Thank you for considering sharing your travel experiences with ITN readers. We hope the following guidelines will be helpful.
WHAT WILL OR WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED
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• International Travel News accepts articles from its subscribers only. ITN readers trust their fellow readers to give each other honest and candid accounts of travels. (See Manuscript Content section below.) If you would like to share your travel experience with ITN but are not a subscriber, click here for more information.
• ITN does not accept articles about destinations in the United States, Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.
• Please state WHEN you took your trip (month/year). Do not just say, “We recently returned” or “Just back from. . .” ITN may not accept articles about travels made more than 12 months in the past; conditions and situations change rapidly and accounts may no longer be valid.
Download this guide as a PDF.
• International Travel News accepts articles written only in the first-person point of view (”I did this,” “We saw that”) or in a personal tone that indicates the writer actually made the trip. Opinions and side comments are welcome.
• Feature articles must be accompanied by photos. Articles should be double-space typed and as concisely written as possible; an article of 1,000-1,500 words is more likely to be considered. Please do not type in all CAPITAL letters or use a script font. All articles are subject to editing. Due to the backlog, articles most likely will not be printed for many months, and we may return feature articles unused after one year. (See the section PHOTOGRAPHS WANTED below.)
• Shorter items (letters) generally find their way into print more quickly than feature articles. Please do not send in the same article or letter more than once or — because of the confusion it causes — both submissions may be rejected entirely.
• ITN has promised to inform its readers when an article has been written by someone who got the trip for free or at a discount. If the trip about which you are writing was provided to you for free or at a discount, please let ITN know who hosted you and to what extent. ITN limits the number of feature articles printed by subscribers who received complimentary or discounted trips, and on this basis some articles may be refused.
HOW TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
• LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; appraisals of tours, cruises, airlines, hotels, etc.; Report Cards; Funniest Thing entries; Person to Person questions; general inquiries, and suggestions for the magazine should be sent to ITN’s editorial offices at 2120 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or e-mailed to editor@intltravelnews.com (please include the surface-mail address at which you receive ITN).
• FEATURE ARTICLES ONLY should be sent to Beth Habian, ITN Features Editor, P.O. Box 1148, Florence, OR 97439, or e-mailed to beth@intltravelnews.com. Beth can be reached by phone at 541/997-3954. A feature article is a detailed description of a trip including photos (for an example of what constitutes a feature, see the items listed under “Features” in the Table of Contents [p.3] of any issue of ITN; shorter items, including tour reviews, cruise critiques, Travelers’ Intercom letters, Funniest Thing subsmissions, etc., should be sent to the editorial office in Sacramento (see previous paragraph).
• Mailed submissions should include a hard copy of the article plus a text document on a CD and original prints or slides if images are not digital (See the section PHOTOGRAPHS WANTED below.) Please label your CD using a permanent marker and not an adhesive label (which can throw the CD out of balance).
• In any case, don’t forget to include YOUR MAILING ADDRESS (where you receive ITN) and a PHONE NUMBER where you may be reached in case there are follow-up questions; your phone number will not be printed in ITN without your written permission. Also include your name on any e-mail attachments, as these can become separated from a cover letter.
• ITN assumes no responsibility for damage or loss of any material submitted for publication. All materials submitted become the property of ITN, which has explicit reprint rights in print publications and on its Internet site. However, the author still retains all rights and is free to submit any item to other publications. Reprinting of items published in ITN is allowed by other firms; a line crediting ITN as the source generally is expected.
• All letters may not receive a reply.
PHOTOGRAPHS WANTED
• We encourage your sending pictures with letters. (Items submitted as feature articles without photos will not be considered.) Preferable are “people pictures,” particularly those that “tell” where you are.
• ITN can accept color photos or black-and-white shots of any size as well as slides and transparencies. Color photocopies of pictures cannot be accepted.
ITN can accept digital photos sent by e-mail or saved on a CD if the pictures are sharp enough. To ensure that they are sharp enough, they should be saved as a .jpg (medium compression) or tiff at a minimum of 4×6 inches in size and at no less than 1280×960 pixels. ITN cannot accept computer output of digital photos, no matter the quality of the prints. Computer prints can be submitted for review but must be accompanied by a digital file.
• With any pictures, in all cases, INCLUDE CAPTIONS. Captions should be written as complete sentences and, if possible, indicate approximately where the picture was taken.
With photographs, captions can be taped to the backs or listed separately with numbered pictures corresponding to numbered captions (but realize that if you write in ink on the backs of photos, ink may transfer to the pictures underneath and ruin them).
If you’re sending pictures by e-mail, send an e-mail that includes your name, mailing address and phone number as well as the picture captions, numbered to correspond to the labeled photos. Before attaching them to the e-mail, label each photo jpeg file with your name and the subject (ex., Smith1.jpg, Smith2.jpg, Smith3.jpg, etc.).
• Despite the handy feature available on some cameras, it is best if photographs do not have the date printed on them.
COMPENSATION
Compensation is provided ONLY for items printed in ITN as feature articles. For each printed feature article, authors will receive a one-year renewal to their ITN subscription as well as a complimentary one-year subscription to give as a gift. Articles submitted as features may be condensed and used in other sections of the magazine (Travelers’ Intercom, Tours in Review, etc.) without compensation.
MANUSCRIPT CONTENT
• While coverage of the history and sights of an area is often important and interesting in an article, what won’t be found in encyclopedias, guidebooks and brochures are YOUR tips, discoveries and experiences, what you have found worthy or unworthy of a visit (and why) and your candid appraisals of services and companies you used and of people with whom you dealt.
In your article, write about anything you wish. Travelers would appreciate being informed of ways to save money on a trip as well as of which places to be sure to see or to avoid; the customs one should be aware of in different cultures; appropriate dress; what one should be sure to take along or leave at home; great gift items to pick up along the way; the best times of year to visit; the best ways to travel in a certain country (auto, bus, train, bicycle, etc.); bank holidays; special festivals; warnings or tips on travel in particular areas, and basically anything that will help them have the most successful trip, including where to write for more information.
The idea is if readers are inspired by what you’ve written and want to duplicate your trip, most of the information they’ll need will be right in front of them.
Don’t be afraid to be frank in your assessments. If a hotel or tour was unpleasant, say so and explain why. If good, ditto. Be as specific as you can, and include documentation, if possible.
• When writing about hotels, restaurants, tours, cruises, auto rentals or guide services, QUOTE PRICES in all cases. Do not merely state that the price was “moderate” or “inexpensive.”
• Include the ADDRESS, phone/fax numbers, e-mail address and website of any tour company mentioned. Give the address or an idea of the location of any hotel or restaurant/café mentioned. When writing about a cruise, name the ship AND the ship line, please, and give the address of the line, if possible.
• Please condense articles as much as possible. A few short letters will find their way into print long before a lengthy piece. If you have information you wish other travelers to know right away, don’t bury it in a long tome; instead, write a short letter and send it in separately. Many lengthy letters never get printed, although if pictures are included, portions may be printed with a picture or two.
• When an ITN staff member or Contributing Editor writes about a trip that was wholly or partially complimentary (gratis), that fact is stated within or immediately following the article. The same is expected of ITN subscribers submitting write-ups of travel firms and establishments.
• Don’t forget: include prices, addresses and dates. Thank you.
