Brendiver's World

South Florida Adventures - "I doubt we'll publish contributor guidelines"

At last years Florida Dive Show (I was there to run a couple of workshops on diving photojournalism), I met Dave Raterman, the founder and editor of South Florida Adventures.

I liked Dave's approach to budding photojournalists. He was prepared to give them a chance and even offered an assignment there and then to one of the workshop attendees.

A few weeks ago I picked up the following press release from Dave in my in-box. As soon as I read it I knew this would be golden opportunity for any newcomers to the industry, so I wrote to Dave and asked him if he had any contributor guidelines. Have a read of the press release (in a way it is a set of contributor guidelines) and then take a look at his response:  

SOUTH FLORIDA ADVENTURES
TO LAUNCH NEW MAGAZINE

“SFA Fitness” Premieres June 17 In Partnership With
Forum Publishing Group / Sun Sentinel Co.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (March 17, 2009) – South Florida Adventures Media Group is partnering with Forum Publishing Group, a subsidiary of Sun Sentinel Company which is owned by Tribune Company, to publish SFA Fitness once a month. The first issue of this glossy magazine will be inserted into City Link MetroMix.com, FPG’s weekly entertainment newspaper, on June 17. Its audited circulation is 45,000. An additional 2,000 copies will be printed for a total circulation of 47,000.
 
Since June 2005 South Florida Adventures magazine has been distributed at gyms, sporting-goods stores, marathons and scuba expos in Miami-Dade,
Broward and Palm Beach counties. The glossy outdoor-sports magazine, with a bimonthly circulation of 25,000, is published by Fort Lauderdale-based SFAMG.
 
Instead of stories about eating salads or running on a treadmill, SFA Fitness, which is owned by SFAMG, will have stories on subjects such as standup paddleboarding off South Beach, cycling in Pembroke Pines, running in West Palm Beach, hiking in the Everglades, beach boot camp in Hollywood and scuba diving off Boca Raton.
 
Readers will also find stories on celebrities who exercise locally. Ex-Marlin Jeff Conine now trains in Weston for Ironman. Gloria Estefan kayaks in North Miami. Dwayne Johnson (“The Rock”) pumps iron in Sunrise. They exercise like everyone needs to.
 
“City Link Metromix.com is distributed at a broad range of outlets, including restaurants and bars, so it reaches a mass audience,” said SFAMG’s publisher and editor David Raterman. “South Florida Adventures magazine reaches physically active people. By inserting this new fitness magazine into City Link Metromix.com, South Florida Adventures Media Group and Forum Publishing Group reach people who can become physically active, or more physically active if they already exercise.”
 
With America’s obesity epidemic and South Florida’s year-round great weather, this fitness magazine fills an important niche. And the editors promise to keep it entertaining so readers keep turning the pages, then go exercise.


About South Florida Adventures Media Group
SFAMG publishes two magazines, a website and an e-newsletter; in 2010 the University Press of Florida will publish South Florida Adventures: The Book. This is the first time in Florida’s history that a magazine is being turned into a book.

SFAMG is the only outdoor sports and fitness publisher focusing on Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, plus the Everglades and nearby Atlantic. The company is owned by Fort Lauderdale-based Raterman Holdings, Inc.
###

South Florida Adventures Media Group
PO Box 21051 / Fort Lauderdale, FL 33335
(954) 683-5336 / www.SouthFloridaAdventures.com/about/


Contact: David Raterman
(954) 683-5336 / draterman@SouthFloridaAdventures.com

And Dave's reply to my enquiry:

"I doubt we’ll publish contributor guidelines. We’re still a small business and once we publish guidelines we’ll get overwhelmed with pitches. That’s good if we have time, but we’re at least half a year from then. When people currently ask, I respond for them to send several bullet points on the subject and I promise not to steal their idea. Then we can consider the story without them investing time."

The message?

 

Don't be put off if a magazine doesn't have contributor guidelines. In any case, you should be able to formulate them by reading several issues of the title. However, that won't tell you how they would like you to pitch your idea but a simple phone call should do the trick. As Dave says, people do ask him and he does give them a constructive reply.

 

The reality is, sometimes you have to pick up the phone and speak to editors if you want to become a travel journalist or writer for specialist magazines.

 

Keep writing...

 

Brendan 

What Bob and David thought of the workshop

As part of the article the attendees on my workshop put together for Sport Diver magazine, the editor, Mark Evans, asked them to put together a box out on it. 

So if you are wondering what is involved, this is what Bob Yee and David Kittos had to say about the workshop:

“Keep writing until you don’t suck at it.” Our workshop instructor informed the participants. “Or until someone is willing to pay you.” This sage advice was our introduction to the writer workshop. Brendan O’Brien, a noted underwater photojournalist and contributor to Sport Diver, conducted the workshop in hopes of educating neophytes the intricacies of writing for publication in the competitive world of scuba travel writing. 

