Monday, December 14, 2009

Guest Post: Eight Good Markets for Writers Abroad, Part One

By Chantal Panozzo

Whether you’re living abroad or just dreaming of it, the following are good markets to consider for your work. They are especially advantageous if you’re already living the international writing life—or if you just can’t seem to stop traveling.

1) Glimpse.org

Supported in part by the National Geographic Society, glimpse.org hires a group of writers and photographers each fall and spring to serve as correspondents for their respective countries. The program is open to anyone between the ages 18 and 34 who is working, volunteering, or studying outside their home country for at least 10 weeks. I had the honor to represent Switzerland last spring, and I recommend the program to all writers and photographers. The program taught me to dig deeper to find stories and also helped me improve my photography. Besides a stipend and guaranteed publication on glimpse.org, correspondents also have the possibility of being featured on NationalGeographic.com.

2) Travelers’ Tales

Chances are, you’ve probably read a Traveler’s Tales publication. With over 100 titles in print and publishing at the speed of six to eight books a year, Travelers Tales is a market that wants your stories about the places you’ve been (or the places you’ve lived). They also sponsor several contests. One of the previous contest winners whose stories have also appeared in several of the anthologies is travel writer Celeste Brash, who I interviewed over on my blog, Writer Abroad.

3) The Christian Science Monitor

If you live in a foreign country, you’ll have a different perspective on things abroad—and also on things at home. For both, an international newspaper like the Monitor might be a place for your work—whether it’s on op-ed on how it feels to be a Muslim living in Switzerland after the recent Minaret ban or a personal essay on raising a child that grows up to speak a language that you will never quite master. For example, I wrote a piece about being at Swiss Gardening Boot Camp and you’ll see that many of the Monitor’s featured pieces also have an international point of view.

4) WorldHum.com

First person travel narratives, rants about any travel subject, or how-to stories that reveal ways to dive deep into cultures around the world, as a writer abroad, you’ll have an advantage when it comes to pitching these. Not to mention, World Hum has gained quite the reputation since its founding in 2001. Stories published on World Hum have also appeared in “The Best American Travel Writing” anthologies. Check out the submission guidelines.

Chantal Panozzo lives in Zurich, Switzerland where she blogs about the international writing life over at Writer Abroad. She’s always on the lookout for new writers to feature. Contact Chantal if you’re interested. For Part Two of “8 Good Markets for Writers Abroad,” please visit Writer Abroad.

Flickr photo courtesy of LucasTheExperience

8 comments:

Lori said...

This is great! A guest post from my favorite expat. :)) Great stuff, Chantal. Thank you for posting it, Susan!

Alisabow said...

Extremely useful information for writers, as always!

Writer Abroad said...

Thanks, glad to hear it was useful!

Anonymous said...

It really bothers me that you have to be between 18 and 34 to take part in the glimpse.org program. It's like TV ratings--everyone assumes you're dead once you age past 34!

Meredith Resnick - The Writer's [Inner] Journey said...

Wow. This is such a valuable post with so much great info and perspective for writers. Thank you so much for sharing.

Chantal said...

Anonymous, the age range for glimpse.org used to be even narrower--they just expanded it past 30 to 34. When I applied I was almost "over the hill" but the editors seemed open to working with older writers. Might not hurt to send them an email or post a message on the glimpse Facebook page with your thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Hi Chantal,

I will do that. It is ridiculous that they have age specifications at all.

Julie T. Ewald said...

Thanks for this wonderful info! I have been living in Italy since June and have been starting to explore what to do with some of the drafts I have been generating. My only regret is that I didn't find this blog sooner -- I am returning stateside in April!

Related Posts with Thumbnails