A while back, I thought that I’d seen that Model Railroader would pay $25 for tips that become published. Can anyone tell me if this is correct and where I can find the info on the site to publish a tip? (If this is correct)
Thanks, All help is appreciated.
Nate Scarbary
Nate started a conversation with you so you will have all of the details
ratled
There used to be a column in MR of user submitted tips. The ones the magazine used were paid for.
I don’t know if they still do that since anyone can ask questions on the many forums.
I suggest you email MR directly for info.
Good luck
Paul
Hi Nate…first [#welcome] to the forums…
The great thing about these forums provided for free by Kalmbach publishing is that they allow for the free exchange of ides, thouhgts, tips, tools, techniques, trials and errors, and things learned.
Let me see…you think you have a tip you want $25 for? Not share it here for free?
But you want “free” “help” here?
I don’t recall seeing it, but if it IS true, then it should be in the magazine somewhere.
Not being nasty, but I could look it up for you…though I’d want $25 for looking it up to “help” you! [:-^]
[8-|]
Wow. And a Merry Christmas to you to. Sorry, Galaxy, but in my opinion you’re being a little harsh to a first time poster. No way will he stick around to make his 4000th post with that sort of response.
Nate, in answer to your question there was at one time a Kinks column where readers got to send in their ideas for different helpful ideas. As a matter of fact, Kalmbach published a book called 764 Helpful Hints for Model Railroaders. The sub-header said “culled from the Kinks columns of Model Railroader Magazine”. Looking at random through the copy I have in my hot little hands, there were suggestions for eliminating short circuits, renewing sideframe bearings, making safety tread, radiator screens, air horns, car rerailers, track cleaning, et cetra. Yes, these days you’ll find a lot of similar items on this and other forums. But back in the good old BF (before forums) days, paper copy was the way to get information out to the masses. I believe that MR did pay for any ideas they published, and $25 seems like a familiar number
I was so proud when Kalmbach decided to use my Kinks submission in MR that I saved the check and never cashed it. It was back when I was in high school, and it was my first published work of non-fiction.
My apologies to the bookkeeper!
Ed
Having grown up with an article author (my father) who saw what he did as a craft or/and a way to supplement his income, I feel very comfortable with the “tradition” and “esteem” of having one’s efforts published and paid for. (He wrote tips articles (one pagers) for Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Popular Photography (I think…) and others for many years while working his day job as an electrical technician.
In this day and age it is easy to get advice and help for free which is truly wonderful. It’s sure helped get my beginner’s courage up to get to a point where I’m feeling a little proud of my efforts, BUT I also look at those paid tip columns in MR and think, “good on ya” (to the authors) for coming up with an innovative or helpful idea but also put a fair amount of work into writing and submitting the article in the lst place and the effort to go mail it, etc.
OUR hobby is modeling, but a writer’s hobby is writing and I can’t see why it’s unfair for them to receive recompense from an established magazine. Heck, how many of us dreamed as young lads and ladies of having OUR byline published in Model Railroader AND getting some new loco money for our efforts?
The spelling, grammatical and accuracy level bars are all set higher for a magazine or book article than on internet forums. I’m a musician and freely share tips on the forums but I also don’t mind one bit getting paid to play a gig or help someone with tips on how to play their instrument better in a lesson.
I’m comfy with both approaches co-existing. I say, if the original poster wants to submit a tip and get some dough for it, go for it. He can always share it on the forum after he gets his initial reward. The magazine issue will come and go, get stuffed into a 3 ring binder on a shelf etc., but it will “pop up” on a forum post for years to come-so no harm done by getting paid initially and continuing to pass it on later for free!
Besides, getting paid for a little tip column could encou
Thanks. Haha. I found it in the magazine. Thanks for the warm welcome to the forum.
Nate
Didn’t you know, Galaxy is the self proclaimed forum cop. He does get annoying doesn’t he, lol.
Well, lets see here now:
As I said THIS forum exists FREE for the echange of FREE advice and interaction for all things MRRing!
it is his SECOND post and he wants to know how to get money from MR. I’ll bet he only joined to get that info. we will see.
On another train forum they are suspicious of people with 1-5 posts who want to jump on just to sell things in their selling section…
No different here. He only posts to know what money he can get out of MRR? I wonder if he would submit his “tip” for just a Free issue of MR?
