Anyone needing help

S

shamus

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Dec 17, 2000
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I have seen some very nice layout photos here at the gauge, if anyone is really interested in getting an article written and photographs done for possible publication I will help you through it.

Photographs need to be either (Digital) as large a tiff file as possible or 35mm slides. Articles need to be around 2500 words. A trackplan of the layout in photo.jpg or tiff plus captions for all photos. and all put onto CD.

Presentaion is the name of the game, 95% of the people sending articles and photos to magazines just send 7"X5" photos and hope that will do, also they don't have the article presented in a proper way, i.e. double spaced lines and spell checked and saved in ,txt. if its saved as a .doc or some other way, if its good enough to be published, then someone has to re-type it out but in .txt it will go into "Quark Express or similar"
I know this is true as I spent a day at one publishers and he showed me a pile of articles that were as I stated above.

I have rambled enough, if your interested, I can help.
Shamus
 
Very nice of you to offer your help, Matey. Gee, although I would have sent a plain text copy, as well as a universal RTF file, I would have thought publishers would be savvy enough to convert one format to another. Almost any modern word processor will do it. I guess that's where assumptions get's ya ;)
 
Dot your Is and cross your Ts. Not only check your spelling, but also check your grammar, syntax, and punctuation. Anything that will show the publisher that you are serious about presenting a professional product to their publication. Consider how you would react to unprofessional, poorly prepared manuscripts sent to you. Know the difference between your and you're, there and their. Their readers will be reading what they publish there. Your professionalism will show them you're able to provide professional work in the future.
 
If anyone would like a proofreader, I can do that sort of thing. I fix grammar and spelling, can tell you where you're not making sense, and maybe pick up where you need more explanation.
I think that with any article, it's wise to have one or two other people read it. I had a boss who wouldn't proof his own reports, "I know what I wrote and that's what I see."
 
Just a few more important points:

When sending an article to a publisher, always include a SASE (self-adressed stamped envelope), so they can send your material back. (Without SASE some not-so-friendly publishers just throw your stuff away, when they won't use it! :( )

When you have sent an article away, sit back and take a rest. :sleeping: Don't expect to get an answer in the next few days - sometimes you must wait up to two months. (But after this time you can call or write a short letter, inquiring about the whereabouts of your work.)

Most important: Never send an article to several publishers at the same time! :eek: (Imagine what happened if two publishers decided to print your article at the same time - all sorts of legalese hell could break out because you caused a copyright violation!)

However: If you consider to offer your project to several magazines, it can help if you send a short letter first to all of them. Outline your project and add a few (smaller) pics, try to get their mouth watering for your article! :D (Don't forget the SASE, also in this case!)

And always keep in mind, what Paul and DanishKnight said: Your material must be practically perfect to stand a good chance for being published!

Lots of luck for publishing your work! You need a certain portion of this, so don't be discouraged too much when your work is refused.

Oh, I know that feeling, too! :oops: :cry: :confused: :mad: <--- These are the stages you'll be going through when you get your material back - but then redo your work and try it with another publisher. Perhaps he is just looking for YOUR article! :thumb: :cool:

Ron
 
How about a "How Too.."article Shamus.
Been wanting to do one for awhile now, But I'm afraid of rejection, because its not good enough.
And this is coming from a guy that took two semesters of creative writing in college.
 
I fix grammar and spelling, can tell you where you're not making sense
Click to expand...

You could even do that for me, and make me make sense? :D :D :D

Nice for you to offer too!

88 - Do it! If it doesn't get published in a magazine, publish it yourself on the internet. Why not? You won't be rejected, even if they did fail to select you from the many, many. That wouldn't even mean your's wasn't best (it might be they wanted something with a certain feature, or the good ole boy club/nephew got in).
 
If you are doing it for publication and you are using a digital camera, don't forget Large tiff files are needed for all photographs. If you are using a 35mm, then use slide film at 25 ASA/ISO rating and use plenty of light. The slower the ASA/ISO the better quality slide you will get. This also means longer time exposures will be needed. Some as long as 4 seconds.

Shamus
 
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