FoodTrekker, an online resource for culinary travelers around the world, is looking for correspondents, specifically local experts ready to lead readers into a culture through its cuisine. Where do the locals go? We’re not only looking for the most noteworthy restaurants and bars, but we’re also eager to feature culinary tours and attractions, breweries and wineries, specialty food shops, cooking schools, farmers markets and more. In our support and pursuit of authentic culinary experiences, we typically do not feature major chains unless a particular location is highly unique or memorable compared to the chain’s other locations. As a FoodTrekker contributor, you can nominate yourself for a variety of regions. For example, you could be a Tasting Team member both where you live and also where you travel to frequently. Just let us know your area(s) of interest when contacting us.
WHY WRITE FOR US?
FoodTrekker is not only a perfect place for culinary and travel enthusiasts to share their stories, it offers writers a venue to build their voices and resumes. While our correspondents are unpaid, each article includes a byline and is linked to the writer’s FoodTrekker profile, which is an enhanced profile compared to those of regular members. In short, writing for FoodTrekker is a great way to break into the elite fields of travel and culinary journalism.
BECOME A REGULAR
FoodTrekker is looking for regular contributors. We are flexible, and we’ll certainly take into consideration any longer features you’re writing, but we are most interested in working with writers who can offer a steady contribution—a good pace is about 5 snapshots on average per month. Take a look at the following criteria for submitting your first couple of ideas. If after working with our editor, we’ve established that we’re a good fit for each other, we’ll set up your special contributor account. You will still work with the editor, but it won’t be necessary to formally pitch each idea. As a regular contributor, you’ll be generating your own story ideas, and we’ll also offer suggestions for businesses that we’d like covered or feature ideas appropriate for your location(s).
PITCH YOUR IDEA
Part One: If you are interested in contributing for the first time, the first thing to do is to sign up as a Basic (Free) member in this online community (not on FoodTrekker.com). We communicate with all of our Tasting Team members through a special Tasting Team group in this online community at culinarytourism.org.
Part Two: Then once you have signed up as a free member, please send us in the form below a brief summary of your idea, explaining why it should be featured on FoodTrekker. If it’s timely, tell us why. Also, please let us know why you’re interested in writing for FoodTrekker, and what makes you a good fit for us. We appreciate writing samples, but it’s not necessary to send a formal resume. We will read unsolicited manuscripts, but you’re better off pitching the idea first. If we’re interested, we might have some ideas to guide your research and writing.
Stories include colorful profiles of restaurants/culinary events/culinary retail shops/etc., as well as location-specific trend-type features. Your query should consider newsworthy hooks, unique and memorable aspects of your subject, the characters and personalities behind the subject, and any other angle that can draw in a reader.
TYPES OF CONTENT NEEDED
We are looking for 5 major categories of content. In all cases, we’re looking for concise writing. Title recommendations for stories are welcome, although not always used. Submissions should include the vitals of the subject(s), such as contact information, hours and times, and any other helpful tips for readers planning to visit the place or attend the event. Before you are approved as a contributor on FoodTrekker, please send your submissions via email as a Word document attachment, as well as pasted in the body of your email. All submissions will be edited. This process may involve suggestions for rewriting and requests for additional information that will require your attention. Once you are approved as a FoodTrekker contributor, you will be able to post your submissions directly online. Your submissions will go into a queue for review and approval by the editor.
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Editorial Snapshots. First, we need editorial snapshots (about 300 - 500 words in length). These typically take the shape of a product or activity feature (such as “Chocolate Making in Belgium”). The format is part profile and part review of the featured business, event or activity.
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Trend Stores. We also need trend stories, which can run longer. Trend/feature stories cover a range of topics; we’re interested in hot angles on unique culinary destinations, and culinary trends within specific destinations. [Note that a “destination” might be a city (Valencia, Spain), a region (Northern California Wine Country) or even a country (Guatemala), if it makes sense.]
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Destination Overview.
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Culinary Culture Template. We need your help to complete a template for your region(s) of expertise. We provide you with a Word template with a variety of sections that summarize the culinary culture of the area you’re writing about. For example, you would research and write about typical foods, common agricultural products, cooking instruments and recipes, culinary traditions, special holiday foods, top food and drink experiences and so on. We have compiled consistent information categories in this template so that readers can easily compare one destination, and its culinary resources, to another.
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Business Listings. Most writers enter these one at a time along with their review. Some writers have an Excel spreadsheet for uploading in bulk. For example, you (or people you know) might have a great list of all the wineries or restaurants in your area. Or we can provide to you a template in Excel of the kind of data we need. We don’t usually include chains so we ask you to edit those out first. This is a great way to ensure that your area(s) gets uploaded onto FoodTrekker as fast as possible.
PHOTO SUBMISSIONS
FoodTrekker loves quality photos to accompany your story. We are also interested in remarkable stand-alone photos with a few sentences of basic information. Bylines are also offered for photos. Please keep submissions at 200KB or lower, in jpg format, (optimum size: 600 px width, 72 dpi).
QUESTIONS?
APPLY TO WRITE FOR FOODTREKKER
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ICTA Board of Director member since 2004, Harold built his 40 years as travel consultant and busines
Jane Gregg is the owner and president of Epicurean Ways, a leading operator of culinary tours in Spa