Contributor Guidelines
Thank you for your interest in writing for GO.
GO is unabashed about its passion for travel, and its sole aim is to inspire readers to fall in love with AirTran Airways destinations. The title is monthly, with an estimated monthly readership of approximately 2 million. The magazine contains a vibrant mix of immersive experiences that whisk passengers away to unexpected locales, along with the practical information that proves just how accessible such adventures are. Created by the nation’s top travel journalists and photographers, GO is unique in the inflight world, with the award-winning design and integrity-fueled writing normally only found on the newsstand. GO. There’s Nothing Stopping You.
We are looking for writers who can knowledgeably write about local sights, scenes and activities, as well as business (as it relates to travel). Please find descriptions of the sections below.
Magazine
Destination Features
Every issue will contain at least three destination-lead features, ranging from 1,400 words to 2000 words, which highlight locations across AirTran Airways’ network. The destination features MUST have strong angles and interesting approaches.
We tend to avoid simple city profiles and general tourism features that highlight where to shop, eat, stay, etc. We want the types of strong stories that will encourage readers to take the magazine home with them, whisk people away to our destinations—and even inspire vacations.
We’re looking for out-of-the-box approaches to cover timely and/or interesting topics, people and places. For instance, we sent a tech-addicted writer to the Lost Coast of California with no phone or laptop and she chronicled her transformation through her experience. We sent another to a DJ school and she played a couple of records out in NYC, while shedding light on the nightlife scene. One writer took classes at
GO’s tagline is “There’s no stopping you.” We are very focused on running articles that encourage travel, so every feature needs to not only put the reader in a new place, but also deal directly with the travel experience. When considering features, we ask ourselves, “Is this something our readers can do? Would this inspire them to go do this?” If it is an article on a burgeoning subculture or fringe activity, for example, it needs to be one that is accessible to them on some level.
In addition, features can cover trends in areas that relate to travel, such as food, art and hotels. For example, we’ve done stories on underground supper clubs and trends like molecular gastronomy. They can also be more investigative. A recent story covered the future of our National Parks and the affect of the recent stimulus money, while another talked about the future of casinos and how they’ve been affected by technology.
The features should be contemporary, interesting and appeal to a large cross section of readers. An article should be of interest to a reader that is not heading to the destination it is about. In addition to pitching the topic, we ask that writers describe the way in which the story will be structured; we encourage freelancers to be creative and consider untraditional narrative approaches and novel story structures.
Many of the destinations are gateways to regions, so stories can focus on the cities themselves or on surrounding areas (no longer than a 1.5 hour drive away). We are particularly interested in features that cover destinations in new, exciting ways, covering breaking trends and including insiders’ knowledge.
We do not accept pitches that highlight destinations not covered by AirTran Airways, that are untimely or that in any way promote AirTran Airways’ competitors.
PLEASE NOTE: We will no longer be doing celebrity (actors, athletes, businesspeople) covers; however, we are open to celebrity stories if they revolve around a destination.
Business
Business stories need to relate to travel in some way. Past stories include a look at the extreme sports video industry (which makes movies about skiing, surfing, etc), a success story about the company that brought cellphone charging stations to the US, mobile marketing at tourists spots and travelers’ favorite smartphone apps.
Style
The tone of the magazine ranges from chatty and lighthearted to informative and inspirational. Features should never read like hard news and should always capture the readers’ imaginations with irresistible leads, informed quotes, colorful descriptions, clean paragraph transitions and strong endings. We prefer features to be written in the third person, unless indicated otherwise in the commissioning letter. In general, we adhere to the Associated Press style guide.
Pitching
Please note: We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. If you are interested in writing for GO, please send ideas only, not completed features. We do commission writers we have not used before, but only those whose published clips demonstrate a high proficiency in magazine writing.
We prefer pitches to be made by email as opposed to cold telephone calls. We do not accept pitches that have the main aim of promoting specific products or businesses.
Pitches should be thought out, well written and focused. Please do not send lists of short, incomplete ideas. Like a completed story, the query should have a headline, deck and strong lead. A well-crafted pitch will usually run a paragraph or two in length, in which a writer should explain how they envision the completed story and why they think it would be perfect for GO.
Please look through recent issues of GO on our website (airtran.com/go) to research our style and to make sure we have not recently run a piece on the topic you are proposing. WRITERS MUST INCLUDE PUBLISHED CLIPPINGS.
Email proposals for feature articles to:
We get a high volume of pitches; therefore, your idea may remain in our pitch bank for a few months. We will be in touch with you if we decide to commission the story, but, of course, feel free to follow up at any time.
Also, keep in mind we commission issues the third week of each month, so if you do send pitches, make sure we get them to us in time for the meeting. For example, we commissioned the May 2011 issue on Jan. 17, so pitches need to come in before that date.
Prospective contributors doing preliminary research for a story must avoid giving the impression that they are representing GO or Ink. They may use the name of the magazine only if they have a commissioned assignment. We expect writers to be objective and adhere to journalistic codes of ethics.
Editor-in-Chief
Ph: (347) 294-1220
Fax: (917) 591-6247
Orion.Ray-Jones@ink-global.com
Peter Koch
Executive Editor
Ph: (347) 294-1207
peter.koch@ink-global.com