Prior to the workshop, most of the participants were captivated by the lure of being sent on a commissioned assignment to an exotic dive location or defraying some or all of the costs of an occasional dive holiday with a magazine byline. Our instructor quickly doused that dream with the icy water of reality. The leading diving publications have a small cadre of proven photojournalists they rely on. It’s extremely tough to break into the ranks as an unpublished freelancer.

A novice will probably spend years honing their skills on peripheral publications, such as club newsletters, columns and websites, before breaking into a major diving magazine. The workshop offered budding photojournalists the opportunity to shorten this apprenticeship period by learning from the instructor’s publication experiences. 

Some examples of the topics and exercises covered in the workshop included scrutinising contributor guidelines, submitting proposals, avoiding multiple submissions and examining magazine images. Naturally, images stirred the most interest for the photographers. Participants learned what image types intrigued readers and editors. Perhaps the biggest revelation was to learn editors were not ogres who savoured eating the flesh of freelancers while using their manuscripts as napkins, but dedicated professionals with unrelenting publication schedules. 

The writer workshop was held in the late evenings after finishing other evening activities: night dive, dinner, photo workshop assignments and camera maintenance. Needless to say, the participants were exhausted before the writer workshop started each session. The workload from both workshops ensured working through midnight on most nights. Fortunately, the instructor and topics were lively and relevant enough to keep the attendees attentive and responsive.

The workshop had the support of Mark Evans, the editor of Sport Diver. He issued each participant a commissioning letter. The letter stated that the magazine was interested in publishing a feature on Puerto Galera from just one of the participants, providing the text and images conform to Sport Diver’s usual high standards. The letter became a powerful incentive to follow up on the lessons gleaned from the weeklong workshop. Writing for this publication took a great deal of hard work and dedication; the pros make it seem so easy. 

Robert Yee  

Before attending Brendan’s workshop I thought that only professional journalists and celebrities get to write in diving magazines. 

Now I know better – it was explained to us that you don’t need to be a super-diver or a TV personality to write about diving trips and destinations, but you have to be able to write. This ability can be developed but it does take a lot of time and effort. Equally important, budding writers benefit from having some insight on how to approach magazine editors and by figuring out the house writing style.

The workshop covered the important aspects of writing for commercial publications: how to structure and write an article so that it’s interesting, informative and keeps the readers glued to it until the end. Brendan went over the annoying bits of coming up with a good story, such as getting the beginning right: grab the editor’s attention from the start and there’s a good chance that he may read the entire article; bore him to tears and two months work ends up in the bin. There were sessions on how to get the article to flow smoothly from one paragraph to the next, anecdotes and themes, how to end it and about interview techniques, for those important quotes to make the story come alive. 

Brendan also talked about some of the inner workings of magazine and newspaper publishing, how articles are selected and photographs sourced. It has changed my perspective: I now read travel magazines and try to figure out what kind of material they are likely to consider. For example, a magazine that routinely prints stories about budget destinations is unlikely to publish anything about the diving at the Seychelles. 

A training pack was provided and this consisted of contributor guidelines from various diving publications (printed and online), interviews with magazine editors and a few sample magazine articles.

The diving photojournalism workshop was an optional extra for attendees of Michael Aw’s Digital Underwater Photography week in Puerto Galera which took place during March 2008. Ideally it would have been organised independently, allowing participants more time to take part in writing exercises or log a few more dives. Brendan is aware of these issues. 

Post-workshop support has been impressive, including a blog for posting general questions and comments (www.brendiversworld.com ) quick replies to attendees’ queries via email, as well as critiques on article drafts. 

Diving photojournalism is unlikely to be everyone’s cup of tea but if you are the kind of diver who likes writing, the workshop is definitely worth a go.

 

David Kittos

David and Bob put a lot of work into their articles and I hope that seeing them published online has given them some satisfaction, despite being runners up and not winning the prize of publication in the magazine.

Keep Writing...

Brendan

Licence to Thrill...

... Is the title of Virginia Fage's winning article which appeared in this April's Sport Diver magazine. Virginia attended the writer's workshop I ran last year in the Philippines and this is what Sport Diver had to say about the course and how they chose the winner:

"Writers' Workshop Winner

Students enrolled on a photo-journalism course in the Philippines had the incentive of possible seeing their work published in Sport Diver.

Sport Diver teamed up with occasional contributor Brendan O'Brien, who was running a photo-journalism course in the Philippines with underwater photographer Michael Aw (Brendan handled the writing side of things, Michael the shooting bit). We supplied a commissioning letter to those taking part to get them to focus on what was needed in an article for a mainstream diving magazine, and as an added incentive, we agreed that the best finished product (text and images) would appear in print. Virginia Fage emerged as the winner after impressing the judges with her photographs and writing style.

