As I’m sure many if not all of you guys know I’m starting a kitbash of a Bipolar Boxcab Diesel locomotive I have dubbed “Big Bad John” and I’d like to write an article about it for MR what would some of you that have successfully submitted an article to MR recommend to a first time contributor. Thanks in advance.
I’ve never submitted an article to MR., but I would think the basic requirments are that you actually built this, and took photo documentation of the build, step by step.
That’s going by all of the “build” articles I’ve ever read in MR.
Mike.
Have a look here, Steven…
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
I haven’t been following closely. Is this going to be a model of a prototype, or something else?
Good luck. I approached MR about 15 years ago about their interest in an HOn3 narrow gauge diesel kitbash article. I was told by Terry Thompson, then editor, that there was no interest. I ended up writing several articles for a narrow gauge magazine…
While a clear and concise write-up is important, make sure that you supply good photos and lots of them. I sent original slides for an article in Paint shop, many years ago, but ended up having to send more with better exposures to suit the printing process.
Nowadays, I think that most magazines would prefer photos in the RAW format, as they contain lots of data with which the printer can work to alter the images to show best. A photo that looks good in person, or on-line, often won’t do, especially the latter.
Also, your work needs to be well-done: the camera won’t lie, and people don’t wish to see work poorly-done, nor do the editors.
Wayne
Not to sound discouraging and I have no special insight into MR editorial decisions. I only base this on the past choices that have been made and the general editorial direction of the magazine in conjunction with my own work in several media areas, including editorial work.
First, the main interest in such an article will be because it kitbashes a fairly close rendition of a prototype that is not otherwise available. Not that freelance isn’t interesting, but it doesn’t really attract the major part of the magazine’s audence. Freelance is more about you. If you were John Allen, maybe…
Second, woud the article showcase new techniques, materials, products, or methods? If so, you might escape the onus of freelancery. If not and it’s pretty standard slice and dice, well folks have seen that before.
If most of what you have is already posted here, then that makes it hard to sell as value added to whatever issue it gets published n. Not to say that can’t be done. Several contributors here have been published in MR. While some went into some detail about their project here, the articles had much more substance to them.
A kitbash of wide interest has parts that are easily and widely available, as well as satisfying an unmet need in the model marketplace. That’s tended to be the subject matter of past kitbashes, although not 100%. Anything with the subject matter of “boxcab” is probably a long shot.
Now some encouragement. While desiring to start with an article in MR is a lot like being a reporter and insisting you’ll get that job at the New York Times and work your way up from there, there are lots of other venues that may offer better possibilities at being published. Is there a mag for traction modelling out there? If so, that’s a good place to start. Keep in mind that the NMRA and its associated groups publish divisional and national magazines that cover a lot of ground. You won’t get paid in most cases, but you will get credit
Folks I have talked to all agree that, once over the hurdle of having their topic or project be one that the editor(s) think will appeal to enough readers, the major reason their submissions are rejected is the quality of the photographs. There have been articles recently, by Pelle Soeberg among them, on photography, so read those carefully. He and others have certainly raised an already-high bar.
At one time RMC and the NMRA Bulletin (later Scale Rails, now the NMRA Magazine) as well as Railmodel Journal, Model Railroading, and Mainline Modeler, were all visibly less fussy about the quality of photos than MR, and in some cases some very poor photos were published if the article itself was interesting enough, but even RMC and NMRA Mag have obviously decided to accept only those photographs that look great. And the other mags I named are gone.
That said, if MR decides the article you submit is not of broad enough appeal to publish, do consider the NMRA Magazine. They have published some rather esoteric and narrow interest (but nonetheless quite good) articles in recent years, including a significant number of S scale articles. And I sense they allow their authors to get more wordy than does MR.
Dave Nelson
It’s a fictional model based from prototypes… and I have written many a paper for my curriculum and have scored very well worst that can happen is it gets rejected if so I’ll post it here!
That’s a good start, but grading in academia at any level is often a different things than trying to sell a magazine, which is the driving force behnd the editorial decsions MR makes. I’ve got a PhD from a pretigious Big Ten university, a 500+ page dissertation that offers a significantly revised view of the Cold War that has been downloaded more than 600 times by readers across the globe, and an active research agenda that could keep a half-dozen grad students busy supporting it.
And I also don’t have a solid job offer in my field. It’s a sobering prospect. Writing is something you do from either the sheer enjoyment of the process of creation or because it’s something you feel compelled to pursue. If you’re really lucky, it might even pay something out. But depend on the satisfaction of your own work production rather than how often you’ll get published. It’s also important to keep in mind the audience each publication has.
I really would be aiming at the kitbashing freelancing community with my article… and my curriculum is extremely picky and I can be very eloquent with words when typing…
Hello all,
Coming from a journalistic background; photo journalism to be exact, captions are important.
The body of the story can tell the tale but photos illustrate the story and captions; even a sentence or two, can clarify what the author is illustrating.
An entire article can be “written” with photos and captions.
Don’t be offended when your contribution has been edited for brevity, clarity or any other reasons by the Ed staff.
Rejoice that you got published!!!
Then compare the published article to what you submitted.