Like I also told him…it would be in the magazine somewhere. He says he found the info in the magazine. Just like he could have done without a post “begging for money”.
Maybe he can Ask Santa for a $25.00 gift card to his favorite Hobby shop…and post his “tip” here for FREE.
Next, if they DO accept his “tip”, he will want to know why it isn’t in the magazine the next month, not realiizing it could be MONTHS before he sees it in print! Or WHY they DIDN’t accept his “tip” if they reject it.
Wouldn’t y’all want to know just WHAT his “tip” is??? Guess we will have to wait for it in print, OR never know it at all if it is rejected.
HAppy Holidays to you all!!
[8-|]
Galaxy, he has been a member here since 2007. Not everyone feels the need to post and we have a lot more lerkers here then posters. If it’s anything like the tips you give I’m sure it will be a good one. [%-)]
Good god…what a grump you are today. The guy asked a simple question, no need to editorialize.
I can’t believe I agreed with TA462 on something…could be a Christmas miracle!!!
LOLOL [B]
oddly enough, Mr. Nate has sent me a “friend invite” on this forum.
I have neither accepted nor declined as of yet.
Merry Christmas y’all…may santa bring you the train [G] of your dreams tonight!!
[8-|]
Mr. Galaxy -
I think that we may have gotten off to the wrong kind of start. I was only trying to ask a simple question. I didn’t mean for it to cause all of this trouble. Merry Christmas,
Nate
Don’t let him bother you Nate. Go read his posts, most of the time he is either telling people to use the search feature or agreeing with what has all ready been said. 4000 posts of nothing…
PM me your idea and I’ll honestly tell you if it is good or not. I don’t need the 25 bucks so I won’t steal it from you. [B]
At the risk of agreeing with TA462,
I agree. Sometimes you can get off of the wrong foot by pushing people’s buttons. Try to have a thick skin.
MR does, in fact offer $25 for any tip published in the “Workshop Tips” section of the magazine. It’s right there in the description at the bottom of the section. I certainly wouldn’t think that the sharing of an idea here would preclude it’s publication in the magazine. It doesn’t have to be some brilliant revelation of which the modelling world is in total ignorance prior to the publication. Last month’s tips were on power woodworking tools… information that’s both very mundane, and probably available in 1,000,000+ places on the Internet.
But really, you’d have to work awfully hard to make any kind of decent income sending workshop tips to MR. I’ve been paid an honorarium of $1000 for articles published in other magazines. Now this particular magazine is published 10 times a year, which means if I managed to publish one article in each issue, my annual income would be $10K… well below the poverty line.
So go ahead and share. I very much doubt you’ll be giving up $25. In fact, you might be surprised how often a Newbie comes charging in here with what he thinks is a novel idea, only to get slapped down by 50 people telling him it’s old news (the guy who recently posted info about Miniatur Wunderland comes to mind).
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Originally, I was just wondering if Model Railroader was still paying money for published tips. I didn’t intend to make any money at the time that I first posted… I was just wondering if they were still doing the same drill. I realize now that I may have asked this question in the wrong context. Sorry to have gotten off on a wrong foot.
Nate
I was paid for a tip a number of years ago. Kept it short, descriptive, etc and drew a rough drawing which their professional artist redrew- same composition but cleaner lines, etc.
Another time I sent in a comment about how a layout plan based on a prototype had another prototype connection the article had not noted, and I enclosed a snapshot of the prototype situation. MR paid for the photograph but not for the comment. In general, I notice they do not pay for unsolicited comments or quetions (in my experience and observations), but they have paid for a small item publishable without much editing which is useful to the hobbyist.
I think of them as pretty professional and having integrity, occasionally paying when they may not have to but when they feel they should.
Like when Cecil B. DeMille back in the 1920s made an offer of $1000 for anyone in the movie going public who suggested the best idea for a movie. Ten entrants said he should do something relating to the Bible’s ten commandments. One went further, and suggested the theme, “You cannot break the Ten Commandments, they will break YOU.” How do you split the prize in this case? DeMille gave a $1000 prize to EACH of the entrants and a larger amount to the one who suggested a way to treat the theme.