Freelance Guidance

Note: We are NOT currently chasing freelance material of the sort described in his article.

We frequently get email from people all over the world who want to produce material for AutoSpeed. They're often enthusiastic, talented and interesting people, but by far the majority of those who make enquiries never end up selling any material to us. Why? Some don't realise the intensity of the task, some don't have the range of skills necessary, and some give up too early. Others simply don't know how to go about it.

Rather than reply individually to each person who asks the questions, we thought that we'd put all the stuff here.

General

Some criteria are common to all feature articles and contributors. These are mostly common-sense things, but they're worth making clear from the very beginning.

1. You must be able to justify what you have said. So, for example, if you write in a feature car story that the engine has a certain power output, or that the car's quarter mile time or top speed is such and such, you must have supporting evidence. In the case of a quarter mile time, for example, you - as the writer of the story - must have at least viewed the timeslip. You don't necessarily have to include the supporting evidence for every single statement in the story, but if I - as Editor - ask for evidence, you need to be able to justify your statements.

2. Your text must be logical, sensible and not contain contradictions. These faults can often creep into a story, especially if you are relying on information provided by another party (eg a feature car owner) and you don't spot inconsistencies in what is being said. Often a feature car owner will state that the engine (for example) was built by Bill Smith, then later in the interview say something like "all the bottom end was built by Fred Jones". Which is correct?

3. Your article must contain pictures. Every article that AutoSpeed runs (Columns excepted) is illustrated with pictures and/or diagrams. It's very easy for an expert to say to us something like: "Look I can easily write you a two thousand word article on how camshafts work." Fine - but a two thousand word block of text will interest very few, no matter how good it is. Add some diagrams showing (in this case) camshaft timing, lift versus duration, etc and the article will become more attractive. Throw in some photos of different cam profiles, and you're onto a winner.

4. You must be accessible. This means that you must be able to be easily contacted by email or phone. It doesn't mean that you need to be available during business hours, but contact should be able to be made with you in any 24 hour period.

5. You must contribute material in a format that suits us. This point is the least important of those listed so far - although it's the most commonly asked question! We can take text in Microsoft Word, as .txt files - whatever. We can take photos as prints (preferably), jpeg, tiff files - again, whatever! For more details on photography, see later in this article.

Types of Feature Articles

It's very important that you decide on the type of article that you intend writing, before you write it. But aren't all articles the same? No, they are not. Let's take an example. Say that you are reviewing a product - an electric water pump designed for engine cooling systems. You fit the pump, test it, and find some deficiencies. As a result, you think more about cooling systems, try some different mechanical pumps, and rig up some test systems to check coolant flow and system efficiency. You try a coolant bypass system (mounting the thermostat in a different position) and experiment with different coolant types. You have now gone right away from doing a product review on an electric water pump!

In fact what you have now is the raw material for there different stories: a Product Review (did the pump work or not work?), a Technical Background Story (how coolant systems are configured, different pump designs), and a DIY Tech Story (how to test your cooling system). Trying to put all of these into one story would be disastrous.

So what are all the different story types, and what criteria need to be addressed in each?

1. Feature Car Story

This is the most straightforward type of story. Firstly, you need to find a modified car that would interest AutoSpeed readers - we don't find the cars for you! AutoSpeed tends to concentrate on cars produced over the last fifteen years, almost invariably with engine management systems (ie electronic fuel injection and ignition control). The car needs also to have good paint, a good interior, and - importantly - good wheels, tyres and brakes. In other words, we favour a package that would make a good road car, rather than a pure circuit racer or drag car. It is preferable the car is powerful - although a zany modified car with little power but loads of character would still certainly get a look-in. If the car has already been featured in a magazine, we're still interested - but it's better if it has not already been seen elsewhere.

You will need to photograph the car (see the later section dealing with photography) and then write a story about the car and its modifications. We tend not to take the 'personality bullshit' approach, where the writer goes on ad nauseum about the trendiness of the owner, his sexual prowess, wealth, gold earings, etc, etc. Instead we're interested in the car, so if the story is to work well, it needs to be about a car that is in fact interesting! The justifications sometimes made for inclusion in a magazine often reek of "big fish in a very small pond" syndrome. You just know that's the case when the car owner says "It's the only 12 second Datsun in Tasmania that is still using an L-Series engine and running 185 series rear tyres!" Probably true - but who cares?

