Submitting an Article for Publication

Originally written: Aug. 1997
Last updated: 12/17/04

©By: John T. Blair (WA4OHZ)
1133 Chatmoss Dr., Va. Beach, Va. 23464; (757) 495-8229

I have taken over as the editor of the Brickline magazine from John Martin. He has been doing a venerable job for some 12+ years. (John, don’t want everyone to think that you’re getting too old!). I hope that I can come close to producing the caliber of magazine that he has been doing. So John, thanks just don’t seem to be enough, but, thank you so much for the job you’ve done so well for so long!! Pat yourself on the back a few hundred times, once for every one in the club. Enjoy a well deserved rest!

As I struggle with my first issue I hope that you all will bear with me for a while, as I fight the learning curve.

This is your magazine and I will need help from each and every member of the club. The club needs greater participation to keep the club vital and make sure our Bricklins will be on the road for a long time to come. I want the magazine to continually improve. I’ll need your suggestions on how to improve it and how better to meet your needs. You have probably learned something working on your car that would be valuable information for others. I will be needing articles to publish.

What type of articles can you submit?

Technical tips and articles: Even if it is just a one sentence tip such as how to clean the wheels.

Technical articles are always in demand. Here are a few suggestions:

a. "how to do it" articles, such as how do you change a water pump.

b. Have you just gotten a new tool that really makes a job easier?

c. How about an article on welders - which should I buy, an oxi-acetylene rig (big bottles or small), an arc welder (AC or DC or both), and what about Wire Feed and MIG welders.

d. Anybody into blasting? Tell us about the various equipment available, and about the various media.

Historical articles such as:

a. Do you have any personal knowledge about the production of the Bricklin.

b. What is the story about the cars that were assembled after the Company closed its doors?

c. The history of Bricklin, the history of BI.

d. Anyone talked to Malcolm Bricklin lately? What's he up to?

Personal experience: Tell us your story.

Leads: Articles of general interest from other magazines and newsletters.

Questions: We'll get the questions answered by some of the experts in the club or by the owners of restoration shops. (Note: If you ask a question, as soon as I get an answer, I will forward the answer to you so you don't have to wait 3 to 6 months for the answer. Then the question and answer will be published for others to read in the next issue.

How do I write an article?
Many of you probably have never written an article for a magazine and have no idea of what or how to do it. Neither did I when I wrote my first article about restoring my Morgan. However, the more I have written the easier it has become. Since 1988 I’ve written over 25 articles (over 1/2 a million characters) on restoring my Morgan and 12 articles on restoring my Bricklin. So next time you work on you Brick. spend a few minutes to jot down some notes as you work. After the job is done, write (or type) up your notes. You’ll be surprised at what you can turn out.

The first article I wrote (rebuilding the front suspension of my Morgan) was only text. I tried very hard to describe the process in detail so the reader could picture it in his mind. When it was published, the editor had included a drawing of the front end from one of the vendor’s catalogues. So in subsequent articles, I looked for drawings that I could use from any book or catalogue. I never really thought about including pictures until I wrote my first article for The Brickline. Everything previously was line art.

Pretend that the reader doesn't know a thing about what you are talking about. Don't use abreviations without defining them first. And remember a picture is worth a thousand words, so look around for a drawing that you can copy, or take a picture and send them with the article.

How should articles be submitted?

The Text
I will accept hand written articles, however, I’d really prefer typed submissions as they are much easier to read and I can process them electronically. The rougher the original, the longer it will take me to process. Don’t worry about the spelling, grammar, etc. as the articles will be edited as we do the lay-up.

For those members with computers, my computer is a PC clone, the operating system is Windows95, my word processor is MS Works 4.0. For compatibility’s reasons, file formats should be one of the following:

RTF most word processor support this Rich Text Format - this is the preferred format,

Microsoft Works Ver 3 or 4 word-processing format,

Microsoft Write or Wordpad format,

ASCII text files, i.e. the output from NOTEPAD or equivalent.

If an ASCII file is sent, and you have any preferences on how the article should look, a typed version with notes written on them for picture placements, etc. is fine.

I'd also like the authors name, address, phone #, VIN #, and email addresses so I can contact them if necessary. In an attempt to make it easier for club members to contact authors, I would like to print the authors name, city, state and phone number. If you do not wish any of this personal information published in the article, please indicate what you do not want published.

The Artwork
The artwork for an article should be either color pictures (no slides please) or black and white line drawings. For pictures, I suggest that you write a short description on a piece of paper indicating what is special about this picture, who's in it, and where it belongs in the article and tape the paper to the back of the picture. If you’d like any of the pictures returned after the article is published, please indicate so. (I usually have my pictures printed in doubles, then I can send the pictures and don’t really care if I get them back. I have to send the pictures to the printer with the magazine and I don't always get them back.)

If you have a scanner, the art work must be scanned at 200 Dots Per Inch (DPI) or higher. For color pictures TIF, GIF, or JPG formats may be used. For black & white drawings only TIF or GIF formats should be used. (JPG files are designed for color pictures, if you save a line art drawing it will try to blend from the black lines to the white backround and the drawing will look dirty.)

The media
Articles that are hand written or typed can be sent via 1st class mail with any pictures included. I usually use 9 x 12 inch envelopes for mailing this type of information.

Articles generated electronically can be sent via 1st class mail on 3 1/2" floppy disks or ZIPdrive diskettes. If the art work is scanned, they can be included on the magnetic media. I usually send floppy disks in cardboard envelopes or the bubble wrap lined envelopes that can be purchased at almost any reproduction store. Photographs and drawings can be sent with the floppy disks. (I've found that using the US Postal Services Priority mail at $3 per envelope is about the best rate going, and it is there in 3 days or less!)

Electronically generated articles and artwork can be ZIPped, with PKZIP Version 204G or one of the WINZIP utilities, into a single unit and sent on magnetic media (disk) via 1st class mail or emailed to me. My email address is: jblair1948@cox.net If anyone is interested, I can probably get storage on an FTP server and the files can be FTPed to the repository. Then email me that the files are there, I'll pull them down.

How long should an article be?
I don’t care. Anything is better than nothing. I’ll take one or two line tech tips to full blown articles. The articles that I’ve written for The Brickline vary in length from 11,000 characters (approx. 2000 words) to about 33,000 characters (6,000 words). What ever it takes to get you point across. I'd rather you expend many more words to explain something than assume the reader knows it already.

Deadlines
Currently the published deadlines are:

Feb 1 for the April issue
May 1 for the July issue
Aug 1 for the October issue
Nov 1 for the January issue.

I look forward to receiving your articles. If you have any questions or need help writting an article, feel free to email me , or call me at (757) 495-8229.

John

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