How we chose our winner

Mark Evans on the decision process he went through

Congratulations to Virginia Fage, who was chosen to have her debut scuba-diving article published within the pages of Sport Diver. The judges liked the style of her article, which immediately threw the reader into the midst of an exciting dive, and her photographs were consistently good, both macro and wide-angle.

Runners up David Kittos and Robert Yee both did well - we liked David's writing style, but there were too few underwater photographs; and Robert had some great shots, but this article didn't capture our attention."

Hopefully this will give you some idea as to what editors are looking for, it's not just about the writing, but the complete package. I know that much of what Virginia prepared in terms of box outs didn't get published, but that's the way it is in the magazine world, it's all down to space and the balance between editorial and advertising.

Congratulations again to Virginia and I hope this isn't the last we see of her efforts to get published.

For Bob and David, I believe their articles will go online on the Sport Diver website soon. I'll publish the link as soon as they do.

Keep Writing...

Brendan   

Interview with an editor - Hannah James from Real Travel Magazine

As some of the individuals who have attended my workshops start to delve into the world of diving / travel magazines they're starting to come across all sorts of unanticipated hurdles and opportunities. By the end of the workshops none of them were under any illusion that getting published would be as simple as writing a story about their latest trip, bundling it up with some nice photographs and sending it off to an editor.

One of the workshop attendees recently pitched an idea to Hannah James, the editor of Real Travel Magazine. Hannah wrote back to say how although the pitch and proposed article looked interesting, it didn't fit into the magazine's current plans. However, she would keep it on file as there was a possibility it may do in the future. There was also an invite to keep the ideas coming and to submit travel tips and images for the reader's gallery (see below about being part of a magazine's community). 

This reply wasn't the final communication between Hannah and the workshop attendee, he got back in touch to explore any future possibilities. Excellent move.

In a rather bizarre and I must say, "Bull in a China shop" way (it's a long story), I managed to ask Hannah some questions about getting published. I found it quite reassuring that her answers linked in nicely with the topics discussed in my workshops as well as confirming the information gleaned from interviews with other editors. 

It doesn't get much better than editors telling you exactly what they are looking for - Hannah's replies could well apply to numerous other titles out there:

Q. What is it about an article submitted to your magazine that makes you think, "I wish all contributors would do that..."

A. Ultimately the most important thing is that writers give you what you ask for. It explains exactly what we are looking for in the magazine (200 words and two/three photos). There is a reason why we ask for pitches to come in this format (ie short and sweet); I get around 100 pitches sent in a week, so it’s vital that they are quick and easy for me to decipher – this way, I’m much more likely to read it fully and get an idea for a piece in order to get back to the writer with a yes or no.

It’s always a good idea to consider entry points into an article – ie a piece that is about surfing on the Algarve, for example, should be aware that it needs to appeal to those who aren’t interested in surfing. Promising inclusions on food, drinking, other activities, local walks, the nearby market/town etc will open the piece up to appeal to a larger number of people. This is vital when we have such a varied demographic seen in our readers.

If it is clear that a writer understands the magazine, then it will grab my attention from the onset. If they appear never to have read a copy, it’ll lose my attention in the same way that it would lose the attention of our readers.

Q. What are the biggest mistakes freelancers make?

A. Simple mistakes such as misaddressing the editor, spelling mistakes in the email, not finding out what the guidelines are for pitching ideas or (and this is the ultimate sin) not understanding the magazine are all complete no-nos.

A pitch that comes in addressed to Mr James, Ian (a past-editor) or Hillary (as happened just today!) for example, would suggest that a writer is not paying attention to detail – in turn this would probably be reflected in their writing – not a great start!

Find out the writer guidelines and pitch ideas in the correct format – however, it’s not necessarily a disaster if this isn’t done. Sometimes a piece is already written for example, or a writer could just be showing their enthusiasm for writing and travel. However, it makes the life of an editor much easier if things are presented in an easy to digest manner – the longer a pitch/piece is, the less likely I’ll have the time to read it. Often the reason for turning down a piece is nothing to do with the idea, writing or pitch – it could be a simple case of having already commissioned a very similar piece or recently publishing something on the subject – because of this, it’s always worth sending just a short pitch in to begin with, rather than bombarding editors with full features – chances are they simply won’t have time to get to the end of everything that gets sent in.

