S5 E60: 3 Steps to Getting Published In NatGeo

Get the show’s transcript

[INTRODUCTION]

[00:00:28.3] YD: Welcome to the Travel Media Lab podcast. I’m your host, Yulia Densiyuk, an award-winning travel photographer and writer, entrepreneur, community builder and firm believer that every one of us can go after the stories we've always wanted to tell with the right support, encouragement and structure. I’m on a mission to help women's storytellers everywhere break into and thrive in the travel media space.

If you're ready to ditch your fears to the side, grow your knowledge and confidence, and publish your travel stories, you're in the right place. Let's go.

[EPISODE]

[0:00:37.0] YD: Today, I want to spend some time answering a question that is the number one question of all times that people have asked me: “How do you get published in National Geographic?” This is the question I get most often in DMs, in emails and when I speak at events and workshops, so I thought I dedicate the whole episode to answering it because I get it so often. 

If you enjoy today’s episode, if National Geographic is one of your dream publications too, then chances are, you want to attend our info session for my upcoming travel journalism program. This program called Intro to Travel Journalism is enrolling very soon and this year, we’re doing something different with it. 

We’re turning it into a six-month program during which our students will have access to our amazing support inside The Circle membership community, so for people who will be joining our program this year, they will get to experience the best of both, a foundation of travel journalism knowledge that I give in the program, plus the ongoing support inside our membership for them to actually apply all of it and most importantly, stick to it. 

I will be holding free info session about this program this upcoming Friday, May 6th at 10 AM eastern. You still have time to register and we’ll also be sending a recording to everyone who register in case you can’t attend us live. So if getting your travel stories published is something you dream about, don’t wait, visit travelmedialab.com/infosession to register today and see if this six-month program is right for you. All right, now, on to this episode.

[0:02:25.2] Welcome everyone. Today, I want to spend some time answering this question that I get so often: How do you get published in National Geographic? Oh my God, the number of times I’ve heard this question, everybody wants to know that. When people come across me or my work and they send me DMs on Instagram or other platforms, this is the number one question that I always get. “How do you work with national geographic, how do you get published in National Geographic?” 

Today, I want to take some time to cover that and of course, it’s understandable, right? It’s so understandable that we want to know that because National Geographic is a huge brand. If you love travel, if you love stories, if you love storytelling, chances are, you probably had National Geographic Magazine when you were little, you probably read it a lot growing up and it’s probably one of your dreams to be working with that publication to see your stories in the pages of their magazine or in their website because they have websites as well and it’s very understandable that this is the question that everybody always asks me.

Today, I’m going to share with you three steps to getting published in National Geographic. Three very important steps so listen up. 

Step number one, to get into National Geographic, you need to build your portfolio. You need to build your portfolio. 

It’s really, really important that when we reach out to National Geographic and we want to work with them that we have a portfolio of work that the editors can look at to evaluate if there is potential for us to work together or not.

[0:04:13.0] That is actually the question that people need to be asking me, not how do you get published in National Geographic but how do you develop a portfolio of work that they can then take to National Geographic, right? And, in order to build your portfolio of work, what do we need to do? We need to start writing, we need to start pitching other magazines and we need to start creating stories and knowing what kind of stories we want to do. 

When I say creating stories, I mean that this is for both writers and photographers who are interested in working with National Geographic, right? Whether you’re a writer who needs to start writing more, whether you’re a photographer who needs to take more photographic stories, we need to start building our portfolio so that we can then show it to National Geographic and, you know, everybody wants to know how to work with National Geographic and I was that person too when I first started in this career path, my very first pitch was sent to National Geographic, of course. I never heard back from them with that story but the good thing is I didn’t let that stop me. I can see you going on this path. I continued getting better, I continued building my portfolio and then when later on, I pitched National Geographic again, they said yes that time and they’ve – and other team of theirs has also approached me to do some work together as well. 

[0:05:34.5] That’s the most important steps. Step number one is you need to start building your portfolio before you approach National Geographic. Now, notice that it’s not impossible to get into National Geographic without any prior published work. Let me say that again, it’s not impossible to get into National Geographic without any prior work. 

We had a guest on the podcast recently who told the story about a National Geographic editor, reaching out to her after finding her travel blog online and at that point, our guest, she wasn’t a travel writer yet. She hadn’t had any work published in any magazines but she had her blog and she’s been writing on her blog for years and years before. 

So this national geographic editor was googling, was looking for people to work with on this particular story and her blog popped up and, you know, the editor reached out to her. She loved what she saw on the blog and that’s how our guest got published in National Geographic. That is her first ever story.

It's not impossible to work with National Geographic if you’ve never had anything published, the key though here, the key difference is that our guest has a blog. She had a blog that’s attracted actually this editor, right? She had a body of work that the editor was able to react to and evaluate and to see if that’s something that they want to receive. That’s really, really important. 

Okay, step number two, you start building your portfolio, you start developing this craft, you start writing on your own blog, you start developing a body of work with your photography. Step number two, you need to have a structured approach. It’s very, very important to have a structured approach.

I don’t recommend that the first ever publication that you reach out to will be National Geographic so don’t follow in my footsteps, don’t do that, and here’s why. You need time to get better, you need time to develop the craft, you need time to understand what works and what doesn’t work, you need time to know how to pitch and how to pitch well so that your chances of getting accepted are higher and how do you do that?