There are a huge number of potential feature cars available. To spot them, go to car shows, go to club racing at tracks, flag down modified car drivers on the street, visit workshops that build good cars. Finally, note that we also have a preference for cars developed by people investing blood, sweat and tears, rather than handing over wads of inherited cash to others who then do all of the work. Feature car stories deliberately focus on the positive aspects of the car; they are not written as a 'road test'. However, if there is a glaring inadequacy in the car's build (for example, it detonates like crazy when the owner takes you for a fang), write just that.

2. DIY Tech Story

In this type of story, you show people how you performed an innovative modification to your car. The same approach must be able to be done by the vast majority of people working at home with just hand or simple power tools. That means that showing someone how to build an oil/air separator using a piece of steel tube - and, it so happens, also an oxy acetylene welding set - is out. Anyone who has available to them gas welding gear isn't going to need an article on building a simple oil/air separator! Instead, we're talking about modifications like - how to wire in a new sound system, how to add a water spray system to an intercooler, how to build your own boost control system, etc.

This type of article must:

use relatively cheap parts,

show in step by step detail how to fit the product or perform the modification,

and have good quality 'before' and 'after' testing.

Good photos are therefore a vital element in this type of story. Without all of these criteria being met, this type of story won't be accepted. Of all technical stories, this type of story is the most difficult to produce.

3. Workshop Tech Story

These are far more common in magazines than DIY Tech Stories, because they're much easier to put together. In this type of story you liase with a workshop that is performing a fairly self-contained task. For example, they are fitting an exhaust to a car, and intend performing 'before' and 'after' dyno and noise tests. It's a simple story - but if done well, it will be popular with readers. Fitting an intercooler, swapping a turbo, doing an engine swap, installing a new gearbox, panel-beating for tyre/guard clearance - all fit this category. Needed are photos of the process, photos of the car being tested, and photos of the finished result.

Unfortunately, many workshops have ethics and work practices that do not lend themselves to this approach. For this reason, you - as the author of the story - must be present for every step in the process. We will not accept, for example, data from 'before' tests that were done in our absence. If the author is not present, how is he or she to know whether the 'after' tests are done in the same way, with the same engine warm-up, same test equipment operator, etc?

If doing this type of story, you must make it absolutely clear to the workshop that if the results of the modification are poor, that's exactly what will be written. Again, unlike other magazines, we will still accept and run a story that was done in good faith, but that resulted in a poor performance outcome. Doing this means that readers get to see what doesn't work, as well as what does. Many, many workshops will immediately back-out of involvement with a magazine story when this point is made to them. That's okay - you're better off not trying to source stories from that workshop in the first place!

When writing this type of story you must be absolutely clear to yourself as to where your loyalties lie: they are to the reader, not to the workshop! Thus, if you are employed in any capacity by a workshop, we don't want stories sourced from that workshop. Nor will we accept payment (even in the form of advertising dollars) in order that we write a favourable article on a particular workshop. You must be aware of the moral and ethical ramifications when doing this sort of story. Some journalists will accept payment from workshops, trade advertising dollars for positive comment, accept free product as a nudge-nudge-wink-wink trade-off for puffing up a workshop's abilities. We're not interested in doing any of these things; and if you write for us, you'd sure as hell better not be too!

4. Technical Background Story

In this type of story we're interested in gaining an overview of a particular development or automotive technology. The story won't cover the step by step application of that technology to a modified car, but will show enough about the subject that the reader can draw his or her own conclusions. Examples are a story on Electric Power Steering, or the Bosch Electronic Stability Program handling system. This type of story can even cover more straightforward areas such as how alternators work, or what goes on in a sparkplug. As with the other types of story, pictures and diagrams are a requirement. Furthermore, this type of story demands (even more than in the other types of features!) that you have clear, concise and unambiguous prose.Research will usually involve the reading of relevant SAE (Society Automotive Engineers) technical papers, textbooks, original equipment workshop manuals, and researching current cars to which the technology is applied.