The ultimate sin: ALWAYS READ THE MAGAZINE before pitching. I have so many people call to enquire after writing for the magazine – my first question? “Have you read a recent copy?” If the answer is no, then in my mind it is a simple case of time wasting. There is no point in pitching to an editor unless you know the magazine, the market and understand what a magazine looks for. Real Travel has a very distinct style – it’s about real people’s real travels – and therefore, a piece that timelines the political history of Myanmar or a guidebook style run-down of Barcelona’s best restaurants just will not work. Waste the editor’s time by not knowing who you are pitching to and it’s very unlikely you’ll be working for that magazine any time soon!

Ultimately it is simple – do your research before getting in touch.

Q. What character traits / skills do you look for in any regular contributor?

A. Inspirational ideas. An easy, relaxed style of writing. Sticking to deadlines and commissions (it’s surprising how often a writer only sends a few photographs, when it clearly states in commissions that photographs are a vital part of the piece – and, again, one look at the magazine would tell you this). If there are problems with deadlines etc, then honesty is always the best policy. I have no problem (within reason!) with someone missing a deadline if they’re warned me in advance and been honest about it rather than avoiding my calls on the day that the copy is due (this is a surefire way to never work for the magazine again).

Q. Do your regular contributors ever get to the point where you send them on assignments? I presume you have regular offers of press trips from travel companies, PR / Marketing firms and tourism organisations?

A. No. Press trips etc are not something that we would ever offer to writers – the ‘press-trip’ idea just doesn’t fit with the Real Travel style.

Q. Following a pitch, would you ever give a freelancer a letter or e-mail along the lines of, "as long as your suggested article meets the guidelines required by Real Travel Magazine, we would be looking to publish your proposed article." Basically, what could be used as a commissioning letter to gain support with travel arrangements.

A. Nope!

Q. This question kind of links in with the last one, if you knew that a freelancer had put together an article following a press trip, would you still publish it? Not necessarily the guided tour trip with several other journalists, but perhaps similar to the ones I often go on, where you pretty much go as a visitor, maybe with a loose itinerary the tourist board want you to follow, but nothing set in stone.

A. I would opt for something that wasn’t based on a press trip out of choice. Only if it was something that I was unlikely to get any other way would I contemplate using a pitch base on a press trip – particularly if it isn’t a writer that I had previously worked with.


Q. And do you pay?

A. Yes, we do pay – but we don’t have a set ‘per word’ fee. As we welcome contributions from any traveller rather than only ‘professional’ writers, the payment issue is something that is negotiated on an individual basis.

As an aside, the Q and A format I've used above is a really lazy way to write up an interview, you'd never get away with it in most reputable magazines. But as this is a blog, I hope you will forgive my approach on this occasion. I'll write more about interview techniques and how to write them up another time.

If you go to Real Travel's website and take a look in the forums you'll find some advice from Hannah on getting published in Real Travel magazine (copied below). However, you might want to note that her e-mail address has changed (see below for contact details):

Hannah-RTEditor - 02/09/2008 11:03

Most of you will know that we include reader reports in Real Travel – real stories from real travellers – so if you fancy seeing your next trip in print, then here's what you need to do!

Put together 200 words, providing me with a rough idea of how you see the piece working, the angles you would take and the destinations and places included. Try not to include too big a trip – but rather pick out a section of your travels – choose your favourite destination, a particularly memorable moment or an adventure that you feel every traveller should know about.

Along with a couple of photos, send it to mailto:hannah@realtravelmag.com">hannah@realtravelmag.com and I will get back to you to let you know what I think. Unfortunately it can take a while though, so please bear with me!

Don't forget – it's just 200 words and a couple of photos – and you could see your words and images in print!

Looking forward to hearing from you! Hannah

In my opinion the magazine's forum would also be a good place to get noticed. From talking to other editors, they all like potential writers to be part of the magazine's community through forums (and the letter's pages), as long as you don't go on and on about bizarre and irrelevant stuff, they are an ideal place to get involved and noticed. From forum entries it is clear that Hannah checks and replies to the messages on it. 

If I can wrap this entry up with a big thank you to Hannah. Any editor's time is precious, so for her to spend so much of her day to answer my questions is something I really appreciate.

Hannah James
Editor
Real Travel Magazine
Email: hjames@createpublishing.co.uk (please note NEW email address)
Tel: +44 (0) 117 929 7462
Fax: +44 (0) 117 927 6535
Website: www.realtravelmag.com
Address: 2nd Floor, 15-16 Lower Park Row, Bristol, BS1 5BN"

Keep writing...

Brendan

And the Winner is!

OK, it's not the Oscars, but for the hopefuls who attended my Photojournalism Course in the Philippines last March it might as well be. 

Yes, the results are in, Mark Evans, editor of Sport Diver UK has decided which of the articles he liked best:

"Hi Brendan,

The winner has been chosen! Virginia Fage. One of the others had a nice writing style, but was let down by pics (only seven underwater out of 20), and the other had reasonable writing and the odd nice pic, bit overall, in terms of workable text and a usable mix of pics, Virginia had the edge.

