Q&A with Editor-in-Chief of Trails Magazine, Ryan Wichelns

👋 What inspired you to start Trails Magazine, and how did the magazine come to life?

This one is pretty cut and dry: Backpacker Magazine went out of print. They were the first magazine I ever subscribed to and really the first one I ever write regularly for, so they were a big part of my life. When they went away, it was disappointing to me personally, but it also felt like the backpacking community was missing out on a magazine to call their own. It felt natural to fill that gap. We started with a big Kickstarter fundraiser and have been chugging along ever since!

🔍 How do you find new freelancers to work with?

That's a good question that our freelancers might be able to answer better than I can. We do as much as we can to put ourselves out there and share as much information about what we're looking for as we can—Through email, our website, a Discord, etc. But, considering we're hardly on any newsstands, I think most of our contributors come to us by word of mouth. 

💡 What do you wish writers and photographers would pitch more?

We get a lot of great pitches, so there's nothing glaring that I wish we got more, but I would always like to see more compelling, interesting, and unique adventure stories. Granted, these are hard to nail and land—they need to be really special—but they're some of the most interesting stories in the magazine, when we get them right.  

💻 What advice do you have for freelancers who want to work with Trails Magazine?

Get familiar with us. Read the magazine and read our Contributors Info page.  

👀 Do you ever accept pitches related to press trips?

We're open to them, but the story needs to be especially strong.  

✨ What sort of stories are you looking for right now?

Right now, we're trying to fill out Issue 13. We give each issue a vague "thread" that we like contributors to interpret in their stories. In this case, it's "Endurance." I'd be stoked to get pitches with a strong tie to that idea. 

Trails Magazine pays writers between $0.50-$2/word for features ranging from 1,000-5,000 words, and pays photographers between $35-$400, ranging from small spots to the cover.

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