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Forums - News / General |
For General modelling or hobby-related topics that are not covered by any other specific forum. Please keep to topics concerning the hobby. |
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| Subject: | Re: Getting into Print |  |
| Date: | Oct 22, 2004 |
| From: | John Tapsell | |
Al,
By accident, almost:o)
Some time before I decided to start writing seriously, I'd started taking photos of my models as I built them. I wanted to be able to show my friends and people at exhibitions what was underneath the paint (since I detailed and converted the kits).
From there, I began jotting down notes as I went along. I didn't consciously set out to start writing for commercial mags, but one day I happened to be at a show and got talking to an editor. He'd seen my work, liked what I produced and I rashly said I had several "articles" that might interest him. We agreed that I'd send him a sample article with photos and he'd let me know if they were what he wanted - the rest as they say is history.
I tend to write for one magazine and to a degree, that's because I get on well with the editor - we have a similar outlook on modelling. It also helps that he only lives 30 minutes drive away, so I can pop over there and drop stuff off or have a chat about forthcoming projects. Therein lies a danger. If you start talking about a new idea, suddenly he wants it yesterday (and you may have gone off the idea and be building something else entirely).
When I started, we agreed some ground rules. I wouldn't do "review builds". I'd do what I wanted to do. I didn't want my output to be controlled by what I'd been sent and to have a time limit hanging over my head. I will occasionally agree to build something specific, but not often.
Genral principles:
You must have a good standard of English and grammar. Editors soon lose interest if they constantly have to re-write your articles to an acceptable standard. You must be organised and plan articles in a logical fashion. Don't expect top receive loads of free kits. If you agree to build a review kit, there WILL be a time limit attached and if you don't achieve that deadline, you won't be popular. Agreeing to build a review kit means that your own projects take a back seat (that's why I rarely do them).
You need to be able to provide high quality photographs of the model, both in progress and complete. They have to be pin-sharp, well lit and with a good depth of field. They need to be "print quality" - in other words good enough to reproduce commercially in the magazine. That means good film (100 ISO/ASA or slower) and preferably transparency, not prints (although they are usually acceptable). If you've "gone digital", then you need to supply BIG images (the average PC monitor these days displays at 1024x768 pixels for a full screen - you need to think about images that are 2000-3000 pixels wide if you want them to be printed in a magazine. That's often more than 1 megabyte per image).
You need to be a decent modeller. That doesn't mean contest winning quality, just a good technical builder - able to fit, fill, sand and construct to a good standard. You also need to be a good painter - again, you don't need a long contest pedigree, just good workmanlike finish.
Some editors like a "stable" of high quality modellers, whilst others like a mix of "names" and "regulars". It depends on the the audience they are pitching their magazine at.
Different magazines operate different payment and editorial policies, so make sure you check these out before you agree to supply articles.
Fine Scale Modeller for example will buy your article off you and pay you immediately ('payment on acceptance'). However, they also purchase the reproduction rights. That means you no longer have the right to use the text and photos anywhere else and they are under no obligation to publish it - ever.
Others 'pay on publication'. You submit the article - they say 'yes', we'll use it and then you wait (sometimes for months) until they decide to publish it. When they publish, you get paid.
Some mags pay a standard rate per article. Others pay per page. Some offer a standard rate to all their authors. Others pay different rates depending on your perceived value to them.
You won't get rich - I'd need to write somewhere in the region of 120 articles per year to match my current salary at work and I don't do badly as payment goes - but it does help to offset the costs of your hobby.
Most society journals don't offer any payment at all, but they still get high quality articles. IPMS, AMPS, MAFVA etc are all good proving grounds for your work. I've written for several of them over the years. Just because they don't pay doesn't mean you can skimp on the quality of what you submit. It's a different audience. You are writing for your peers, not the general public.
You might become famous (more likely infamous), but don't count on it. As for groupies, I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate them so I haven't investigated the possibilities :o)
Cheers,
John Tapsell
I mostly write for Military in Scale but FSM and AFV Modeller have both published my stuff (once each - so maybe that says something!).
Currently Editor of the IPMS-UK Magazine |
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 | Getting into Print - Alex Hill - Oct 22, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Getting into Print - ian sadler - Oct 22, 2004 |
| . . . . . . who's names did you see - Mike Bedard - Oct 25, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Getting into Print - Jay Laverty - Oct 22, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Getting into Print - John Tapsell - Oct 22, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: Getting into Print/editor question - Ulrich Pfaff - Oct 24, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: Getting into Print - Alex Hill - Oct 24, 2004 |
| . . . . . . . . . How about getting off ya bum and - steve campbell - Oct 25, 2004 |
| . . . Re: Getting into Print - David Byrden - Oct 25, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: Getting into Print - Paul A. Owen - Oct 25, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: Young women at the garden gate - Alex Hill - Oct 26, 2004 |
| . . . who's names did you see - Mike Bedard - Oct 25, 2004 |
| . . . . . . Re: who's names did you see - Alex Hill - Oct 26, 2004 |
| . . . Oh yes, the women just drip off me now! - Kevin Johnson - Oct 26, 2004 |
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