So, she will be appearing in print in the April issue...


Mark Evans
Editor
Sport Diver

The Mill
Bearwalden Business Park
Wendens Ambo
Essex
CB11 4GB

Tel: 01799 544243 (direct line)
Email: mark.evans@sportdiver.co.uk
Website: www.sportdiver.co.uk"

As you can see, it's not just all about the words, but the package you provide for the editor. Those who attended my course will remember me saying time after time how it's your job to make your article as attractive as possible for the editor. Getting them to say, "yes" is more than just doing the words, it's about providing for their every need, so when they finish reading your copy and looking over your package of photos and associated material they think to themselves, "I wish every freelancer would do this!"

Well done Virginia, and for some of the other would be contributors, there's a little surprise when the April issue comes out. Watch this space (and Sport Diver's website - there's a clue!).

Keep writing.....

Brendan

PS - I'm back! :)

From Photograph to Byline workshop

For the budding photojournalists among you I've just put the finishing touches to the next, "From Photograph to Byline" workshop - an ideal opportunity to learn the skills required to break into diving photojournalism. How you could, in your spare time, get your photographs published and become one of the 'names' in the diving press.

                                                                     

The workshop will be run over the weekend of 4/5th October at Eynsham Hall, Oxfordshire.

                                          

      

                        

Not your run of the mill location, this hotel, with its modern conference facilities is really quite stunning.

                                                   

                           

                              

                                                     

Co-host

                           

Maria Munn from Oceanvisions will be co-hosting this event, she'll be taking care of the "photo" while I cover the "journalism."

                           

Guest Speakers

                                              

Mark Evans, the editor of Sport Diver magazine (UK) will be on hand to answer any questions you might have about approaching editors, the role of the freelancer in the magazine industry and ultimately, how to get published. Mark will also be joining us for the workshop dinner on the Saturday evening.

There may well be more guest speakers from the world of diving photojournalism - watch this space.

                                                   

What the weekend will cover

                                                                              

For the "journalism" in photojournalism:

                                             

Establishing your dream - what you want to get from the weekend

Market research - where are the opportunities?

Editors - what are they looking for?

PR / Marketing Agencies, dive travel companies - the part they play and how you can utilise their services

Different ways to get your foot in the door - looking beyond the obvious

House style - why yours may have to wait

Commissioned assignments - your key to travelling on someone else's budget

Magazine photography - why you won't win any competitions

Practical issues - the best £ you will ever spend

Structure - completing the jigsaw puzzle

The art of the 'wordsmith' - how to use simple and eloquent descriptions

Interview skills - how to get the effective quotes

Identifying new angles - from hospital beds to industrial wastelands

The route map - knowing your destination and how to get there

                                                                                                   

Maria will be covering magazine photography skills using a digital compact camera, and in-case anyone is thinking you'll have no chance of getting published using one of these, Mark Evans from Sport Diver and Steve Weinman, the managing editor of DIVER magazine both use a digital compact on their assignments.

                         

The price

                                                                     

£299 for both days based on one person or £279 for two people, both prices include bed & breakfast - the Saturday evening meal will be an optional extra.

                                                         

Our Credentials

                                                                        

The UK's leading underwater photographer, Maria Munn, LRPS, specialises in teaching underwater photography with digital compact cameras.

                                                            

Maria has taught hundreds of divers using her easy-to-understand, jargon free  methodology and she has a reputation for dramatically improving photographic abilities in just a few hours.

                                                      

The Royal Photographic Society recently awarded Maria a licentiateship for her underwater photographs taken on a compact digital camera. Maria will combine her experiences of using these cameras with her genuine passion to help others develop their skills.

For more information on Maria's courses, click on the thumbprints for an article I wrote last year for DIVER magazine.

                                                                                                

The proof of Maria's abilities? Simple - her students are now winning underwater photography competitions and getting published.

                                                

See my website's introduction for my story. Briefly, for the past 12 years I have been published in Sport Diver, Scuba World and DIVER magazine and for the past 10 years I have freelanced exclusively for DIVER.

                                                                           

During this time I've been on numerous assignments across the world. I've interviewed diving celebrities, covered issues, events and competitions, reviewed books, DVDs, hotels, restaurants and even apres dive bars. In total - over 300 articles, features and news stories.

                                                             

With a background in adult education (I have a Masters in Education as well as a host of vocational training qualifications), you can be confident you will be learning with someone who has an established track record as both a photojournalist and educator.

                                                               

For further details of how you can join us e-mail me at: brendiver@aol.com

                                                                     

What people have said about previous "From Photograph to Byline" workshops and seminars:

                                    

Elizabeth Quinn, Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Enjoyed your seminar, you taught very well.

