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Topic: National Geographic
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| Author | Message |
| aloha-shirt-boy | Posted – 4/1/2004 3:53:30 PM | show profile | email poster Hi everyone, I posted this same topic in the media issues section, but it got buried pretty quickly under some other ones, so I figured I'd try here. I was just wondering if anyone has ever freelanced for any of the National Geographic publications. I was considering sending them a query letter about a trip I recently took. Thanks in advance. Jeff ------ "Mr. Tomosulo picked the wrong man to hire 'cause he was fake handicapped!" |
| travelgrl02 | Posted – 4/1/2004 5:02:18 PM | show profile National Geographic Traveler... Hi Jeff. I interned briefly for National Geographic Traveler magazine. They do accept queries, but not usually for large features. They have a base of well-established writers who they have used for a long time for the main editorial well. However, they do like to try out new writers in the Trips section, and I know the editor who is responsible for that section likes to try new writers when she can. That is probably your best option to break into writing for NGT. Hope this helps! |
| lizafer | Posted – 4/1/2004 7:34:13 PM | show profile Hi Travelgirl I wonder, how was it to work at NGT? How's the office? How did you get the internship?? Thanks! |
| brown | Posted – 4/1/2004 8:33:29 PM | show profile I worked at National Geographic for two years. Most of the writers have a long history with the magazine and even the ones with experience at major pubs start out with small pieces. You'd be surprised at how many mothers send in pictures their sons took at Boy Scout camp thinking they're good enough to be published in the magazine. I agree with the previous post that you should start with Traveler. Best of luck. |
| aloha-shirt-boy | Posted – 4/1/2004 10:57:18 PM | show profile | email poster Thanks Thanks for the advice everyone. I will definitely send that query now. It's funny, because I actually just started reading Traveler. This is probably the most positive thing I've heard since I started looking for a job four months ago. I've sent probably thirty job e-mails and gotten only one interview. I'll let everyone know how it goes. Thanks again. ------ "Mr. Tomosulo picked the wrong man to hire 'cause he was fake handicapped!" |
| travelgrl02 | Posted – 4/2/2004 10:29:55 PM | show profile Fantastic Working at NGT was a great experience. I applied twice, actually, before I was offered a position there. I had applied during the spring of my sophomore year of college, and they told me they already had their spots filled, and to reapply the following fall. So, I followed the advice, and sent in my cover letter, resume, and color copies of my clips the following fall. The day my package landed on the senior editor's desk, he had actually e-mailed my advisor at my university to say there was a space open for the spring, and to encourage her students to apply. She replied and mentioned my package to him, and I got an interview shortly thereafter. I moved to D.C. in January, and worked there until June. As an intern for National Geographic, you're considered a real employee. I had NGS insurance, just in case I walked off the NGS campus and got hit by a bus. (Seriously, I had to fill out a form and name a benefactor). We also received paid vacation days and paid sick time. We were required to attend weekly staff meetings, and read copy through each of the stages. The research we did fact-checking travel guides in the print edition was important--we were required to check the new copy against the old for the changes we said needed to be made. Our work was taken seriously there, and I even got to write a half-page piece in one of the magazine's departments. I definitely recommend it. But don't stop there if you want to intern for NGS--they have internship programs in most of their departments. Good luck. Let me know if I can be of anymore help to you! |
| travelgrl02 | Posted – 4/2/2004 10:32:48 PM | show profile P.S. I forgot to mention a few things. The office was great, too. It's a professional atmosphere, but also laid-back. The staff is very easy to work with, and working on what we called ''intern row'' was fun. The NGS campus is a world of its own--there's a research library, clips department, cafeteria, federal credit union, and a medical department. And, of course, there's all the presentations and the museum and the gift shop. Plus, it's 4 blocks from the White House--a spectacular area in my experience. |
| aloha-shirt-boy | Posted – 4/7/2004 9:26:19 AM | show profile More questions Travelgrl02, thanks for the insider's scoop on the NGS offices. It sounds like it would be a job one could actually enjoy. I was wondering though, is it a paid internship? Your post made it sound like that, but I wasn't sure. I'll probably be sending my query letter to Traveler, since I'm not as adverturous as the people in Adventure :-) Are all of the magazines in the D.C. offices, or is that just the NGS home office? I've been reading NG for years, but I hadn't really thought of these things before. Thanks again. ------ "Mr. Tomosulo picked the wrong man to hire 'cause he was fake handicapped!" |
| travelgrl02 | Posted – 4/17/2004 4:19:48 PM | show profile I'm so sorry! I've been traveling for the last week and a half, and totally forgot to check the postings before I left, so please forgive me for my delay. My internship was most definitely a paid internship--I even had benefits like paid vacation and sick time (although I don't know if all their internships are that way, but mine with NGT was, so if you're looking in a different department, don't quote me on that). All the editorial offices for NGS publications are at the campus in D.C. EXCEPT for Adventure--they are in NYC. The campus (and I'm calling it a campus because it is pretty much self-sustaining since they have a cafeteria, library, credit union, medical offices, etc.) is about 4 blocks from the White House, right next to the red and orange lines of Metro, and right next to Farragut Square (which makes for a nice picnic lunch in the spring/summer). Let me know what happens! |
| boober | Posted – 4/17/2004 11:14:38 PM | show profile Trvlgrl, what are you doing now? ARe you interested in travel journalism? |
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