishers than, say, one of the magazines that AAA puts out. Even though the latter pays a fair bit. Like Ayun, I also think it's tremendously useful to have links available that are exactly what I wrote, instead of something that was cut down from 1,000 words to 400 and no longer resembles what I submitted. The ideal is to have a nice mix: "I've written for Uppity Travel and Aspiration Today, but here are links to a few clips that can give you an idea of what I would deliver to you."

Some editors say in Writer's Market that they would rather see the unvarnished clips since often you can't tell what a writer's style is like from the drivel that many magazine editors put together. Read through the travel mags filled with diamond watch advertisements and notice how the articles all sound alike.

I'm a fan of Peter Moore's witty insights and travel writing, and I'm happy to find him in Perspective Travel together wtih other authors who I am meeting some for the first time. Great site!