Discussion
OscarT said:
Hi
Just received Sprint this morning several days after most TVRCC members.
This late arrival was bad enough BUT once again when I read it I cringed at the standard of some of the articles in terms of content, writing style and grammar, etc.
I'm not going to name individual articles as I think they will be obvious to anyone who can read without moving their lips. Does nobody proof read the articles before they are printed or apply some censorship to weed out the drivel? Why are so many pages wasted on amateurish attempts at humour(l)ess musings. Some of the good articles with worthwhile content are so clumsily written that they are difficult to read.
C'mon - get a grip!
OscarT
I know of one that I was quite dissapointed with - not dissapointed seeing it in print but let down a little by in-accurate content and some parts that I could not understand. Just received Sprint this morning several days after most TVRCC members.
This late arrival was bad enough BUT once again when I read it I cringed at the standard of some of the articles in terms of content, writing style and grammar, etc.
I'm not going to name individual articles as I think they will be obvious to anyone who can read without moving their lips. Does nobody proof read the articles before they are printed or apply some censorship to weed out the drivel? Why are so many pages wasted on amateurish attempts at humour(l)ess musings. Some of the good articles with worthwhile content are so clumsily written that they are difficult to read.
C'mon - get a grip!
OscarT
Not a moan, an observation and comment.
Nick Cooper said:
And yet again nothing on Cerberas just same old stuff. When will they start to listen??
It's coming Nick .. Ive submitted a brief intorduction to track car solutions in the January issue with the added bonus of an article every 3-4 months or so. Thanks go to cerbera Sprint editor Iain Cole for allowing me to have a small area in which to talk about what I do 
I just hope my punctuation and spelling are up to scratch
This is a difficult one isn't it?
The magazine needs material from the membership, otherwise we degenerate into the kind of discussion that we have recently witnessed about Derek buying tyres and getting his car serviced.
As far as I am aware, the only paid member of magazine staff is Jon, the designer, the rest do it for the 'fun'.
They are not, proof readers or even trained editors, so it must be difficult to produce the mag' every month. Pressures of work and other commitments must be taken into consideration, along with the fact the the editorial staff are scattered around the UK and are not conveniently sited in one room!
Another factor to consider is where does the editorial control end? I fear I may be one of the humor (less) contributors to the mag, with my write up on the Harewood sprint a couple of months ago. I would have wondered what was going on had my article been drastically hacked and re-edited, had it been it probabally wouldn't endeer me to submit and further articles. As for the humour side of things; some people find Ricky Gervais (sp?) funny, while I just think he's an arse, so everyone's sense of humour is different - thank god!
Given the time and budgetary restrictions I think they, the magazine team, do a sterling job, a few less adverts thinly desguised as articles and I think they'd be there. Let's give them a break and see how things pan out now that there are Model editors who are prysing content out of the membership, myself included.
New editor, new broom for 2008, let's give them a chance.
Tim
Footnote: I am a designer and can't spell and, as there is no spell check on this submission box, the author cannot guarantee that this submission is free of typos' and blatent editorial gaffs!
The magazine needs material from the membership, otherwise we degenerate into the kind of discussion that we have recently witnessed about Derek buying tyres and getting his car serviced.
As far as I am aware, the only paid member of magazine staff is Jon, the designer, the rest do it for the 'fun'.
They are not, proof readers or even trained editors, so it must be difficult to produce the mag' every month. Pressures of work and other commitments must be taken into consideration, along with the fact the the editorial staff are scattered around the UK and are not conveniently sited in one room!
Another factor to consider is where does the editorial control end? I fear I may be one of the humor (less) contributors to the mag, with my write up on the Harewood sprint a couple of months ago. I would have wondered what was going on had my article been drastically hacked and re-edited, had it been it probabally wouldn't endeer me to submit and further articles. As for the humour side of things; some people find Ricky Gervais (sp?) funny, while I just think he's an arse, so everyone's sense of humour is different - thank god!
Given the time and budgetary restrictions I think they, the magazine team, do a sterling job, a few less adverts thinly desguised as articles and I think they'd be there. Let's give them a break and see how things pan out now that there are Model editors who are prysing content out of the membership, myself included.
New editor, new broom for 2008, let's give them a chance.