You might be surprised! Something that you expanded upon could be better expressed in fewer words.
Take more photos of EVERY step. If the Ed staff would like more clarification of step #7 in your article you have 'em.
Professional journalists have the luxury of being able to devote their entire workday to projects. For the rest of us the same build might take weeks, if not months.
Don’t be affraid to breakdown the article into installments: concept/research, part finding, assembly process; frame, motor, trucks, electrical; decoder/speaker installation, programming and finally running.
This will also give you a framework of what to document for the article(s).
Hope this helps.
I can understand the excitment around a traditional publication. However, I would not underestimate the impact of a good online blog or youtube, especially in the area you are interested in.
Simon
Simon has a good point here, maybe several. A blog or vlog allows you to “build your brand.” It would provide a body of work to refer to and a broadening of your work to include multiple subjects that is sure to build a wider audience than any single project might.
And increasingly, writing for print is supplemented in other forms of media, something whch further adds value and extends the coverage provided within the limits of print. Look at how MRVP supplements MR for an example. That’s another plus when editors are considering an article for publication, just like having good pics and captions, good writing, and an attractive subject with wide appeal all do. It’s rather obvious that MR is pursuing this strategy, as all print publications must do in order to remain read and relevant nowadays, so whatever you can do to fit into that approach is a plus to whatever the article itself might hold.
As reluctant as I am to discourage a potential new contributor, I’m afraid I have to tell you that Model Railroader would likely not be interested in an article kitbashing a fictional locomotive. Locomotive-building articles have limited appeal to start with, and if it’s not a model of a prototype, readers won’t be interested. Kitbash a prototype locomotive for which there is no readily available ready-to-run model, and we’ll consider it.
And no matter what your topic, it’s always a good idea to send us a detailed article proposal to gauge our interest in the subject, before investing time and money in a project.
The real problem with articals in magazines (no just MR) is the lead time and the rules each venue has. Tried many many years ago with MR and at that time you submitted an article to their specs and it would take up to a year to publish if they desided to and it would go into a file till then, but you lost your rights to that article, so no shotgun approch to being published, don’t know how they work now but I am sure they have forms that will detail it all. I could tell you who might publish but don’t want to upset MR and this is their forum.
Hi!
I would love to see someone take a BLI or other quality steamer that represents a USRA loco, and convert it to a reasonable representation of a Santa Fe.
While BLI (my best example) does have a couple of ATSF specific locos (i.e. 4-8-4, 2-10-2 and 2-10-4), they also put out generic USRA locos and slapped the “Santa Fe” name and number on the sides (i.e. 2-8-2, 2-8-0, etc.).
In fact, the Santa Fe did not have any USRA locos. The typical ATSF steamer had a unique boiler tube pilot, angled number boards, and other specific details that set them apart.
The OP seems to have what it takes to attack a BLI loco and convert it, and I would love to see him tackle that project. And, as the Santa Fe is likely the most popular modeled RR out there, I suspect a number of folks would be interested - including the Santa Fe Historical and Modeling Society.
Rrebel, PM me who you think would take the article…
MobileMan44, sounds like a interesting project, send me some of the details and I’ll put it in queue, as far as prototype kitbashing I’d either do a SP -2 Overland 4-10-2 or maybe an AC-9 2-8-8-4 first…
SteveO, thanks for the opinion the article is not so much as show people how to make my locomotive but how to kitbash a unique unit that they might want. I’m still doing the build and I still will mail MR an article submission and if you guys say no, oh well…
I would agree that a blog accompanied by a Youtube video would be a great place to do this. Post the updated link here so we can follow along. I think with some blogs you may be able to get notifications when a new post is made.
Neal
mobilman44’s post is a really good example of what might work. In fact, it describes just the sort of article that Steve just said might rate consideration. Let’s break down the elements.
First, as was already noted, it is prototype-oriented. Santa Fe has a bunch of folks who could be interested. They currently have an unmet need for just the sort of loco that could result from a kitbash like mobilman44 describes.
Second, there seems to be readily available raw material in the form of BLI steamers that are currently or regularly available. This offers several advantages to the pitch for this project. The underlying mechanism is state of the art, has been well-tested in use aready, is DCC adaptable, and - importantly - pretty much avoids working on the mechanism of a steam loco, an intimidating prospect for most of us.
Third, remember that a magazine has multiple constituencies it must satisfy. The need to appeal to readers in order that they stay subscribed has been mentioned already in several ways. But in addition to subscriptions, MR also sells advertising. It’s really not that there’s anything wrong with the big boxcab bash, but it isn’t going to send too many readers to go to advertizers to order up what they need, rather, they’ll be searching their parts bins and flea markets at shows for what they need.
A project like the one that mobilman55 described could use BLI parts is going to help not just the people looking for a certain loco, but help BLI sell its product, the reason it first put its ads in MR. Buzz from a positive outcome like that helps MR sell ads to others. It’s not the sort of thing that mags will make promises about, as there is attention to be paid to the need to keep business and editorial decisions separate and each justified on its own terms, but the more it happens synergistically, the better for everyone – MR, its readers, and those who support the mag buying ads.
Just think, if this all sounds complicated, i