                                                                                                   

Mina Cassandra Kuhn, Miami - The seminar was awesome! Thank you for sharing it - full of practical and important information, unwritten information that nobody wants to give away, except you. I think everyone who attended your seminar found doors to underwater photojournalism. Your new blog site is as great and informative as your seminar.

                                                                                              

Doug Counts, Scuba News, Jacksonville, Florida - I learned a lot in the short time I was at your seminar as you were talking about international dive travel, this is a new area for our publication and I'm learning as I go.

                                                                                    

Craig Koltasz, Australia - Superb insight into the magazine world, your enthusiasm really helped.

                                                                              

Bob Yee, California - The course was great, not what I imagined it would be, saved me a considerable amount of time.

                                                                                 

Chris, Boston, USA - It was eye opening and your encouragement and involvement was really amazing.

                                                                                                             

David Kittos, UK - Lots of insider tips and insider info about magazines, plus ideas about how to come up with new angles, all very useful. You could have charged twice as much!

                                       

Virginia Fage, London - I really enjoyed it, I now know I didn't have a clue before.

                                                      

Christian, Singapore - The Top Tips were useful; even if they all seemed obvious, but they are the things you don't think about beforehand, like how to contact editors.

            

I hope you will be able to join us.

                                           

Keep writing...

                                                                           

Brendan

Contributor Guidelines - California Diving News

Back in the early 90's I used to visit San Diego a few times each year to visit my good friends Steve and Renee. As well as diving, we'd knock around the dive stores poking around at the latest stuff and collecting as many diving magazines as we could.

California Diving News was one of my favourite free reads - it had really interesting reviews of diving locations up and down the coast as well as fascinating write ups of spearfishing adventures (mention this in the UK and you'll be cast out to an eternal hell!).

If I'd known then what I know now I would have written up many of the dives we did in the San Diego area for them, but I mistakenly believed back then that you had to be a professional journalist to get published.

Last year CDN had "Editorial Guidelines" available on their website, now you have to write in for them. However, Dale and Kim from the publication are pretty sharp, they've always replied to my queries within 24 hours.

There have been a few changes to the guidelines, the pay has gone up, the word count has dropped from 1000 to 800 max and the want list of diving destinations (Northern and Central CA, San Luis Obisbo and San Diego Counties) has disappeared to be replaced by inland diving sites. This is an example of how it is always worth checking for current guidelines and editor wants - as the magazine develops these will always change.

CDN has a media kit available on their site for download and just in case it disappears for any reason you can find it here:

Download CDNMediaKit.pdf

I've included this as it provides a massive amount of useful information from the circulation data to diving interests and the next purchases of their readers. To demonstrate the importance of knowing your readers to this extent I'll add these snippets to my analysis of the contributor guidelines.

Editorial Guidelines

                                                                        

California Diving News is published eleven times a year and dis­tributed mainly in the Western United States. The editorial drive of the publication is to inspire and inform the beginning through intermediate divers into seeking the full underwater experience that California waters have to offer. All material is upbeat and positive. Please, no “Why this diver died” or shark attack type articles. Our goal is to encourage divers to get out and enjoy California scuba diving more often.

                                                             

The media kit outlines the fact that the majority of their readers are PADI OW to Rescue, so, there's no point in trying to write about a deep technical dive in the La Jolla canyon. As their readers also tend to be 'local' there would be no harm in contextualising your copy to include some local interest anecdotes.

                                                                     

Subject matter is 90% California oriented. All equipment and “How to” articles should have a California slant.

Article lengths are generally 500 to 800 words. Shorter, light pieces are preferred over long pieces. Submissions should be emailed to dale@cadivingnews.com.

                                                                            

As they have trimmed down the word count max from 1000 to 800 words this should tell you something - make it easy for the editorial team to say 'yes' by not going over the word count limit.

                                                                  

The large majority of our articles are done on speculation. Queries will be considered only from well known and experienced writers.

                                                                     

If you're a budding photojournalist you'll need to submit the whole package, but as the word count is really small, and their articles tend to be quite factual this shouldn't be too much of a bind.

                                                               

Articles should be emailed with good quality photos and/or graphics. No photos or poor quality photos is frequently a cause for rejection.

                                                                        

So don't submit rubbish shots! Take a look at what they like to publish and take pictures like these.

                                                                        

If possible accompany dive spot articles with good quality original maps.

                                                                               

Watch out for copyright issues here - you may have to draw one but make sure it follows the style used in each copy of CDN.

