Contest Submission Guidelines

Travel articles will be judged on the following:

• Word Count — MUST fall between 700 and 1300 words per article.
• Entry must be original and previously unpublished (this includes on websites and blogs).
• Entries must be written in the second or third person. No first-person accounts will be accepted.

Additional criteria includes:

• Creativity and uniqueness of content
• Quality of writing
• Ability to hold a reader’s attention
• Accuracy of information
• Knowledge of subject matter

Preferred authors are people who have actually been to the places, or experienced the events they are writing about. We are looking for interesting, colorful, and precise details that show a knowledge or experience of the place or activity featured in the article!

Writing Contest Categories

All entries must adhere to one of the following categories:

1. “Guidebook With A Twist.” — This is a unique and interesting “how-to” or informational travel guide about features or characteristics in a specific city or country — with info not easily found in the usual tourist guidebooks.

 2. “Travel Feature.” — This is a colorful and informational feature article about some sort of activity, event, social custom, or unique tradition that travelers might want to try and experience while abroad.

 3. “Top Five/ Top Ten.” This is a “roundup” article where writers can get creative with their Top Fill-in-the-Blanks — places to see, things to do, items to bring, etc. — in various countries or parts of the world.

Contest Entry Guidelines

The Next Great Travel Writers Contest will run from July 1, 2013 to October 31, 2013 at 11:59PM MST .

Entrants must agree to and fill out the GoAbroad  Author Agreements Form

Winners will be announced on November 4, 2013. GoAbroad will announce the winners by e-mail and via GoAbroad s social media communities (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.)

All entries must be emailed with the following subject line: GoAbroad Writers Contest [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME]

Please submit entries as follows. Double-spaced, 12 pt. font, all text aligned left (not centered or specially formatted). Please do not use any special document formatting for any part of the article or use font formatting besides italics or bold.

Author’s name, email, and phone number should appear at the BOTTOM of the article. Phone numbers and email addresses will NOT be shared, but used for contact purposes with the entrant.

The article must not contain hyperlinks of any kind .

The title and name of the author should appear at the beginning of each separate article. Authors’ names should be entered exactly as entrants would like it published on GoAbroad.com and in contest announcements.

Authors may submit multiple entries ; however these must be limited to three entries per category. If an author should submit more than that, GoAbroad will accept only the first three entries per category received chronologically from that author. Multiple entries must be submitted individually.

Entrants may submit photos to illustrate their article if it is published ; however, these photos will not be judged as part of the GoAbroad “Next Great Travel Writer” contest. All photos (including headshots) should be emailed at JPEGs/JPGs

Entrants should include short author bio (75 words MAX) and an author headshot to publish with their travel article. The author bio may contain one link to the author’s website, blog, or any other online destination chosen by the entrant. No more than one link per bio will be published.

**CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED**