Having been published in a few magazines, I can assure it isn't an overwhelming task. Good topic, presented in an understandable manner with good sentance structure and spelling, giving the answer too: who, what, where, when, why and how and good photos should do the trick. I would think MR would want to have a lot of different writers who do a good job, presenting their work with in its' pages.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
OP: I made my original post as an observation about the frequency of a few prolific modelers as published in the course of months and recent years of MR. I have no brief against anyone trying to write a good kitbash, layout or railroad electronics article and submitting it to MR. I do not believe that there are so few talented hobbyists among us that we suffer from a writing deficit; I just think that the rate of their publication is telling regarding what "talents" are allowed to rise up to publishable status- therefore a shallow pool in my perception.
There could be a "jillion" articles being written for MR and other publications as I write this, but we will never know about them unless they either get published in print or online. That is why I mentioned all those independent blog writers I see online- their photography looks pretty sharp; their writing is comprehensible; their literary organizational skills are apparent. Such resources could easily be "mined" by MR to produce some very unusual and interesting feature articles, thereby enriching everyone's modeling experience.
Of course, if they are a bit busy at MR, I could help them out and my$elf at the same time!
Cedarwoodron
NP2626 I also beleive many people lack the required skills necessary to submit a good article, be that modeling skills; or, publishing skills. Obviously they really don't want to build models, look at how successful RTR and pre built models are and I think it's easy to determine that modeling skills are on the decline. Oh dear, oh dear, before you sink into the mire of the Slough of Despondency perhaps you should join us here.... http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/230912.aspx While I realise its summer activities time in the Northern Climes have you done the scenery around your trestle yet? Cheers, the Bear.
NP2626 I also beleive many people lack the required skills necessary to submit a good article, be that modeling skills; or, publishing skills. Obviously they really don't want to build models, look at how successful RTR and pre built models are and I think it's easy to determine that modeling skills are on the decline.
Oh dear, oh dear, before you sink into the mire of the Slough of Despondency perhaps you should join us here....
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/230912.aspx
While I realise its summer activities time in the Northern Climes have you done the scenery around your trestle yet?
Cheers, the Bear.
How is your question germaine to the topic of this thread and what differance does it make?
I thought I was asked for my opinin on the topic and have given it! Your opinion is obviously different, good for you!
NP2626I also beleive many people lack the required skills necessary to submit a good article, be that modeling skills; or, publishing skills. Obviously they really don't want to build models, look at how successful RTR and pre built models are and I think it's easy to determine that modeling skills are on the decline.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Look at how crtical people on this forum are of the greats who have been published. John Allen, Malcom Furlow, John Olson and others and Now Pelie Solberg! Simply being published is enough to cause a torrent of ill will, it seems. Despite being told that my opinion on the above is that people take a "Sour Grapes" attitude, I see ablsolutly no reason to not believe it's true. We are jealous of those people who have had success in this endeavor.
I also beleive many people lack the required skills necessary to submit a good article, be that modeling skills; or, publishing skills. Obviously they really don't want to build models, look at how successful RTR and pre built models are and I think it's easy to determine that modeling skills are on the decline.
It's also likely that the readers may not have an interest in being published. I really have no interest, I'm in this hobby for my own interests, I want to have fun doing it and rest of it doesn't really matter much.
What a great thread!
Most, if not all, of the replies express my sentiments exactly on the issue of publishing an article.
Before switching over to HO scale model railroading 10 years ago, I had spent the previous 20 years in tropical fish breeding, namely discus. I wrote an article for submission to Tropical Fish Hobbyist on water preparation which included a series of graphs. In my less than humble opinion, my grammar was excellent and the article was extremely well written. I wrote the article because I felt that it would be both informative and of great interest to all levels of tropical fish hobbyists.
A year went by without a response from TFH, so I wrote to inquire about the status of the article. A response quickly followed stating that the subject had been covered before so there would be little interest in another article on the subject. I sat back and asked myself why I spent so many hours wasting my time and determined never to repeat the error again.
Incidentally, I had inquired beforehand if the magazine would be interested in such an article, and I was encouraged to write and submit it.
Rich
Alton Junction
GraffenSo what? Being European makes us not as good modelers/writers as Americans?
Graffen:
No, that wasn't my point. In fact, my mother's side of the family is Europeon...But honestly, the Europeon modelers may not be better or worse modelers but better educated, judged by their ability to not only model well but also write an article in another language, something most American can't do.
jerrylJust as I said before...MR is getting to be a "cofffee table"magazine. Seems much more emphasis is placed on museum quality pictures & entertaining writing than the content of the article.
