Cabby Peter Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 I am curious to know what are the chances of success in getting a travel feature in MMM are as someone on a camp site last week told me they were supplementing their income doing travel writing for MMM (then their hubby came along and interrupted and I did not get to ask the questions I wanted and I did not get her name). Surely someone on here has something published? Any idea how I get started and is there money to be made from it, like this lady said? I am struggling sometimes to afford to do trips so if I thought that I could pay my way with articles in MMM and other mags then wouldn't that be great? I would really be thankful for any advice or where to start? :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan MMM Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Hi Peter, Yes, anyone can submit articles for the travel section and in many cases, you'll find that they cover your costs. A full guide is here: https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/information/mmm-travel-article-guidelines/ But in brief, you'll need to make lots of notes and take lots of photographs. Really, the photos are key. The other two critical criteria are that you are actually a motorhomer and you did the trip (no 'travel' journalist reports), and that you don't write for other motorhome magazines. All the details and the contact address are on that page. As for the likelihood of getting it published (and thus paid) - it's down to how different the overall trip is from what has been published this year. The most popular destinations are Scotland, England, France, Wales, Germany, so an unusual trip around any of these countries has a high chance of being published. cheers duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabby Peter Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 thank you Duncan. I have been reading the ltest issue and the standards appear to be very high and professional so that is why I was wondering if us ordinary bods were in with a chance? I appreciated that Duncan works for MMM and I would like to know if anyone else on here has done it and what their experience was, please. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Duncan, authors are said to face enormous difficulty getting first time books published, is this also true of travel articles such as you invite? What proportion of article submissions which get published come from motorhomers who have never done it before? Is there a better chance of publication for tour reports about UK or foreign tours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Cabby Peter - 2016-04-07 4:02 PM I am curious to know what are the chances of success in getting a travel feature in MMM are as someone on a camp site last week told me they were supplementing their income doing travel writing for MMM (then their hubby came along and interrupted and I did not get to ask the questions I wanted and I did not get her name). Did he call her Fag ash? :D .......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 "What's that cloud in the living room? It's Dad's. He's living on it now he's had his first article published." Seeing your first article in print should be a great feeling. In my case it was tempered by my kids asking for money since I'd included photos of them. And then the great put down from Mrs R, "Anyone can achieve that if they put in the time and effort and persevere." My advice is have a go at writing but don't restrict yourself to MMM or expect to make good money. Some time ago I had articles published in three motorhome magazines, one caravan magazine and numerous other magazines of a similar standing. For motorhome magazines, my unique selling point for a while was that we motorhomed as a young family, my two boys and the collie dog were photogenic, whilst the missus - best looking of the lot but camera shy - occasionally took the boys away without me. As suggested in an earlier post, Andy Stothert has FagAsh. I started with one of those Correspondence Writing Courses that advertise. I simply wanted to improve my writing skills but as part of the course, I had to get articles published. One thing led to another. I stopped when editors started ringing up asking for articles. Then it ceased to be an interesting hobby and became underpaid work. I spent my time doing other things to make real money. I continued to write regular articles for my employers although I haven't written for publication in the last three years. From what I can remember, I always had a notebook to jot down enough to remind me of something interesting - you really have to observe the bigger picture and the little details, wrote at least 500 words a day based on the notepad contents, aimed to grab the readers attention with the heading, first sentence, and first paragraph, and ensured the content and tone matched the audience. I learned how to take/edit a decent photo by subscribing to Digital Photo for at least a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan MMM Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 StuartO - 2016-04-07 4:37 PMDuncan, authors are said to face enormous difficulty getting first time books published, is this also true of travel articles such as you invite? What proportion of article submissions which get published come from motorhomers who have never done it before? Is there a better chance of publication for tour reports about UK or foreign tours? Hi Stuart,First question - it's a lot easier to get a travel article published in MMM than it is a book. A LOT easier. We publish around 6 travel articles every month, that means the Travel Editor is looking for nearly 70 articles every year (we publish 13 issues). It's important to read the guidelines before setting off. That way you know what information to collect and what photos to take on the trip itself.Secondly, I've no idea what the percentage of new writers is, it's not my department, but there's no closed shop here. We use new writers all the time because we're looking for stories from actual motorhomers on actual trips. There are NO commissioned travel articles. It's all down to where the readers have been and what they did.As for UK versus foreign trips. The latest issues has three trips from the UK and three from France, Germany and Austria. The more outside the key European countries you go, the more interesting the trip and the better the photos will need to be to get it into print.Something else to consider if anyone want to get into this gently is the Your Sites section. These are generally half page reviews of campsites that you've stayed at. You only need 200-400 words and they pay £40, which is your site fee back for a weekend basically. Things to note here: No Caravan or CCC club sites and we can't have covered the same site already in the last year. See page 150 of the May issue for more details.Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan MMM Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Cabby Peter - 2016-04-07 4:34 PM thank you Duncan. I have been reading the ltest issue and the standards appear to be very high and professional so that is why I was wondering if us ordinary bods were in with a chance? I appreciated that Duncan works for MMM and I would like to know if anyone else on here has done it and what their experience was, please. B-) Just to point out that what you're looking at is the end result of an article that has been subbed, designed and proof checked by three people. The raw copy is usually a lot different - most contributors are not professional writers. They are, as you say, ordinary bods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Duncan MMM - 2016-04-08 9:34 AM Cabby Peter - 2016-04-07 4:34 PM thank you Duncan. I have been reading the ltest issue and the standards appear to be very high and professional so that is why I was wondering if us ordinary bods were in with a chance? I appreciated that Duncan works for MMM and I would like to know if anyone else on here has done it and what their experience was, please. B-) Just to point out that what you're looking at is the end result of an article that has been subbed, designed and proof checked by three people. The raw copy is usually a lot different - most contributors are not professional writers. They are, as you say, ordinary bods. I doubt my unique style and use of the English vernacular would survive proofing 8-) ....... Besides it wouldn't be the same without emoticons :D ...............or lots of full stops (lol) (lol) (lol) ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Duncan MMM - 2016-04-08 9:29 AM As for UK versus foreign trips. The latest issues has three trips from the UK and three from France, Germany and Austria. The more outside the key European countries you go, the more interesting the trip and the better the photos will need to be to get it into print. Something else to consider if anyone want to get into this gently is the Your Sites section. These are generally half page reviews of campsites that you've stayed at. You only need 200-400 words and they pay £40, which is your site fee back for a weekend basically. Things to note here: No Caravan or CCC club sites and we can't have covered the same site already in the last year. See page 150 of the May issue for more details. Duncan I only wished i'd known all about this when i went to Albania, Montenegro, Serbia etc. That said i definitely want to make a return sometime, especially one place in Serbia where i made such good friends with the site owner, when i came to leave he knew i didn't really want to go......so promptly invited me to stay another week without charge telling me i was staying as "his guest"!! Hey Duncan.....how would a feature on another kind of 'site' go down? My interest is visiting ww2 sites and i've been to fourteen Concentration camps in Poland, Germany and Austria. Also, all six Extermination camps. Maybe morbid viewing and reading for some, but for me an essential as ww2 history was totally off the curriculum when i was at school, hence my life long interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Bulletguy - 2016-04-08 2:23 PM Hey Duncan.....how would a feature on another kind of 'site' go down? My interest is visiting ww2 sites and i've been to fourteen Concentration camps in Poland, Germany and Austria. Sounds like you'll be a ideal reviewer for Caravan Club sites BG :D ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan MMM Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Bulletguy - 2016-04-08 2:23 PM Hey Duncan.....how would a feature on another kind of 'site' go down? My interest is visiting ww2 sites and i've been to fourteen Concentration camps in Poland, Germany and Austria. Also, all six Extermination camps. Maybe morbid viewing and reading for some, but for me an essential as ww2 history was totally off the curriculum when i was at school, hence my life long interest. Well we did a tour of WW1 battle sites so I imagine it would be a strong contender as it's something different, but as I said, it's not my area so there's no guarantees. And it was the same for me at school - WWII wasn't even discussed. cheers duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabby Peter Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 Hello; some interesting responses whilst I have been away 'up north', thank you. I made notes, took lots of piccies of our latest trip and then decided to email the travel editor (whose name is Helen), to ask if she were interested. I got some very helpful guidelines and tips for what she wants and what also she does not want and some photo tips. So it seems like there is some scope for us ordinary bods so long as we take really nice piccies and not just those of the wife sitting pretty somewhere. I found Helen the travel editor's email address in the back of MMM and she was very encouraging and helpful in her replies. There may be hope for me yet!!!!! Wish me luck!!!! Happy Travels! Peter the Cabby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabby Peter Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Last year I went to Cantabria having read a marvellous MMM feature and am now going to the Dart Estuary on the back of the one in the latest issue. It must be said that there are some super travel features and I think David Champman's wildlife articles are lovely. I say 'well done' to MMM and am going to have to try really hard, methinks, if I want to get published as the standards seem very high, especially with the photographs. Peter the Cabby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBW Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Thank you for the ecouraging comments, Duncan-MMM. I have had a couple of articles printed over the years probably because of their novelty factor. Perhaps the novelty factor for me and my 'better half' this year will be; '80 year old's travel with 18 year old motorhome to Southern France for the sun' Which will be in May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabby Peter Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 Hello; it is me again (no, I have not got round to writing yet, only on here!!). Have just noticed in the My Month at the beginning of current MMM that under A Grueling Experience, Helen Werin Travel Editor of MMM is actually looking for "engaging articles about your recent trips". So here is her email address if you are wanting to send stuff in. She does say that she wants encouraging and engaging articles., so I am deffo going to.... mmmtravel@warnersgroup.co.uk I am still wondering what other peoples experiences have been......... Happy Touring, Peter the Cabby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 BrianBW - 2016-04-14 1:35 PM Thank you for the ecouraging comments, Duncan-MMM. I have had a couple of articles printed over the years probably because of their novelty factor. Perhaps the novelty factor for me and my 'better half' this year will be; '80 year old's travel with 18 year old motorhome to Southern France for the sun' Which will be in May. A 18 year old camper is nowt but a sprog :D ......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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