Dear Traveling Writer:
Due to the large number of submissions received we will only contact you if we decide to include your submission in a Travelers’ Tales collection. Sometimes books take as long as a year to be completed following our submissions deadlines. Final decisions are made near the end of the editorial process, and all authors whose stories have been accepted are notified at that time.
Note: We no longer accept submissions via email or regular mail. All submissions for our anthologies must be made through our submissions intake site: travelerstalesstories.com. All book-length manuscripts must be submitted via our Gateway program.
Thank you for your inquiry and interest in submitting your personal nonfiction essay for consideration in one of our anthologies. Below are the Travelers’ Tales submission deadlines and guidelines. We highly recommend you read some of our books and visit our website at travelerstales.com to get a better sense of the kind of stories we’re looking for. Read on for more details.
Note: We are accepting stories only for those titles listed below whose deadlines have not passed.
Submission Deadlines and Tentative Release Dates
Our deadlines often shift, but to be guaranteed consideration for any of our upcoming anthologies, please meet the following deadlines.
Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing
Travelers’ Tales runs an annual award to honor great travel writing. Go to BestTravelWriting.com to learn about the Solas Awards and the $1,000 Grand Prize for Best Travel Story of the Year. We offer awards in many categories covering the full scope of travel writing, from adventure to funny, spiritual, women’s, food related, memoir, destination, and more. Check it out and enter to win. All entries will be considered for Travelers’ Tales books.
Deadline for the Solas Awards is September 21, but we run the awards annually, so stories submitted after the deadline will be entered in the following year’s contest.
Women’s Travel Humor
Submit your story for the Solas Awards here.
Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures and other books such as The Thong Also Rises and More Sand in My Bra have been huge hits. We’re always looking for hilarious, outrageous misadventures for future books, so send us your stories.
Deadline for submission: OPEN
More Travel Humor
Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana got lots of laughs, so we’re seeking funny stories for another volume. The book will include stories from both women and men. No length restrictions but for humor, shorter is usually better.
Deadline for submission: OPEN
Est. Release Date: TBA
The Best Travel Writing, Volume 12
Submit your story for the Solas Awards here.
Send us your best stories about travel throughout the world for our annual series The Best Travel Writing. We’re looking for the full range of experience: adventurous, mystical, funny, poignant, food-related, cross-cultural, transformational. To get a sense of what we want, we highly recommend you read The Best Travel Writing, Volume 9, The Best Travel Writing 2011,The Best Travel Writing 2010, The Best Travel Writing 2009, The Best Travel Writing 2008, The Best Travel Writing 2007,The Best Travel Writing 2006, The Best Travel Writing 2005, The Gift of Travel, The Road Within, A Woman’s Path, A Woman’s World, and Food.
Deadline for submission: Open
Est. Release Date: TBA
Note: We collect year round for this series, so if you miss the deadline your story will be considered for the next edition.
The Best Women’s Travel Writing Volume 13
Submit your story for the Solas Awards here.
Women writers, please send us your best stories about travel throughout the world for our annual series, The Best Women’s Travel Writing. Previously published essays (within the last year) are OK. We’re looking for the full range of experience: adventurous, mystical, funny, poignant, cuisine-related, cross-cultural, transformational—as well as solo travel and travel with friends, mates, and families. To get a sense of what we want, please see 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, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2005 and the other titles listed above.
Deadline for submission: Open
Est. Release Date: TBA
Note: We collect year round for this series, so if you miss the deadline your story will be considered for the next edition.
In addition to publishing books, we like to promote the best travel writing we can find and do so in our Editors’ Choice section on our website and elsewhere. By submitting your story to Travelers’ Tales, you agree that we may post it on our site(s) 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 we select your story for publication in one of our books, we will contact you regarding permission and payment. You can find additional rights information at our submissions intake site, travelerstalesstories.com
Type of Story
We’re looking for personal, nonfiction stories and anecdotes-funny, illuminating, adventurous, frightening, or grim. Stories should reflect that unique alchemy that occurs when you enter unfamiliar territory and begin to see the world differently as a result. Stories that have already been published are welcome as long as the author retains the copyright to reprint the material.
Length
Whatever it takes without being self-indulgent-anything from a paragraph to fifteen pages. Shorter stories have a better chance of being accepted. Be sure to paginate your stories.
Biographical Information
Please include a few sentences about yourself, something quirky and fun in addition to the usual list of accomplishments.
Form of Submission
We no longer accept submissions via email or regular mail. All submissions must be made through our submissions intake site: travelerstalesstories.com
Rights
We are interested in non-exclusive rights, in all languages, in print and digital editions, throughout the world. Our use of the material does not restrict the authors’ rights to have their stories reprinted elsewhere. For further information on rights, please see our submissions intake site, travelerstalesstories.com
Remuneration
Travelers’ Tales offers a $100 honorarium for stories of any length published in print editions of our books. In addition, authors receive a free copy of the book in which their work will appear, and the right to purchase an unlimited number of any Travelers’ Tales titles for 50% off the cover price (plus shipping and handling). Other advantages include the opportunity to appear in print with many well-known writers, and the ongoing promotion of your name and work in the literary marketplace, and on our website.
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. Due to the large number of submissions received we will only contact you if we decide to include your submission in a Travelers’ Tales collection. Sometimes books take as long as a year to be completed following our submissions deadlines. Final decisions are made near the end of the editorial process, and all authors whose stories have been accepted are notified at that time.
Note: We no longer accept submissions via email or regular mail. All submissions for our anthologies must be made through our submissions intake site: travelerstalesstories.com. All book-length manuscripts must be submitted via our Gateway program.
Thank you again for your interest.