Hmm, I can recall an W. Allen McClelland magazine cover photo in, if my memory serves me correctly, the 1980s that depicted a V&O “covered wagon” that he hadn’t got around to affixing the handrails, and the amount of angst, handwringing and gnashing of teeth that carried on in the following letters to the editor was, to me at least, quite amazing.
dehusman Jimmy_Braum I would submit this one to trackside photos as soon as ballast is put down. Suggestions/observations: 1. Paint the rail/ties before ballast. 2. You headlights aren't on. 3. The bridge and the nose of the engine are in the shadow, adding a fill light above and in front of the engine might make a brighter, more dramatic picture. 4. Set a piece of paper or something inside the bridge on the left end so that daylight doesn't show between the bridge and the abutment. 5. You could also experiment with cropping a vertical format for more drama. The cool thing about digital photography is you can take the picture, see what it looks like immediately and then make any adjustments quickly. In the film/slide days that process took days or weeks.
Jimmy_Braum I would submit this one to trackside photos as soon as ballast is put down.
I would submit this one to trackside photos as soon as ballast is put down.
Dave,Some of the most dramatic award winning railfan photos I've ever seen went against your suggestions.Real life railfan photos isn't staged for perfection but,to show railroading whereas model photos can look to fake.
All that photo needs is a headlight and cropping-I would cropped out the "bad" end of the bridge.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I don´t think the talent pool is shallow at all. There is a large number of gifted and talented model railroaders around - worlwide. But only very few take the time to write up an article to see it published months or years later. They publish their work either in those various and many forums, or even their own website.
Just because I am into On30, two outstanding model railroaders come to my mind - Troels Kirk of Sweden and Martin Walberg of The Netherlands (oops - "foreigners" again). You will hardly find their work of art in any of the leading magazines, but tons of information on how they build their layout in forums. For me, this is much more useful than a nice feature in a magazines, where I just look at the pictures, but hardly get any information on how things were done. Publishing in a forum is much more of a dialogue - to the benefit of all participating.
I have noticed, that most of the layout building threads die a quick death in this forum. Is it lack of interest?
Swedish Custom painter and model maker. My Website:
My Railroad
My Youtube:
Graff´s channel
One thing that I've noted is more than a few authors writing about thier U.S. based layouts or projects from overseas. Is this a coincidence or is MR trying to get more subscriptions from overseas modelers that model U.S. prototypes? There were two Europeon authors in the last issue.
kbkchooch (Ironically Andy Sperendeo published an article VERY similar to mine in MR a few short months later.)
That's probably why they shot yours down; they already had a similar one in the works. Monthly magazines typically work on a 3-month lag time, which means that right now they're working on the October issue. Andy's article had probably been wrapped up by the time they got yours.
Steve S
I would love to see the photos as well. That's something IN MY OPINION model railroader needs-some "common man" layouts. Not everyone is/can be a Pelle Soelberg, John Allen,George Sellious,etc. At least for me, I like to see some "average" layouts to be able to see what even a first timer is able to do. Model railroader could even do a special issue or one issue on "Beginners".
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
I would really like to see the progress pictures as well as the painting, but as was said the pictures would never pass inspection. I would think that many more modeles use a cardboard box for painting than a top line booth. Also most of us construct layouts in an area without photo backdrops. I wouldn't mind seeing pictures that look like the average work space. maybe that's why the magazine is so thin today.
tin can Back to the original topic. I think the talent pool is alive and well. I know several "magazine quality" modelers in the Bryan/College Station microplex who have never been published. I am working with one of them now on a custom layout. We are documenting our build, but as the layout is being built on sawhorses in my driveway, the pictures we are taking are scrapbook worthy, at best. Some of the rolling stock I am custom painting is being done on a cardboard box lid on a picnic table; not exactly a photogenic work station. More info on the build. We have designed a modular 5' x 9' layout that will sit on a pool table; when not in use, the three 3' x 5' modules will be stored in a rack. We are basing the railroad on the Angelina and Neches River, a small Texas short line with which our client has ties to.
Back to the original topic. I think the talent pool is alive and well. I know several "magazine quality" modelers in the Bryan/College Station microplex who have never been published. I am working with one of them now on a custom layout. We are documenting our build, but as the layout is being built on sawhorses in my driveway, the pictures we are taking are scrapbook worthy, at best. Some of the rolling stock I am custom painting is being done on a cardboard box lid on a picnic table; not exactly a photogenic work station.
