Trails Mag Editor on the Thrill of Print and Pitching

Q&A with Trails Managing editor, Stasia Stockwell

One very cool thing about stepping away from something and coming back to it years later is seeing the big shifts that happened during that time Catching up with readers who started following Wild Writing (formerly One More Question) years ago has been so inspiring, as many of you are still out there pitching and writing and making it work—with so many new stories to share! Some of you have written books or landed staff positions or started editing. I love to see it.

Of course, there have been a lot of not-great shifts in journalism during my 2.5-year break from this newsletter. But we don’t need to rehash all that right now. There’s also been lots of good stuff, from Substack becoming a much deeper well of creative, thoughtful writing and connection to a resurgence in niche print magazines.

Similarly, it’s been very cool to reconnect with people I worked with in the past, like Stasia Stockwell, who was a regular contributor at The Dyrt back when I was the managing editor. I loved working with Stasia back then, and I was thrilled to catch up with her about her new position as Managing Editor of Trails Magazine, a gorgeous quarterly print publication with a focus on backpacking and multi-day, human-powered adventures. Since working together, she’s also been writing for a bunch of outdoor publications, including Backpacker and Treeline Review, contributing gear reviews and outdoor stories.

In today’s Q&A, Stasia shares what it’s been like to launch a print pub, how she balances outdoor pursuits and gear testing with writing and editing work, and more about her exciting career in outdoor writing! Writers, meet Stasia…

Stasia Stockwell, Managing Editor of Trails Magazine

B: I don't often use this word regarding journalism lately, but it's an exciting time for print! It seems like there are a lot of niche print publications popping up lately. What's it been like to be on the team of a new(ish) print magazine? What's the energy been like?

S: Print is definitely having a resurgence and it's so exciting to see! Working with Trails has been so much fun. I was the first hire and have been on board since Issue 1, so it was awesome to help build the whole thing from the ground up. Everything from selecting fonts, designing the logo, playing with page layouts, and super nerdy stuff like building our house editorial style (we're pro-Oxford comma and that makes me very happy) has been such a cool experience. And the energy has been great. Our little team is full of passionate creatives, and we get to work with so many wonderful freelance writers and photographers, too. Print is so different from digital—it's this physical thing that needs to look really beautiful, and you can't just go back and make corrections like you can with something online, so I think it requires that much more attention to detail and reverence for the craft when you're actually putting ink to paper and you've got subscribers who are paying good money to read it. Our whole team is really proud of what we've done with the mag, and I think it resonates with our readers, too. We get a lot of really positive notes from subscribers, and those are always so awesome to read.

Was it challenging to get this up and running? What's been the hardest part?

Ryan (Trails EIC) ran a really successful Kickstarter that got us going, and our subscriber base has been growing ever since. Probably one of the hardest parts initially, at least for Ryan and me, was just marketing the magazine. We're both writers and journalists at heart and we're honestly both pretty terrible at marketing and social media, etc., even though we're stoked about what we're doing. So that was a challenge in the beginning, just to get the word out. But now we've got some awesome folks on our team who help with that and really know what they're doing, so we can just focus on the editorial work.

That's interesting to consider in terms of how so many of us writers and journalists are basically running our own publications on Substack now. For the rest of us who feel "pretty terrible at marketing and social media," (i.e., me) any lessons learned on getting the word out there?

To be completely honest, I was not super hands-on with the marketing process, aside from some brainstorming sessions with Ryan and helping out with a few ads or marketing emails, etc. But if anything, we leaned hard into our brand as a print-only magazine, and that's helped to distinguish us. In the same way you find your niche as a magazine in general, it's helpful to use that niche to market what you're doing. You won't reach everyone, but you will hopefully reach the ones who care and who get it.

What do you think it takes for a new print magazine to be successful these days?

