Packed Magazine

If you love sleeping in 12-bed hostels, Packed is for you. If your idea of sightseeing is the local pub, Packed is for you. And if you love Central Europe, Packed is for you.

Packed is a free bi-monthly magazine for backpackers and independent travelers. Their readers are:

18-35 years old, adventurous, intelligent and open-minded. We are looking for writing that will entertain and inform them. They are currently on the holiday of their life and most don’t want to be burdened with negativity, stress or politics. Be cool, relax and have fun.

Here are a few departments open for submissions. And yes, its a paying market.

Stopover – 1500-2000 feature article highlighting what do to in Central Europe
Explorer – travel narrative about “New Europe”
Spotlight – 500-700 word article on a particular aspect of a city
PinkPacks – a column for girls written by girls
travellerstales – experiences travelling through Central Europe

Send queries to Dave Long, editor-in-chief, editor@packedmag.com. Here are their writers guidelines:

Queries

Please query first for feature stories. First we need to know which story type you are interested in! (see below “Story Types”) Tell us in one page or less what you will be writing about, when you were there plus a brief description of your writing background/experience. Queries should be submitted to editor@packedmag.com. No phone calls.

Your story should follow the guidelines for one of the four story types (see below). Stories should be well-researched and relevant to the next issue’s months of publication. We prefer short paragraphs with occasional subheads in our features. Please do not mention accommodations by name.

Story Types

The following story types will appear in each issue of packed magazine. Please have a look at one of these stories in issue #1 to get an idea of the style and format. All stories should be submitted with a headshot photo of yourself, a one-sentence bio and any relevant photos. (see “Story Descriptions” for more information)

Word Count Payment

“Stopover” feature 1500-2000 €150

Detailed article about what to do in & around a specific city/region of our content zone

“Explorer” feature 1000-1500 €100

Travel narrative about travelling through “New Europe”

“Spotlight” column 500-700 €60

Short article highlighting one or more fascinating aspects of one city / small region inside our content zone

“PinkPacks” column 400-500 €50

Brief, colorful, opinionated, written by girls for girls

travellers’ tales 150 €10

Bizarre experiences while travelling through Central Europe

Rights

packed magazine purchases one-time electronic rights, non-exclusive world-wide print rights and non-exclusive rights to retain work in the back issues archive for up to two years. Articles may also be offered as a download in PDF in addition to the print magazine.

Payment

Payment is made within 2 weeks of publication either via paypal or regular bank account (include IBAN and SWIFT number).

Story Descriptions

Stopover

1500-2000 word article about one specific city or region in our content zone. Sell the city to your reader. Tell them what you experienced there and what else they can experience. The article must be written for the relevant season. Sidebars should include categorized lists of what to do in the area (see “Sound of Salzburg” from issue #1). This story should be viewed as a local guide and must be well-researched.

Explorer

1000-1500 word story about a recent trip through at least two of the following countries:

Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia.

The story should be narrative, informative and focus on the adventurous aspects of travelling in the East (i.e. hidden beaches, “undiscovered” villages or sites, unconventional transportation methods, different standards for gastronomy, evidence of the communist past or recent wars, etc). Keep it humorous and entertaining (not political).

Spotlight

500-700 word column highlighting one or more fascinating aspects of one city / small region inside our content zone. This is essentially a short version of our “Stopover” feature.

PinkPacks

500 word opinion column for girl travellers, by girl travellers (gay authors writing about “feminine” issues also accepted). Try getting a little more personal with the female readers. While many of the girls reading our magazine certainly are seasoned travellers and hardened partiers, many of them are also on their first trip away from home, and some might have concerns which the typical guy traveller might not have. There might be an overprotective or jealous boyfriend at home. A girl might be meeting cute guys with heavy accents from all over the world, and for the first time truly understanding her mother’s words, “there’s plenty of fish in the sea”. Cajole, comfort, chastise or just entertain your fellow female travellers.

Travellers’ tales!

150 words to share your craziest traveller tales with hundreds of thousands of other independent travellers. Have your ever randomly crossed paths with someone from home while in Europe? Find the perfect place for an illegal midnight swim? Wake up somewhere other than where you went to sleep? It’s happened to us, so we know that you’ve got some unique story to tell. After all, that’s what travelling is all about!