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Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, we’re all facing the same dilemma these days…how to find new publishers for our writing. Travel writers need to find a new niche for a while until the pandemic loses its grip on the world and people can actually start traveling again.

How do we find new publishers? There are plenty of them out there, we just need to connect with them, and find the right fit for our style of writing.

fred mays

Many will tell you that the “bible” of the writing business is Writer’s Market. It’s published annually, runs nearly 900 pages and lists hundreds of publications. It has a summary of what the publications are looking for, and usually has the name and contact information of the editors. It costs about $21 on Amazon.

The problem is, the information is dated before it even goes to print. In the rapidly changing landscape of the publishing industry, magazines go out of business and editors change all the time. The 2019 Writer’s Market still listed Ladies Home Journal, which folded in 2016!

Writer’s Market is heavily slanted toward the print industry and doesn’t have listings for the many websites that are popping up all the time. If a print publication has a website (don’t they all these days?) that information is sometimes included in the listing.

There are other options. Freedom With Writing is a writer’s support group based in Toronto. They publish an annual listing called the Paid Publishing Guidebook. It lists over 1,500 publications, both print and online, that pay writers. It comes as a PDF file that you download to your computer.

There are websites that offer job leads like www.theinternationalfreelancer.com. They specialize in listing publications that pay at least $1 a word. There is www.pitchwhiz.com, which has leads to publications all over the globe. Pitchwhiz has a weekly newsletter that you can subscribe to for the latest leads.

Another source of free jobs leads is www.authorspublish.com. Contact the editor via email to be added to their regular feed. They are geared mainly toward literary and poetry publications.

The future of freelance writing, travel and otherwise, is on the web. Google is probably the greatest research tool in human history. If you’re a writer, say in Texas, do a Google search for Texas magazines. You’ll be surprised at the results. I live in Florida and a Google search turned up a Florida Magazine Association, which was a goldmine of potential publishers.

One way I’ve found some success is following fellow writers on Facebook and Twitter. They often post when they publish a new article. See where your compatriots are finding success and follow up on your own. The Travel Writers Cafe is a regular source for publishing leads. I personally have connected with several editors that way.

Then there are freelance job sites on the web. Sites like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, all have job postings. In my experience they often aren’t worth the effort, usually paying less than minimum wage, but you might find some leads that will develop into worthwhile jobs.

We’re all constantly on the prowl for new outlets for our work. You can spend a few bucks and buy Writer’s Market (I do, even though it becomes less relevant every year), or you can work the internet and turn up publishers that way.

Keep writing, keep prospecting! Good luck.