I think you have to have a specific niche and really home in on that. I think one (of many) of the reasons we see some of the bigger legacy pubs struggling is because they're trying to be everything to everyone, and that just doesn't work. It might mean your publication doesn't have as massive of a subscriber base, but I think that makes it a more meaningful and valuable product to those who do subscribe, because you really know who your audience is.

And I think it's pretty obvious at this point that the old model of ad-reliant grocery store mags just doesn't work anymore. Ad dollars can be tight, and if that’s your primary revenue, you end up with a magazine that's often more beholden to advertisers than it is to the actual readers. That's not to say all or any ads are bad, but to rely on that to fund a high-quality publication just doesn't work. You've got to have a good subscriber base and you've got to keep them at the front of mind with every story. That's who you're making the magazine for, after all.

What types of stories are you most interested in seeing pitches for at Trails right now?

While a lot of other pubs are looking for quick hits and shorter pieces (probably in part thanks to our dwindling attention spans), we're really interested in running longform pieces, especially heavily reported ones. Ryan and I keep saying, if you think your story is too long or a little too out there for other pubs, send it to us. We're pretty open to unique ideas. As long as it's relevant to the backpacking (or other overnight human powered endeavors, like bikepacking, multi-day paddling, etc.) community, we're curious. We're also particularly interested in reported stories on public lands and all the changes and commotion happening there right now, as it relates to backpackers.

As someone who sees a lot of pitches, what do you wish you saw less of? Or what's a common mistake or misunderstanding you see often?

I really love pitches that are particularly unique. If it's a story that's been written about elsewhere, you've got to have a pretty different angle for us to want to cover it. We're not interested in stories about how to hike in the heat, or essays on the first time someone went backpacking. We want to get deeper than that.

We're happy to flesh out ideas with writers, even the half baked ones. They've just got to be on the trail of something particularly interesting. In Issue 1, we ran a story about skate-packers—this super niche group of people who are essentially backpacking and thru-hiking, but on longboards. I still think that was a really fun one. A few issues back we ran a profile of a pretty random and unknown guy who is prolific on a hiking forum and has a huge wealth of knowledge for backpacking in certain areas in the West. That was one of my favorite profiles we've run. It was a fun story and I'm pretty confident you're not going to read about him anywhere else. And in Issue 10, which just dropped, we’ve got fascinating read about these specific mountain zones where hikers, grizzlies, and moths all converge. Those are the kinds of stories I’m looking for.

In general, I get a lot of pitches that are a little more basic or expected, and many of them honestly would be just fine for a digital publication to run, because they're able to publish essentially an unlimited amount of stories. We print only four issues a year—that's something like 450 pages total. So we're really selective about what stories we choose to run. We often turn pitches down not because they're inherently bad, but simply because we got another pitch that's better and we don't have space for both. We don't ever want to discourage anyone from pitching, but the bar is pretty high overall.

What has editing taught you about writing lately?

Editing reminds me to be more concise with my writing, and it forces me to ask myself a lot more questions as I write. I've always understood the purpose of editors, but before doing a lot of editing work myself, I don't think I fully understood the value of it. It's made me appreciate it a lot more when my writing is being edited.

For those who are maybe experienced freelance writers but also interested in editing, can you talk to us about how you got your foot in the door for editing experience?

I think many of these opportunities surface after you've been working with someone or a certain publication for a while. Establish a good working relationship as a writer first, then the opportunity to edit is more likely to present itself. In most cases, publications want contributing editors who really get their style and voice, and someone who has written a lot for that pub will usually already have a knack for that.

For me, at least with Trails, Ryan and I already had worked together previously and had been on some trips together. When I started chatting with him about pitches for the mag, we ended up talking more about his ideas for Trails as a whole and what his vision was. It was pretty clear we were on the same page, and I think that’s the biggest reason he asked me to jump on board as an editor.

What does it look like to piece together a career in outdoors and travel writing for you these days?

I like to have a handful of steady clients and fill in the holes with pitching different or new publications. It's nice to have a baseline of reliable work, whether it's on a contract basis or just someone I am constantly getting freelance assignments from. Then, with the extra time I have—when I have it—I can spend that chasing down and pitching other stories. I also enjoy doing a mixture of writing and editing; that variety helps to keep things feeling fresh.

As a gear reviewer and outdoors writer, you probably need a lot of time away from your computer, having experiences you can write about. How do you balance doing enough to write about with writing enough to make a living?

That one can be tricky, and it is admittedly one of the best parts about this type of writing—that you also get to be outside so much. I love that I can say, "Well, I have to go skiing for work right now to test this jacket or these goggles or skis." And I really enjoy getting to write about my experiences in the backcountry. But it can be challenging to make a living writing about that alone. I've found that it helps to have some diversity, like having a steady client that's totally unrelated to the outdoor industry. Sometimes, that work isn't quite as exciting, but it helps to pay the bills. And on the flip side, it also means that not every adventure you have has to be turned into a story. Some of them can be just for you, for your own pure enjoyment and memories. I think that can also help to keep burnout at bay, since it adds a little more variety to your work. That also makes it a little easier to check out of work when you really want to, which can be challenging as a freelancer whose work often intertwines with their hobbies.

Can you share what types of clients you work for outside of journalism? And what does that work look like?

I've done some basic food writing in the past, like really easy turn-and-burn stories, but with contracts that give you set paid hours for the week. I've also written blog posts for guiding companies and other folks, and that can be decent regular work to churn out alongside more journalistic or editorial endeavors.

Side note on this: I've got a one-year-old at home now, and we opted to not do childcare, so I don't take on as many clients or do side work (like the blogs, etc) like I would pre-kid since I simply don't have the time. The upside is that I get to be more selective about my clients and the stories I take on, and it's kind of an awesome balance.

If you could see outdoor media shift or make some big change in some way, what would it be? Or maybe, what are your hopes for outdoor media in the next few years?

I would really love to see a return to more longform journalism and more reported stories. I think the deep dives are often the most interesting and valuable stories, whether it's a heavily reported story with a newsier angle, or those intriguing adventure stories that make you step back and think about things in a greater context. I love long reads that fully immerse you, and I think there aren't enough of those. And I think there's a need for more integrity, whether it's in gear reviews or travel writing. I'd like to see some more down-to-earth writing with valuable context and less parachute travel journalism. Our Trails photo editor, Emily Sullivan, does such a good job with her freelance work of telling stories of people in the outdoor industry who often stay in the shadows, like Indigenous folks and women, whether they're ski guides or land advocates. I want to see more stories about the less talked about people.

What are you most excited about in your writing life right now?

Everything I'm working on with Trails gets me excited right now. I really enjoy the editorial side of things, and it's such a joy to work with so many talented writers. I think each issue gets better than the last, and we're working on assigning longer and more heavily reported stories for future issues, so I'm excited to see how those come together.

---

A big thank you to Stasia for taking the time for this Q&A!

Did you catch this week’s essay and updates on pitching opportunities, education, and events for writers?

A note on the next two weeks…

On March 17, I fly out to Oregon for a two-week research trip around the Eastern and Southern regions of the state. I’m SO excited to explore deeper in these places that I already love, learn about what’s new for visitors to check out, and write about it all for an upcoming Lonely Planet guide to the Pacific Northwest. I’m finally going to make it all the way to The Wallowas and The Alvord Desert, which means a lot of driving and a lot of time in rural towns with limited services, which I’m also very much looking forward to. In addition to a ton of research I need to cram into these weeks, I’m hoping to use what little downtime I have to focus on a new writing project I’ve been eager to work on. So, while I am going to try to send out some newsletters along the way, they might be sparser than usual, and I’ll probably reshare some older essays that might be new to you!

But I’ll be back in April with so much to share. I can’t wait to fill you all in on this whirlwind research trip and share some lessons learned on guidebook writing and looking for bigger feature stories along the way.

More to come on all of that!

Stay inspired,

Britany