Submission guidelines
Our philosophy
We aim to redefine who travels and what travel looks like, as well as to reshape the kinds of journeys–whether real or imagined–that can be narrated through words and images. To us, “travel” is not uniquely a set of experiences and encounters taking place far from home, but also emerges from being attentive to the extraordinary potential of the everyday. In the 21st century, we are all nomads of one kind or another. Panorama exists in order to reflect upon and strengthen that commonality.
What we publish
We publish contemporary, literary-themed travel works of nonfiction, fiction, poetry, illustration, as well as travel-themed photo essays and film stills. We are looking for exquisite, rich, surprising work capable of unbinding readers from their expectations and routines. Make us get lost on a journey in your hometown. Be the verbal cartographer of your own exile. Bring us the fictional realities of characters who take us places we can’t go on our own. Offer us poetry that leaves us stranded in the natural world. Most of all, write evocative, experiential, descriptive prose that takes our readers with you, and confirms our belief in the power of place. We have a particular interest in travel memoir, real or imagined, but we invite memoir with an edge. This is not the place for traditional travel memoir: give us something different.
Who we publish
Submissions are encouraged and welcomed from all. We have a special interest in publishing emerging voices and global perspectives. Our masthead is a collective of international writers, artists, and creatives from around the world, and we look for this same spirit in our submissions. We especially encourage those who are outside of traditional publishing opportunities to submit.
We assess submissions entirely on a work’s individual merit.
General points
Panorama is staffed by unpaid volunteers committed to our vision of changing the travel landscape. We do not charge a reading fee for submissions, and work to create access for all. While we would like to pay an honorarium for online works eventually, we are unable to provide that at this time.
Contributing to Panorama is to take part in the mission of what it is: bringing global, quality travel narratives in multiple expressions to an international audience: democratizing a genre. We provide excellent editors from around the world, as well as nominate for literary awards worldwide. Our masthead includes Nobel Peace Prize nominees, Pushcart prize winners, and more.
Your work is yours: we simply want the opportunity to share it with a larger audience. For online works, world rights in English only, online only, are ours for a period of three months, after which all rights return to the creator. All world rights in other languages return to the creator at the moment of publication. Panorama must be credited for original publication. Rights for translations vary and are case by case. Book excerpts are also case by case.
For open submissions we consider fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and photography that is consistent with the goals and vision of Panorama. While we prefer literary submissions to be original, meaning they cannot have appeared in any form on the internet, or elsewhere in print, we make exceptions for spectacular work for limited sections. We also accept translations, but request first translation rights in English.
Please include a cover letter briefly introducing yourself and any background relevant to your submission. Submissions without a cover letter will be declined. The cover letter should include a publishable and professional brief bio , a note about the work, your location [not nationality or identity], social media and website links, and the word count of the piece. If the work was previously published, please include where it was first published and when. If the work is a translation, please include original.
If you have never published before, please note this in your cover letter. We are fond of emerging writers and champion their work.
Please submit work written in English, typed, and double spaced with page numbers, in Word Doc only. We do not accept PDFs. For word counts, please see our FAQs. If English is not your first language, please note this in the cover letter.
Due to the thousands of submissions we receive each call, which inevitably includes work that is excellent yet unsuited to Panorama‘s mission, we are unable to provide detailed comments. Turnaround time for submission responses varies on the section and number of submissions: we begin sorting them when the calls open, but the process can take 3-5 months for acceptance. Our editing process is intensive and acceptance is conditional on working with our editors.
To see what we are looking for, please visit Current Calls, and follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter. For detailed information on our publishing schedule, and more please visit our FAQ page. We look forward to receiving your best work. If you have questions, please contact us.