5. Product Review Story

In a Product Review story a newly-released product is obtained, suitable testing criteria worked out, and the product tested against those criteria. This is a minefield of legal, ethical and financial natures, and so in general we will not purchase Product Reviews from freelancers.

6. Columns

A Column is quite unlike the other story types listed. It's much more egocentric - the authors can write all about themselves, and often do! It requires very good writing, and it needs to have strong entertainment and 'talking point' value. It's easy to write one column - much harder to write twenty or thirty..... Note that AutoSpeed currently does not pay for columns, but we welcome contributions from those who wish to join our select band of widely-read columnists.

7. Special Features

There are many other story types that I have not covered specifically - reports on buying a used car, interviews, motorsport, news, articles on classic cars, new car tests, comparison tests, etc. With the exception of comparison tests, we are happy to consider the purchase of feature articles from freelancers on any of these topics - however, they must be relevant to our readership.

Photography

Photography is critical to our acceptance of an article - without photos, it probably won't get past the first post. And if a story without photos is accepted, the payment will be quite low - because we then have to get all the photos together! Firstly, you don't need a digital camera to produce material for AutoSpeed. In fact, we prefer you not to! Why? Because unless you are spending around A$8000 for professional digital gear, a humble secondhand A$150 Pentax SLR will give much better results! In fact, a 35mm SLR with a 35-70 close-focus ("macro") lens and an 80-200 zoom is all that you need, if it is used well. Add to that a tripod and electronic flash and you definitely have enough camera equipment for good results.

In any static photography, expect to use a tripod. Why? Because we like good depth of field, where both close and far objects are in focus. That means using a small aperture (like f16) which dictates a long shutter speed, and in turn requires a tripod. This is especially the case for close-up photography - don't use flash, simply use a tripod, a small aperture and long exposures in soft light, like that provided by open shade. If the situation dictates that flash is needed (eg photographing action in a workshop) take two or three of each shot from different angles to reduce the chance of direct flash reflections, the flash head being obscured by a door frame, etc. Use as small an aperture as your flash power will permit, again to get maximum depth of field.

If you are photographing a feature car, do so in the soft light of very early morning or just before dusk. Again, use the tripod, and watch out for distracting backgrounds. At AutoSpeed we like the car to really fill the frame, and that makes it easier to cut out any poor backgrounds - but you'll certainly need to take the car to a special location for the pix. We prefer some action shots of feature car, with panned blur (slow shutter speed) or tracking shots from another car. (If you don't know what these things mean, look closely at AutoSpeed feature car photography and then perhaps read a good book on photographic techniques.)

Photos can be sent to us digitally or in printed hard copy. Note that it's worth seeking out the professional photo labs in your city to do the printing, with matte finish 6 x 4 prints our preference.

The Dollars and the Cents

If you have read the 'AutoSpeed Story' articles (Part 1 - "AutoSpeed - The Story!") you'll realise that we haven't a heap of dollars to throw around. Currently, we will pay a maximum of AUS$450 for an article that is complete with words and good pictures, and needs little editing. That amount can vary, depending on factors such as the quality of photos, the editing time required to make the story fit for publication, the work required of the author to produce the story, and the interest that readers will have in the story. Payment is normally made by cheque within 30 days of publication.

If you give us permission to re-use a story that has already been published on the Web, we will not pay anything for it. The story will also be subjected to normal editing, and should match the 'quality' criteria already mentioned. Club and show reports are also not paid for, but if you advise us well before the show, we will probably be able to provide you with media accreditation to gain free access.

Conclusion

Not one contributor to AutoSpeed has formal qualifications in journalism or photography - not one of us! Instead, we all started by sending articles to magazines, hoping that they'd be accepted for publication. In my case, in the automotive area that process took two years of trying! However, if you follow the points in this article, you can dramatically shortcut that delay - and find yourself earning money writing and photographing things that you're interested in and love collecting information about.

It could be the start of a full-time career - or even just a very rewarding pastime. Regular AutoSpeed contributors have free access to car shows, are sent invitations to product releases, and - in some cases - have access to new cars to test....

Contact: editor@autospeed.com