Are your pitches not quite ‘landing’? What actually makes a great pitch for a travel story? How do you make a pitch compelling enough for an editor to commission you? What mistakes are you making? Join Lydia Bell, features editor at Condé Nast Traveller UK, Emma Gibbs, editor-in-chief at JRNY magazine, Meera Dattani, freelance writer and senior editor at Adventure.com, and travel journalists Steph Dyson and Lottie Gross in this honest, productive, tip-packed panel discussion and Q&A on Friday 8th July from 12pm-1.15pm BST about all things pitching, with insights and advice from both sides of the fence.
There’ll be a Q&A at the end of the pitching webinar. Email [email protected] to send questions in advance or if you want to suggest points for the main discussion.
The webinar will also launch the 2022 Talking Travel Writing x BGTW mentoring scheme which will offer 10 new, up-and-coming writers a chance to learn from the professionals. The first scheme in 2021 was also sponsored by the BGTW and we’re very happy to be supporting it again. Drawing on the Guild’s own roster of travel journalists and photographers, this year’s scheme will see 10 mentors and 10 mentees paired up for four sessions across two months.
BGTW members are encouraged to apply to become a mentor and the position is paid – information via Guild email and members’ Facebook page. Mentor applications close at midnight BST on Wednesday 20th July 2022.
Mentees can apply for a place here. All sessions are free. Mentee applications will close at midnight BST on Friday 15th July 2022.
The mentoring programme will start mid-August with flexibility between the mentor and mentee to organise the four sessions.
The panel
Lydia Bell – features editor, Condé Nast Traveller
Lydia Bell has more than 20 years of editorial experience which ranges across editing and commissioning, writing as a freelancer, sub-editing and production. She started on newspapers at The Australian in Sydney and has worked on staff at House & Garden, the Illustrated London News, Harper’s Bazaar, Cedar Communications, the Daily Mail, Reuters, the Financial Times and Condé Nast Traveller.
Twitter: @lydialondon
Instagram: @lydiaelizabethbell
Steph Dyson – freelance travel writer, blogger and guidebook author
Steph Dyson is a bilingual freelance travel writer who’s worked on over a dozen guidebooks, including as the sole author of Moon Chile. She’s written about sustainable adventure travel for publications around the globe, including CNN, Lonely Planet, The South China Morning Post and The Independent and runs the award-nominated website, Worldly Adventurer, about conscious travel in Latin America. She’s also the co-founder of the Talking Travel Writing newsletter alongside Lottie Gross.
Twitter: @worldlyadventur
Instagram: @worldlyadventurer
Emma Gibbs – writer and editor-in-chief of JRNY travel magazine
As well as commissioning features for JRNY magazine, freelance editor and writer Emma Gibbs has over 15 years’ experience in travel publishing, largely editing, commissioning and project managing for the likes of Lonely Planet, Bradt Travel Guides, Rough Guides and DK Travel. She has contributed to a number of guidebooks, including The Rough Guide to Laos, DK Eyewitness Great Britain and three editions of The Rough Guide to France. For HarperCollins, she has written a number of i-SPY books and North Coast 500: Britain’s Ultimate Road Trip, published in September 2022.
Twitter: @emmgibbs
Lottie Gross – travel journalist and author
Formerly digital editor at Rough Guides and loveEXPLORING, Lottie Gross is a freelance travel writer with a decade in the industry. She writes for titles like The Telegraph, Times, Independent and i paper, and has just penned her first guidebook, Dog-Friendly Weekends. She also runs the Talking Travel Writing newsletter with Steph Dyson.
Twitter: @lottiecgross
Instagram: @lottiegross
Chair/Moderator
Meera Dattani – freelance travel journalist, senior editor at Adventure.com and chair, BGTW
Meera Dattani is a freelance travel journalist, senior editor of online travel magazine Adventure.com, and events director and chair of the BGTW.
Twitter: @no_fixed_plans
Instagram: @nofixedplans
More info
The event is free to all BGTW members. See the members’ newsletter, Facebook group or contact the Guild secretariat to sign up.
Non-members are welcome to attend for £6 (including booking fee and recording). We welcome questions in advance so we can ensure the session covers everything you want to know. You can also use the Q&A option during the event, and the Chat box will be open.
Can’t make it on the day? If you register for the session, you’ll receive a recording/link to the event within a week, as will all attendees.
What’s the ‘additional donation‘ for? Any donations help the Guild do a number of things: Provide content like this free of charge for those who can’t afford a ticket; help keep costs down at just £6 a ticket; help us put on future useful events for members and non-members.
How do I join a BGTW Talks Travel talk/discussion?
- Sign up using the dropdown menu at the top of this page and buy your ticket.
- You’ll then receive a Zoom registration link. You need to complete this in order to be sent a Zoom link to join on the day. We advise you register as soon as you buy your ticket to avoid missing the event, or the start of the event. (You can sign up and download Zoom here).
- At the time of the webinar, click on the Zoom link in the email and you’ll be taken to the Zoom website. You can also join via Zoom’s desktop or mobile app.
- Once the panel is ready to begin, you’ll be admitted to the room. You’ll be able to see and hear the panellists and moderator, type messages in the Zoom chat, and send questions in the Q&A box. You won’t be visible or audible to other participants, but your name will show if you join in the chat.
Any questions? Let us know and we’ll do our best to help. We hope to see you there!