More info on the build. We have designed a modular 5' x 9' layout that will sit on a pool table; when not in use, the three 3' x 5' modules will be stored in a rack. We are basing the railroad on the Angelina and Neches River, a small Texas short line with which our client has ties to.
Hmm, I was asking about the angle itself, but thanks for the pointers about what to improve in the shot. Really thank you.
Just as I said before...MR is getting to be a "cofffee table"magazine. Seems much more emphasis is placed on museum quality pictures & entertaining writing than the content of the article. Also I stated, with so many editors & associate editors, pictures & writing could be tweaked.
Maybe too much emphasis is placed on other than magazine content, like DVDs Video plus etc. I know there has to be standards, but if you can understand what is being said & the picture adds to the text, print it.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Question to everyone here. WHEN ballast is put down on the club layout, should I retry the shot I previously posted in this thread and submit it to the magazine?
Neil, thank you so much for responding. Perhaps this thread can be a conversation starter on how to get published. But may I ask if you have considered that perhaps MR has set the bar too high? When you consider that someone must be exceptional as a writer, photographer, model railroader, have the time, and oh, by the way, also have an exceptionally well done model railroad, does that send the message to 99% of the people to not bother, even though they might have valuable information to contribute? While 99.999% of people will never play in the World Cup, there is a local league just their speed to play in.
Would Linn Wescott's first article, or perhaps Bruce Chubb's original SV, be good enough for today's standards? I often spend hours going back into the MR CD and reading those long ago issues. They may not meet modern editorial style, but there were, and are, relatable.
Again, thank you for responding. It says a lot when the editors are willing to jump into the discussion with us.
jim
My hobby list includes model railroading (at the top) and woodworking. Now that I'm retired, I'm looking to revive an interest in photography and coin collecting.
It does NOT include writing magazine articles.
Thanks Neil for chiming in. I suspected as much. I too greatly appreciate all those who do produce the articles whether MR staff or outsiders.
Enjoy
Paul
chicochip Thanks for this thread eveyone. I was recently published in the NMRA Magazine. What a confidence builder!! Now I'm awaiting a response on a different article from an editor from one of the "newstand" publications. So, with a little comfort from you all, I see that this "happens all the time". So, I'll just get in line - hurry up and wait - film at eleven. Chico Chip
Thanks for this thread eveyone. I was recently published in the NMRA Magazine. What a confidence builder!! Now I'm awaiting a response on a different article from an editor from one of the "newstand" publications.
So, with a little comfort from you all, I see that this "happens all the time". So, I'll just get in line - hurry up and wait - film at eleven.
Chico Chip
Kind of the way I started. 1st I was published in the NMRA magazine after I was shot down by MR and RMC. (Ironically Andy Sperendeo published an article VERY similar to mine in MR a few short months later.) My next few articles were published by RMC over the next few years, then I was able to get one accepted to MR, then another, and now a 3rd is soon to be published in MR. (C'mon Neil, we're not getting any younger!).
Yes, its a lot of work, and you wont get rich doing it, but if you can build a better moustrap, or found a better way to build that moustrap, and have a desire to share you talent, then being published has its own rewards. Not to mention the "were not worthy" salute when you walk into a club meeting!
Instead of complaining about the shallow pool, grab a bucket and help us start filling it. YOU may have the "next great idea" already between your ears, just waiting to be let out.
Karl
NCE über alles!
Many hints and tips on model railroad photography in ny website, see my signature.
Bob Boudreau
CANADA
Visit my model railroad photography website: http://sites.google.com/site/railphotog/
The photography issue is the one that's actually kept me from doing it. I'm a technical writer, by trade, and versed in plain language writing and all that stuff. Researching and writing an article would be pretty straightforward. Even got a few ideas. Supporting pictures, though, are a different story. Even stuff I have taken myself wouldn't be up to snuff. I'm no photographer.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
Hi guys,
CTvalleyRR pretty much hit the nail on the head: there are not a lot of people who have all the traits needed for a story in MR. Someone needs to be a talented model railroader, a talented photographer, a reasonably good instructional writer, and be willing to take the time needed to photograph and write about a project.
Honestly, it's a lot of work, and I greatly appreciate those of you who have pulled it off.
We are always looking for new contributors, so if you have a story in mind just contact us.
Sincerely,
Neil B.
editor, MR
Neil Besougloff
editor, Model Railroader magazine