***le pretty much says it all--anybody here work for, edit or own car magazine that's not based in the US? Thanks, -Brad
Yes Brad, I'm based in the UK and have been freelancing for several years now, has to be part time though. I've got scans of some of my stuff in the 'PRESS' file on my website if you're interested.
I'm looking for mags out of the US to sell my stories to. Looks like we're on the same page, but different sides! -Brad
Contact Wolfgang Blaube at AutoBild in Germany. He did an article a few years back about buying a '64 Country Squire for $400, driving to Tijuana and getting it painted and upholstered for another $400 and driving it to the Grand Canyon. The car's in my backyard. He drives it when he comes through. Cool guy. He'll hook you up.
Have Free lanced for Canadian Cl***sics auto mag . Wrote quite a few articles for them when they first started up. Still write a few but usually for a US editor. Hard to be a prophet in your own land! Don
Hi Brad, We only really have one hot rod and custom magazine over here called 'Custom Car'. They have two regular US contributors already, Kev Elliott in So-Cal (an ex-editor) and Chuck Vranas on the East Coast. Kev has a regular column, Chuck offers quite a bit but doesn't get much ink these days. This is because in recent years they have adopted a strong 'home grown' bias in the mag, and although I've been supplying them stuff for 8 years now, I have a hard time getting them interested in cool stories that I bring back from my travels in the US, for example they weren't interested at all in my coverage of this years Lone Star Round Up! Fortunately Kool Publishing were, and my piece ran in OSR a couple of months back . Good luck anyway, they have a website you can contact but don't hold your breath! Keith (L.P.) p.s. Anyone want any stories from the UK?????
I'm the editor of KUSTOM magazine (France) but to be honest, I get much more offers from various contributors (photographers, freelance journalists, car or bike owners, pin-ups etc) than I can possibly publish. Charlie Lecach www.kustommag.com
You said the word sell. That would be a good thing to forget. I have traded, swapped and negotiated but cold hard cash is hard to come by. However there are a lot of benifits from the exposure you get. For 13 years I sold a book from some of my articles (at the magazine publishers urging and with his blessing) That I did very well at. I would encourage you to start writing and submitting. There are somethings you need to know. At first they will monkey with your stuff, Ignore it. Once they get to trust you then they will leave it alone. Why? I dont know but I also had a newspaper column and it was the same. Now when I write something for a new organzation I brace myself for that and hold my breath till it p***es by this stage. Succcess in writing comes to some and not to others. Sometimes there is no reason. When I started I wrote for the same mag as Steve Magnate. He was a teenage kid then with a A 100 Van but did have writing abilty. He went on to an successful career and the rest of us are a bunch of nobodys. Doesnt matter. Sometimes that is just the way it goes. When you write remember that the reader, especially the hot rodder, has no interest in spending a lot of time reading extra words. Keep it short without it being noticable. Make sure that the story flows. Best way to say that is it comes in this door and goes out that one , everything in sequence . (In german they say "Alles in ordnung") That needs no translation. Be careful to write your own style. Do not borrow expressions from other writers you admire. If you find that in your script fix it. Sometimes this is accidental but it must be avoided. Write at night , late , when it is dark and no one else is up. Write the first draft as it comes . In the morning fix the spelling and grammar. Don't let it cloud your creative side. But having said that be absolutely fanatical about making sure your spelling is right. My wife is a retired school teacher and she would go over it for me after I had corrected most. She could pick up the errors. Also watch that you dont repeat yourself. I have to watch that closely as I tend to use the same idioms too close together. Now I purposely look for that problem. When you are all done read it over 3 times at least. If you cant read it without dozing off then it needs work. Send it. Expect rejection. Just keep sending and writing. Sometimes an opening will come from the strangest place. Maybe something you wrote but didn't intend it to be published. That is how I got started. A good article should be 500 to 600 words. Anymore and no one will read it. It is a very different world than you probably imagine BUT if it is what you want to do then give it your best shot. All the best. Don
The Jalopy Journal
