Let's get serious for a second.
Many players have asked me how to become a paintball writer. I thought I'd formulate something to help folks out. It's also help for me, now, when asked, I can say, "go to my website."
How Can I Get Published?
Trying to get published is easier than actually getting published. All you have
to do is to send your stuff to a paintball magazine and wait. If you are sending
the same article to different magazines, let the other magazines know when one
of the others has decided to publish it. It's common courtesy. If you allow
copies of your articles to be published by another magazine, you'll only succeed
in pissing the editor off. That closes all the doors. The editors regularly
communicate, and you WILL get a bad rep and be black-balled.
What Should I Write About?
The best advice I can give you is to write about what you know. Write about
things you have experienced. A good idea was done by a friend of mine. He has
organized at least three charity events, so he wrote an article about how to
organize a charity event. Write about reffing, organizing a tournament,
organizing a group for playing, starting a team. Whatever you know about.
What Do I Have To Do To Make The Article "Publishable"?
Have other people read them. Especially people who are better at some things
than you feel you are. I am a lousy speller. My wife proofs my articles. My best
friend proofs my articles for syntax and grammar. I read and re-read my articles
before I send them out.
If It Is Accepted, How Long Will It Take To See It In Print?
Magazines have deadlines, and they are a couple of months ahead of projected
publishing dates. If you find out, in say January, that your article is going to
be published, you probably won't see it until March or April. If your article is
topical enough, or its contents warrant it, they may push it up to go out into
the next issue. You have to write some pretty heavy stuff for that to happen.
How Much Will I Get Paid?
Some magazines pay more than others. The ones that don't pay as much will
balance it out with other perks. Paintball News will make business cards for you
and help you obtain a press pass, amongst other things. You have to have at
least four articles published with Paintball News before this happens, though.
For most publications the average is $100.00 per article. Some magazines pay
more for articles with photographs.
How Should My Article Be Prepared?
The ideal situation would be to send your article on disk in a format the
publisher requires. (Call the magazine to find out what that is.) The next best
thing is have them printed by a good quality laser printer, or on a typewriter.
Avoid dot matrix printers. The articles are going to be scanned in using an
optical character reader, and they have to be very clear. Hand written
submissions and faxes are not a good idea, and for the most part, will not be
considered. The less work you leave for the publisher and editor, the more
acceptable your work will be.
Can I Write About What Other People Have Written About?
Yes and no. If it is a specific event, like a tournament or big game, don't
expect to get published. These events are usually covered by writers on staff
(like me). Call the magazine a few weeks before the event, to find out if anyone
is covering it. If they say no one is, offer to cover it for them.
If you've read an article on sniper tactics, you can still write one yourself.
As long as you give it some new twist. You should NEVER copy someone else's
work. That's plagiarism, and it's against the law.
Any Other Advice You Can Give Me?
Be patient. Don't get discouraged.
Stay away from the "There I was ... " type of war story.
Also, don't get mad if your article has been butchered by the copy editor. Most
times the article will be on several pages, or some sections may be removed for
space. Most news papers will say "all the news that is fit to print" it's
actually "all the news that is PRINTED to FIT." You have to look at your article
as simply a piece of work, not as "a Piece of Your Creative Soul" or "Your
Beloved Offspring". As long as you still got your point across, and you got your
check, who cares?
Where/To Whom, Do I Send My Stuff? What Are They All About?
Go to your local magazine shop and pick up a couple of copies. WHO to send it to
is not important as knowing WHAT to send them.
Whether its a new idea or a re-hash, new writers should always do the
following before submitting an article:
READ THE PUBLICATIONS. Most Paintball pubs don't have a written 'character'
as such - but they do have obvious preferences in terms of word length,
openings, presentation, tone, etc.
CALL the publication. Talk to the editor. Don't read or re-tell the article,
just say hello, mention you're sending an article and if the opportunity
presents itself, involve yourself in a little paintball chit- chat.
Everyone submitting an article to one of the magazines should state on their
manuscript cover page (or at the beginning of a disk sub) 'FIRST NORTH
AMERICAN SERIAL RIGHTS' As well as placing the normal copyright notices on the
piece. First NASR grants the publication the one time right to print the
article. The author/copyright holder retains all other rights, including
re-prints, sales to other publications, etc.
Listings of the magazines can be found on W.A.R.P.I.G.
Okay, Let's Say I'm Published, And My Controversial Article Gets Lots Of Letters To The Editor. What Should I Do?
Well, this happened to me. I wrote an article on how paintmarkers, that look
like firearms, are bad for the sport. I was labelled everything from a
gun-banner to a panic -button to a knee-jerk reactionary. Well, at least someone
is reading my stuff.
As someone more intelligent that I once said, "There is only one thing worse
than being talked about -- and that is NOT being talked about."
Durty Dan Sez:
There is a downside to all of this. As a writer, you are like a composer who
never gets to hear his music play. You see, your article plays in the minds of
the reader, and you'll never know what they think. I call it "transmitting in
the blind" which is a military communications specialist's way of saying, 'send
it out and pray someone hears it'. You will get the occasional compliment, take
it graciously. You won't have crowds of adoring fans flocking to every event you
attend. You won't sign autographs for the multitudes or have members of the
opposite sex (or the same sex -- it IS the Nineties) fawning all over you and
dropping to your feet.
If it DOES happen, don't let any of this go to your head. You're just another paintball playing slob, and having a good command of the written language doesn't make you a god.
I can guarantee what you WILL get, and that is lots of teasing from your friends and field staff. If I had a dime for every time I heard a ref say, "Geeze, you don't play as good as you write," I'd be a rich man.
People expect, just because I can keep the same verb tense in a paragraph, that I must have my shit wired, or something. I'm just a hacker, a duffer, a squid in sheep's clothing. I'm not that good, I make up for it by writing about things I know would work, because I should have done it last game, or I saw someone else do it.
So I spend my time dispensing pearls of wisdom, not really able to do the things I say, myself. "Those who cannot do -- teach".
I hope this helps all you aspiring writers out there. Like most of my articles, I learned a lot of this "along the way". I thought I'd pass what little information I have, because when I started, I didn't even have that.
I've been writing for paintball publications since 1992 and in that short time I've had over 200 articles published. If I can do it, it must be easy.
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