Contribute to Travellly

We do not run on agency wire copy. Almost every piece in Travellly starts with a single email from a writer, photographer, or quiet traveler who saw something the rest of us missed — a baker who only opens on Thursdays in Lyon, a sleeper train that crosses the Carpathians in the dark, a hotel in Kyoto where the owner remembers every guest's tea. This page tells you, in plain steps, how to send us that kind of email and what happens after you press send.

If you have never been published before, do not stop reading. Some of our best stories came from first-time contributors. What we care about is the eye, the ear, and a willingness to revise — not your byline.

What we publish

Travellly is a slow-travel and quiet-lifestyle magazine. We are looking for work that fits one of the following shapes.

• Personal essays (1,200–2,500 words) — a single trip, a single question, told through scene and reflection. No "ten things to do in" lists here.
• Reportage (1,500–3,500 words) — a place, a community, or a craft, told through people who actually live there. Quotes, sensory detail, a clear question driving the piece.
• Practical guides (1,000–2,000 words) — how to pack for ten days, how to ride a sleeper train, how to plan a quiet week in a busy city. Calm, specific, useful.
• Photo essays (8–14 images plus 400-word intro) — a single subject, shot on one trip, with a clear emotional arc.
• Letters from a place (600–900 words) — a short dispatch from where you are right now, written like a postcard.

What we do not publish

• Press-trip write-ups disguised as essays.
• Round-ups of "best beaches", "top hotels", or anything generated from a list.
• Pieces that are mostly about you and only incidentally about the place.
• Content that has appeared elsewhere, even on a personal blog or newsletter.
• AI-written drafts. We can usually tell, and we are not unkind about it — but we will pass.

Step 1 — Read three of our articles first

Before you pitch, spend twenty minutes reading the magazine. Open the archive, pick three pieces from different categories, and notice the pace. The sentences are unhurried. The voice is in the first person but the essay is not about the writer. There is almost always one moment of attention — a conversation, a meal, a quiet detail — that the rest of the piece is built around. Aim your pitch at that same register.

Step 2 — Write a one-paragraph pitch

Open a new email, address it to pitches@travellly.media, and put the working title in the subject line. In the body, write a single paragraph — five or six sentences is plenty — that answers three questions.

1. What is the piece? One sentence: "A short reportage on the last full-time gondola builder in Venice."
2. Why now, and why you? Have you spent time with the subject? Do you live in the place? Is there an anniversary, a closure, a change that makes the piece timely?
3. What is the scene we open on? Write the first paragraph of the article itself, in your real voice. This is the single most useful thing you can do — it shows us the prose, not just the idea.

Add, at the bottom, two or three links to your previous work. If you have none, send the link to a personal blog post, a long thread, or a piece of writing you are proud of from any context. We are looking for voice, not a CV.

Step 3 — Attach images, if the piece needs them

For photo essays and most reportage, attach four to six low-resolution sample images (long edge around 1,600 pixels, JPEG). Label them so we can see the order you imagine. Do not send a Dropbox or Google Drive link in your first email — many of our editors read pitches on slow connections and will not open it.

Step 4 — Wait, kindly

We aim to reply to every pitch within three weeks. If you have not heard back after that, you are welcome to send a one-line follow-up to the same address. If we pass on a pitch, we will tell you in one or two sentences why — usually because we have run something similar, the timing is off, or the angle is not quite right for us. A pass is not a verdict on the work; it is a verdict on the fit.

Step 5 — If we say yes

We will send a short contributor agreement that covers the fee, the deadline, the word count, the rights you keep, the rights we license, and the kill fee if the piece does not run. We pay on acceptance, not on publication, and we pay in full even if the piece is held over to a later issue. You can ask us anything about the contract before you sign it; we read every red-line.

What we pay

• Letters from a place — €180 flat.
• Personal essays — €0.30–€0.45 per word, depending on length and reporting depth.
• Reportage — €0.40–€0.65 per word, plus reasonable, pre-agreed expenses.
• Practical guides — €350–€700 depending on length and the amount of fact-checking required.
• Photo essays — €600–€1,400 for the full set, with print-magazine rates negotiated separately.

All rates are starting points, not ceilings. We pay more for work that requires translation, dangerous travel, or significant time on the ground.

How we edit

We are a generous edit, not a heavy one. You will work with one editor from acceptance to publication. The first round is usually structural — moving scenes, cutting digressions, occasionally asking for one more interview. The second round is sentence-level. We do not change your voice. We will, with your permission, fact-check anything that can be checked, and we share the final version with you before it goes live.

Corrections, credit, and life after publication

Your name goes on the piece, with a short bio you write yourself, and a link of your choosing. We promote the article in the newsletter and on social platforms with full credit. You are free to add the piece to your portfolio the day it runs. If, months later, you spot a factual error, write to us — we will add a correction note at the bottom of the article and the date.

Other ways to contribute (no pitch needed)

• Tip jar for the editors. Spot a typo, a broken link, or a fact that has changed? Email corrections@travellly.media with the article URL and what you noticed. We thank every reader who writes in.
• Reader letters. Once a month we publish a short selection of reader responses to recent articles. Write to letters@travellly.media — keep it under 250 words and tell us if you want to be credited.
• Translation. If you would like to translate one of our articles for a non-commercial outlet in another language, write to permissions@travellly.media. We usually say yes.
• Photography from the road. If you took a quiet, sincere photograph on a trip we recently covered, send it to readers@travellly.media. We occasionally feature reader images in the newsletter.

A short checklist before you press send

• Subject line is the working title, not "Pitch" or "Article idea".
• One paragraph in your real voice, not three pages of synopsis.
• The opening scene of the piece is included in the email.
• Two or three links to previous work, or one piece of writing you are proud of.
• If it is a photo essay, four to six sample images are attached, not linked.
• You have read at least three articles on the site and the pitch fits the register.

That is the whole process. We are looking forward to reading you. Send your pitch to pitches@travellly.media and, in the meantime, you can wander the archive or sign up to the newsletter on the homepage.