[0:07:47.7] Very easy, you have a structure to promise. So you start small, you start working with perhaps some local publications or smaller publications, start understanding what interests you, what kind of stories you want to do. Again, start building your portfolio. Then move to bigger publications. Start building your portfolio even more and then only then, reach out to National Geographic, show them the body of work that you have, show them that you have an understanding of how this industry works, of how pitching works, of what kind of stories you want to do as a creator, right? Because that’s how you understand yourself better and your work better by doing the work.

If you are just starting out, maybe it is hard for you to understand what your niche might be, what interests you. You need time to develop all of that understanding and we do that by doing the work. So structured approach, when I say structured approach what I mean is that be structured in your efforts. Start small, start building your portfolio little by little and then reach out to National Geographic by all means, by all means. 

And then, finally, step number three is that you need to have patience. You need to have patience. It is really unreasonable to expect to become National Geographic contributor, or somebody who works with National Geographic, or is published in National Geographic overnight. Even the guest that I shared with you the story of before, it’s not like she put one blog post up and then the next day, the editor of National Geographic reached out to her, right? 

[0:09:21.8] It took her years to develop her blog, to develop her writing, to hone her craft and then the editor had come across her work and found it and was interested enough to reach out. I didn’t start working with National Geographic overnight and neither did many people I know who are successful in this industry. 

It takes time, all these things that I just mentioned, to build your portfolio, to have a structured approach of reaching out to publications, it all takes time. It takes time to get better, to build your relationships in this industry. So you are setting yourself up for failure when you start thinking that overnight you’d become successful and the first time you ever do anything in this industry you reach out to National Geographic. 

It just not how it works, however, if you are committed to this path, if you are consistent with your efforts, if you are putting in the effort, if you are learning, if you are getting better, you will see results. I have no doubt about it. I have absolutely zero doubt about it. It happened to me, it happened to so many people who are in our Travel Media Lab community. 

Now, it happens to many people in this industry that I know. This is how it works. It is almost like this is the laws of physics. If you are committed to something, if you put in the effort, if you are consistent with your efforts, if you are structured with your efforts, you will start getting results and maybe it will not be a story inside National Geographic right away but you build up to it, right? You get better, you continue pitching, you continue learning, you get better and eventually, you will see results. 

So that’s how it works. In this industry just like any other industry, that’s how it works. It is unreasonable to – even if you start a business let’s say. You start a business, it is unreasonable to imagine that you will be successful from day one, right? You need time to build. You need time to build and it is exactly the same thing here. 

[0:11:21.9] So again, to get published in National Geographic, step number one, you need a portfolio. It doesn’t need to be a portfolio of work published on other magazines or publications. It can be a portfolio that lives on your own website but it needs to be something that the editor needs to react to. Step number two, you need to have a structured approach and I recommend start small, move up and then eventually pitch National Geographic. 

Step three, you need to have patience and you need to be consistent, committed to this path and you need to put in the effort to stay on this path and to develop your craft and to get better. When you do, when you follow these steps that I’ve shared with you today, again, I have zero doubt that you will be successful in this industry or in any other industry to be honest that you are putting in the effort into. 

And finally, I want to mentioned that we have a program coming up called Intro to Travel Journalism. That program lays out all the foundation of everything that I talked about today and way more because it is a big program. It has six modules in it and it lays out the foundation that you need to start taking the actual steps of being in this industry of sending out pitches to National Geographic and other publications of building your portfolio, of developing your own approach and your own understanding of yourself and how this industry works. 

I will be holding a free info session about this program on Friday, May 6th at 10 AM eastern. So if getting your travel stories published in National Geographic or any other amazing travel publications or other publications is something that you dream about, don’t miss this opportunity to come and learn about the program. 

[0:13:15.6] Visit travelmedialab.com/infosession to register today and to see if this program that is going to run for six months is something that is right for you. And again, that link is travelmedialab.com/infosession. It is linked here as well so you can check it out, come see what this program is all about, what I’m teaching. 

If you like what I had to say today, chances are you are going to like what I share in this program and what it’s all about. So come check it out and don’t forget to register at the link that I’ll include here as well. 

So thank you again for listening today and just be consistent, keep going with your efforts. This is the most important thing. If there is nothing else that you take out of this conversation today is that you just really have to be consistent with your efforts and keep going and then you’ll start seeing results, I guarantee you. Thank you so much.

[END OF DISCUSSION]

[0:14:16.7] YD: Did you hear something that resonated with you in our episode today? Maybe you were listening in and you’re like, “Oh I’ve had this question before. I felt that. I’ve wanted that.” If you’ve resonated with what I had to share today, then maybe our reimagined Intro to Travel Journalism Program is for you. 

If you are interested in learning more about this program and how we plan to support you for six months inside our membership, The Circle, join us for a free info session this Friday, May 6th at 10 AM eastern, where I’ll take you behind the scenes of the program and show you the blueprint for getting your travel stories published and kick starting your travel journalism career. 

Go to travelmedialab.com/infosession to register today. Thank you so much for listening to this episode and I’ll see you next week. 

[END]