                                                             

CDN buys first time North American publications rights. Payment for articles range between $40 and $150 with most payments rang­ing between $60 and $100. Payment is on publication. Payment is based on article length, amount of editing needed, quality of photos, experience and notoriety of the author, and publication’s need for the material in question. Although submissions are usually evaluated in a couple weeks, they may be held for up to four months before acceptance or rejection.

                                                               

"Notoriety??" Not sure if this is what they really mean? If they haven't replied after four months an e-mail or phone call nudge would be acceptable.

                                                                        

DIVE SPOTS: Specific dive locations up and down the California coastline and around its offshore islands. Prefer locations the aver­age diver can dive. Cover marine life, bottom terrain, depths, facilities, how to reach, etc. Include a “Dive Spot At-A-Glance” (see publica­tion) and a map if possible. Unknown or little known dive sites are always appreciated. We also have need for inland freshwater dive sites. Write-ups on general areas such as “Diving Catalina Island” should overview and highlight the location’s best dive sites. Again, good quality maps are a must.

                                                                               

If you want to get in with this publication I'd submit my first story on an inland freshwater dive site that hasn't been covered yet. Kim from CDN is really good at answering e-mails, the below response on the question of what they are looking for came back within 48 hours:

"We seem to be fine for most areas. Well written factual articles satisfy the most important criteria."
                                                                     

“HOW TO” ARTICLES: Approach this material not so much a “How to” but more as a “How to do better.” Deal with how to better handle particular situations for better diving enjoyment. Subjects covered in past include: Freshwater Diving, Surf Entries, Night Diving, Deep Diving, and Boat Diving.

                                                                                 

And as 14% of divers want to buy a kayak I'd go for Kayak Diving - if the list above is up to date, they haven't covered it yet.

                                                                           

MARINE LIFE: Stories should be accompanied by excellent photos or illustrations and briefly give an interesting and informative and perhaps humorous view of the animal in question. We are also looking for first person stories on unusual marine life encounters. Stories of this nature done in the past include: Encounter with a Giant Black Sea Bass, Diving with Seals, and Gray Whale Encounter.

If you're new to the photojournalism world I would avoid humour - really hard to do unless you really are the next Bill Bryson. The CA coastline is full of encounter opportunities, plenty of mileage here.

                                                                        

WHO’S WHO IN CALIFORNIA DIVING: Brief personality profiles on those that make diving work in California.

                                                                              

Who do you know? Or does someone you know know someone? Make sure you take advantage of every chance meeting to exploit this editor want. I'll give you an example, I mentioned my blog and my 'other world' of diving photojournalism - how I was looking to interview individuals connected with a certain aspect of the industry. Turns out his wife is good friends with one of the chaps who is top of my list - they're going to speak to him and arrange an introduction. Result!

                                                                                                

PRODUCT REVIEWS AND DIVE BOAT REVIEWS are generally written by the staff. Must be upbeat and positive yet honest. We like to highlight advertisers.

                                                                                                 

If you use a dive boat, make sure it is one who advertises - nothing to do with impartiality, this is about doing what the editor is asking for. As this is a free publication they have to cater to advertisers needs, and is there anything really that wrong with highlighting a quality operation that advertises with them?

                                                                                                

There is rarely payment for NEWS BRIEFS and HEARD THRU THE KELP VINE and never for NEW GEAR and NEW BOOKS

EQUIPMENT BUYER’S GUIDES are generally written by the staff. Specific guidelines are necessary if interested.

                                                                            

I wouldn't bother with the above - they don't sound keen.

                                                                                          

"HOW TO" PHOTO ARTICLES: Focus on a specific aspect or technique of underwater imaging (still and video).

COVER PHOTO SUBMISSIONS: Cover photos are usually purchased in conjunction with a story inside the issue. California orientated photos only! Must be very sharp, light tone with bright colors preferred.

                                                                                        

Take a look at previously published cover shots and duplicate the style they have used before.

                                                                            

CARTOONS are occasionally printed. Will consider regularly submit­ted strips. Pays $25 per cartoon or strip.

BEST SHOTS: This section highlights diving related photos of our readers. California material preferred. No pay.

                                                                        

Good way of getting exposure, although I would go for pics and words if I could.

                                                                         

Tips:

• Tie articles into current advertisers. CDN loves to support those that support us.

• A well written dive spot article with map and good photos are always welcome.

• Submit articles in by email with excellent quality JPG images

• We would like to develop working relationships with good, reliable, regular writers.

                                                            

Second time they have mentioned advertisers - take note.

                                                               

They want to develop a working relationship with you!

                                                            

Keep writing...

                                                                        

Brendan

Blog Coaching - The Next Step

The blog coaching 'experiment' has started!

Martin Heyn from Seattle has a dream of getting published in a diving magazine. For anyone out there thinking about writing for magazines this is a very realistic goal - the industry survives on freelance contributions and there is no reason why the next byline shouldn't have your name in it.

