Contributor Guidelines
Go: There's Nothing Stopping You
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 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.
The title is monthly and has an estimated monthly readership of 2 million. Before sending any pitch, please be sure to familiarize yourself with recent issues of the magazine and its sections at www.airtran.com/go or view the EMAG at www.ink-live.com
If you are not familiar with the airline and its services, please visit www.airtran.com.
We are looking for writers who can knowledgeably write about local sights, scenes and activities as it relates to travel. Please find descriptions of the sections below.
Magazine
Destination Features
Every issue contains at least three destination-lead features, ranging from 1,400 words to 2,000 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 whisk people away to our destinations, encourage readers to take the magazine home with them and—in the end—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 boxing-crazy Puerto Rico, where he watched top-notch matches and tried his own hands at the sport in some of the island's free-for-all boxing gyms. One writer got the inside skinny on the latest extreme sport—jousting. Another went in search of the best boudin in southern Louisiana.
Go's tagline is "There's nothing 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 plausible effects of 2010's stimulus money on them, while another talked about the future of casinos and how they're changing with 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 more than a 2-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.
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 (www.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 CLIPS, OR LINKS TO PUBLISHED CLIPS.
Email proposals for feature and business articles to:
jaime.lowe@ink-global.com AND orion@ink-global.com
Email proposals for On The Town articles to:
sophie.hoeller@ink-global.com AND orion@ink-global.com
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.
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.
Editorial Calendar
To help focus your pitches, below is the editorial calendar through December 2013:
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November 2012
Cover Story: Hotels & Spas
Business Package: Casinos, behind the scenes
On the Town: Austin, Columbus, Las Vegas
December 2012
Cover Story: Winter in the Big City
On the Town: West Palm Beach
January 2013
Cover Story: Budget Winter Getaways
On the Town: New Orleans
February 2013
Cover Story: Booze
On the Town: San Antonio
March 2013
Cover Story: Style
On the Town: Atlanta
April 2013
Cover Story: Daytrips/Drives
On the Town: Jacksonville
May 2013
Cover Story: Family Travel
On the Town: Indianapolis
June 2013
Cover Story: Fitness and Well-being
On the Town: Dayton
July 2013
Cover Story: Hotels
On the Town: Baltimore
August 2013
Cover Story: Adventure
On the Town: Akron
September 2013
Cover Story: ATLANTA
On the Town: Tampa
October 2013
Cover Story: Food
On the Town: Orlando
November 2013
Cover Story: Ski Colorado
On the Town: Raleigh
December 2013
Cover Story: Shopping
On the Town: Aruba
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Pay
The writer and commissioning editor will agree upon the fee at the time of commissioning, with net 45-day payment terms once the invoice is received with the copy. Payments are made by either check or direct deposit on the earliest payment date (15th or 30th of the month) after 30 days from invoicing.
Writers must also fill out a W-9 in order to get paid.
The e-mail subject should have the following format: trading name, "W-9," magazine title, publication date.
W-9 forms should be sent to mimi.levine@ink-global.com
Please invoice us using our templated invoice form.
- All invoices should be submitted to invoices@ink-global.com and CC'd to orion@ink-global.com
- 'Subject' (on email) should be in the following format:
trading name, invoice number, magazine title, publication date
For example: John Doe Invoice 23 Go Dec06
- If you need to follow up on an unpaid invoice, please use the subject line:
John Doe outstanding invoice 23 Go Dec 06
The invoice
- All invoices should be an attachment (not embedded in emails)
- All invoices should include:
- posting address (sometimes different to address of 'supplier'),
- PO Box numbers and Suite/addresses (if appropriate)
- Unique invoice number
- Description of work, issue the work relates to, invoice date etc
- Currency/Amount
- For bank transfers, the following information is required
Beneficiary Information
Beneficiary name (who check should be made out to), Bank name, Bank transit / routing#, Account number, Account type (checking or savings), Beneficiary type (personal or corporate)
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Orion Ray-Jones
Editor-in-Chief
Tel +1 (347) 294-1221
Fax +1 (917) 591-6247
orion@ink-global.com
Jaime Lowe
Executive Editor
Tel +1 (347) 294-1207
Jaime.lowe@ink-global.com