To pitch an idea for a blog post or article to the YourLifeIsATrip.com editorial team, please use the provided contact form on this page.
PLEASE NOTE: A pitch is not a completed story. A pitch is not a recital of I-went-here-I-did-this and that. A pitch is a few short sentences that tell us a story. A story that has a beginning, middle and end.
To help get you started, below are three samples of successful story pitches:
"It was scary to walk through Paris alone at night, and I almost jumped out of my skin when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I wheeled around, and little did I know that the man I faced would one day be my husband."
"I was so on edge that I found myself yelling at friends and snarling at strangers. It was clearly time for a rest. I pictured myself on a lush, tropical island, meditating under a beach umbrella. I ended up, instead, on a noisy, stinky, fourth class bus that broke down on the side of a mountain. Amazingly, it was just what I needed."
"I was crazy in love with a woman named Sue. Unfortunately, Sue had as many suitors as I have fingers. When she invited me to go horseback riding with her in Montana, I thought yes, cool, I can be her knight in shining armor. The problem is that I was a knight who had never been on a horse before. The experience not only changed her opinion of me, but it also changed my opinion of her."
Thank you for your interest in joining the YourLifeIsATrip.com community. An editor will contact you after reviewing your submission. If the pitch is something that would be of interest to our readers, you will get an assignment. If you have trouble with spelling and grammar, please have someone copy edit your writing prior to final submission, as we do not provide line editing. Unless the editor specifies otherwise, the story should be first person, experiential, and less than 1,000 words.
• 1,000 words max (400 - 800 is ideal)
• Write the title in bold, underneath state your by-line: “by [your name]
• Use 12 or 14 point font size
• Spell check and grammar check your work.
• Submit as a .doc to editors@yourlifeisatrip.com. Please include SUBMISSION FOR YLIAT in the subject line.
• Put a space between paragraphs, no indents please.
• You will receive a confirmation of receipt within 24 hours. Please allow up to two weeks for it to be read and returned to you with any editing comments.
• Once your article is edited and submitted for FINAL SUBMISSION, you will receive notice of the tentative publication date.
• Write a brief bio (approximately 50 words) and, if you like, include your website or email address for readers to contact you.
• Include all your contact info – name, address, email, phone number – this is for the editors only and will not be shared!
• When your article is published, let the world know! Check out our suggestions for promoting your work.
photo credit: Ricardo Mendonça Ferreira via Flickr.com CCL.