By using this blog and no other means I'm going to help Martin achieve his dream, which means you will be able to follow his progress and learn from his successes and setbacks.

Following on from the last Blog Coaching post Martin has asked a few good questions (my answers in blue, but bear in mind, there is no right or wrong in this field, just 'stuff' that works):

Question number 1.
To start small or go big? There is a local, Pacific Northwest publication that takes submissions from the general diving public. It mainly focuses on cold water, local diving but does often feature tropical trip reports. Going big would be trying to submit to one of the big print magazines we all know like Sport Diver, Scuba Diving, Fins and the like.

It's really up to you Martin - follow your dream.

What I would say is balance up the probability of getting published with your dreams - North West Dive News (is this the publication you refer to?) has been around for a while and although it doesn't pay, it is a magazine that would be good for your clip file.

In their Contributor Guidelines (I have a post in draft form on this publication) It has the message,

"At NWDN, we are ALWAYS accepting stories and photographs from non-professional writers."

I didn't put the capitals in 'ALWAYS,' they did - what does this tell you? And as you are from Seattle you are a local diver telling it as it is for the rest of the North West Diving community - ideal.   

Question number 2.
Does it have to be Print Media only? Take Underwater Photography (UwP) the free online magazine for example. To me this would also fall in the category of going big.

Again - up to you, UWP magazine has been the springboard for quite a few photojournalists.

Question number 3.
To adapt one of the trip reports I have done recently or do something entirely new? Trip reports at my website are a little dry as their aim is to try to give people the "facts" about the location and dive operator. They are not really written to entertain.

Here's some feedback Martin - I found them quite entertaining, which is why I chose you.

Your write ups could be the foundation of some interesting articles - at all times written in the style of the target publication. Plus - the destinations you have visited are all accessible for west coast residents. In reaching this decision you might want to look through back issues - no matter how good your article is, if this destination has just been covered in the past year your chances of publication are slim.

However, it's often hard to completely change the style of an article, you might want to consider starting afresh with a local dive site or issue?

Looking forward to the journey.

Martin Heyn

Me too - should be interesting.

So, the first task is to pick a target publication.

Message for Martin, please remember to post your questions, replies and findings in the comments box.

Keep writing...

Brendan

Dive Briefs - the State of Diving

Here's another opportunity for you, one that would get you a high profile 'clip' for your file.

In the July 2008 Sport Diver (USA version) there's a two page section called 'State of Diving' in the Dive Briefs section.

This months magazine has a description of the diving off California's Point Lobos, "Home to Sea Wolves," together with a fact file column and three pictures. The author is a chap called Bill Becher, his website confirms his freelance status.

This really should not be a hard part of the magazine to break into:

It's about diving in the USA, so it will be close to home for many of you.

You don't have to have any underwater photographs! Out of the three used for this section, only one was taken by Bill (divers getting into the water) the other two were provided by stock photograph agencies.

It's written in a factually descriptive style with an advertorial slant:
"you'll be greeted by..."
"Divers sometimes see..."
"You might see..."
"Once you descend..."
"Lucky divers might see..."
When I read this type of article I often go through each paragraph and work out if I could do this with just a little bit of Internet research, some cosy chats with local divers and no dive at all at the site. This section of the magazine ticks all of those boxes. I'm not saying Bill didn't dive here, I'm simply highlighting the easy and rather impersonal style of writing (which appears to be quite popular in the USA).

I'm not sure what the pay rate is for Sport Diver, but whatever it is, if I were a budding photojournalist, I'd go for this section of the magazine for my first attempt.

Keep writing...

Brendan

The Blog Coaching Experiment - First Task

It's taken a while to review the entries from those of you who volunteered for the blog coaching experiment - it was a tough choice as many of you clearly had the enthusiasm and skills required to make a good start.

I've finally chosen Martin from Seattle as the first candidate - his website has some good photographs on it and more importantly, some interesting trip reports.

So, Martin, for your first task, you need to identify which magazine you are going to target. It doesn't have to pay, nor does it have to have diving as its main focus. You might have always dreamed of being published in a local outdoor sports magazine or your local newspaper travel supplement. The key thing I need you to look for is whether they accept freelance contributions.

Easiest way to find out?

Check for any contributor guidelines on their website or any comments in their masthead to the effect that they are not responsible for unsolicited contributions.

Follow this by checking the status of their writers - are they all on staff? Or are they freelance (a quick Google on their name will do the job).

If your target media accepts contributions or it is clear they utilise freelancers then this is the one we will go for.

Let me know via a comment on this post or by e-mail, once I know which media you want to target we'll take a look at the next stage.

Best of luck Martin - I look forward to seeing your article in print.

Keep writing...

Brendan