Thanks for this! Very useful intel. Are you able to share any insights into the pay upon publication policy, though? That's a rough one, especially when commissioning for a year or more out.
Hey Summer! Glad you found it useful. We tried to hold off moving to payment on publication for as long as we could, but ultimately had to do it in order to make sure we have enough money to pay people. I do appreciate it's a pain, however. When I'm commissioning for issues that are a year or more away, I give the writer a choice of a long deadline or a short one – the long one is obviously in line with when I'm most likely to edit for that allocated issue, but I offer the short one as well in case the writer is in a position where they'd prefer to write it sooner. With the latter option, there's always the chance that we might have space come up that we need to fill in an earlier issue, and so if the article is ready we can slot it in (and get the writer paid sooner!), but of course there's no guarantee of that happening. Does that make sense? Basically, I still expect that writers will submit closer to the publication of the issue they've been commissioned for – so if it's a commission for Jan 2026, for example, I'd be looking for submission in Sept/Oct, which means there's less time to wait to be paid after submission. Hope that helps!
Thank you for such a detailed reply. The media landscape is a tricky one so I can understand having to make decisions that perhaps aren't ideal, and the deadline flexibility does help. Thanks again for the transparency!
Hi, I noted that you say above that you wouldn't commission for places the FCDO advises against travel to, which is clearly the red zones. Would you commission for the amber 'all but essential' category? Some very interesting amber zones are welcoming many curious and very satisfied travellers - supporting local economies and shifting the dial. many thanks :)
Hmm, that's a tricky one – I think it would have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but generally the likelihood is no if the government is saying that you should only go there if you absolutely have to. Completely agree with the importance of supporting local economies etc, but there's often a lot else to be considered. So it really depends on context as much as anything else!
This is such a helpful guide, thanks. I'm really enjoying going through back issues of JRNY and love the tone of voice in these pages (£5 for the year is a bargain!).
I was wondering if you could clarify on 'time-limited content' -- does this mean that you wouldn't publish something on an event/celebration that happens only once a year, for example? I noticed that there has been a story on Dia de Muertos.
Thanks – and good point! A yearly celebration is okay, but something that's only happening in October and then not again for 20 years isn't, likewise a once-in-a-lifetime experience wouldn't be either. Generally speaking though, I probably wouldn't commission many festival-focused pieces, but never say never!
Thanks for this! Very useful intel. Are you able to share any insights into the pay upon publication policy, though? That's a rough one, especially when commissioning for a year or more out.
Hey Summer! Glad you found it useful. We tried to hold off moving to payment on publication for as long as we could, but ultimately had to do it in order to make sure we have enough money to pay people. I do appreciate it's a pain, however. When I'm commissioning for issues that are a year or more away, I give the writer a choice of a long deadline or a short one – the long one is obviously in line with when I'm most likely to edit for that allocated issue, but I offer the short one as well in case the writer is in a position where they'd prefer to write it sooner. With the latter option, there's always the chance that we might have space come up that we need to fill in an earlier issue, and so if the article is ready we can slot it in (and get the writer paid sooner!), but of course there's no guarantee of that happening. Does that make sense? Basically, I still expect that writers will submit closer to the publication of the issue they've been commissioned for – so if it's a commission for Jan 2026, for example, I'd be looking for submission in Sept/Oct, which means there's less time to wait to be paid after submission. Hope that helps!
Thank you for such a detailed reply. The media landscape is a tricky one so I can understand having to make decisions that perhaps aren't ideal, and the deadline flexibility does help. Thanks again for the transparency!
Hi, I noted that you say above that you wouldn't commission for places the FCDO advises against travel to, which is clearly the red zones. Would you commission for the amber 'all but essential' category? Some very interesting amber zones are welcoming many curious and very satisfied travellers - supporting local economies and shifting the dial. many thanks :)
Hmm, that's a tricky one – I think it would have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but generally the likelihood is no if the government is saying that you should only go there if you absolutely have to. Completely agree with the importance of supporting local economies etc, but there's often a lot else to be considered. So it really depends on context as much as anything else!
This is such a helpful guide, thanks. I'm really enjoying going through back issues of JRNY and love the tone of voice in these pages (£5 for the year is a bargain!).
I was wondering if you could clarify on 'time-limited content' -- does this mean that you wouldn't publish something on an event/celebration that happens only once a year, for example? I noticed that there has been a story on Dia de Muertos.
Thanks – and good point! A yearly celebration is okay, but something that's only happening in October and then not again for 20 years isn't, likewise a once-in-a-lifetime experience wouldn't be either. Generally speaking though, I probably wouldn't commission many festival-focused pieces, but never say never!
Lush, thanks Emma!
This is really helpful, thanks Emma!
Glad it's useful!
Thanks a lot for this Emma, super useful! Great to see sustainable travel being pushed also. Looking forward to sending over my first pitch soon! 😊
Definitely interested in this. Thank you!
Hi, Emma! Do you accept pitches from South America?
I do – I'll accept pitches from writers based anywhere!
So pleased to see flight-free travel is getting a boost in JRNY!