Tim
Footnote: I am a designer and can't spell and, as there is no spell check on this submission box, the author cannot guarantee that this submission is free of typos' and blatent editorial gaffs!
trackcar said:
It's coming Nick .. Ive submitted a brief intorduction to track car solutions in the January issue with the added bonus of an article every 3-4 months or so. Thanks go to cerbera Sprint editor Iain Cole for allowing me to have a small area in which to talk about what I do
I just hope my punctuation and spelling are up to scratch
Nice one Joolz, can I still have the articles for the sprint site as well? Please.I just hope my punctuation and spelling are up to scratch
I too have said I'll write some articles on the things I'm doing to my Cerbera, and have submitted an introduction to Iain for consideration.
Tim
trackcar said:
I just hope my punctuation and spelling are up to scratch
And even if not, an editor should be able to sort it. Must say writing for club mags can be frustrating at times (hence I've not submitted anything for the past decade or so) - not only your own typos getting copied 1:1 to the printed version, but missing spaces between words, intros and photo captions that totally and utterly miss the point, and random howlers added. I'd say if a club mag editor/corrector is unable or unwilling to sort the basics to some sort of acceptable standard, they should well steer clear from more advanced mucking about with text practices... 
I agree entirely with Tim. My sister is editor of a small regional monthly equestrian magazine, probably smaller distribution than Sprint, which she does from home, with her husband, and its a full time job! The people who publish Sprint are volunteers, not always professionals in this field, doing in their own time, therefore, I would suggest some slack should be given.
TT Tim said:
This is a difficult one isn't it?
The magazine needs material from the membership, otherwise we degenerate into the kind of discussion that we have recently witnessed about Derek buying tyres and getting his car serviced.
As far as I am aware, the only paid member of magazine staff is Jon, the designer, the rest do it for the 'fun'.
They are not, proof readers or even trained editors, so it must be difficult to produce the mag' every month. Pressures of work and other commitments must be taken into consideration, along with the fact the the editorial staff are scattered around the UK and are not conveniently sited in one room!
Another factor to consider is where does the editorial control end? I fear I may be one of the humor (less) contributors to the mag, with my write up on the Harewood sprint a couple of months ago. I would have wondered what was going on had my article been drastically hacked and re-edited, had it been it probabally wouldn't endeer me to submit and further articles. As for the humour side of things; some people find Ricky Gervais (sp?) funny, while I just think he's an arse, so everyone's sense of humour is different - thank god!
Given the time and budgetary restrictions I think they, the magazine team, do a sterling job, a few less adverts thinly desguised as articles and I think they'd be there. Let's give them a break and see how things pan out now that there are Model editors who are prysing content out of the membership, myself included.
New editor, new broom for 2008, let's give them a chance.
Tim
Footnote: I am a designer and can't spell and, as there is no spell check on this submission box, the author cannot guarantee that this submission is free of typos' and blatent editorial gaffs!
Its the usual thing Tim. Peeps who are happy enough to say its crap but not prepared to step up to the mark and contribute. The same sort that probably likes to watch their Mrs being serviced by a well hung 'stud' whilst commenting "I wouldnt have done it like that" etc The magazine needs material from the membership, otherwise we degenerate into the kind of discussion that we have recently witnessed about Derek buying tyres and getting his car serviced.
As far as I am aware, the only paid member of magazine staff is Jon, the designer, the rest do it for the 'fun'.
They are not, proof readers or even trained editors, so it must be difficult to produce the mag' every month. Pressures of work and other commitments must be taken into consideration, along with the fact the the editorial staff are scattered around the UK and are not conveniently sited in one room!
Another factor to consider is where does the editorial control end? I fear I may be one of the humor (less) contributors to the mag, with my write up on the Harewood sprint a couple of months ago. I would have wondered what was going on had my article been drastically hacked and re-edited, had it been it probabally wouldn't endeer me to submit and further articles. As for the humour side of things; some people find Ricky Gervais (sp?) funny, while I just think he's an arse, so everyone's sense of humour is different - thank god!
Given the time and budgetary restrictions I think they, the magazine team, do a sterling job, a few less adverts thinly desguised as articles and I think they'd be there. Let's give them a break and see how things pan out now that there are Model editors who are prysing content out of the membership, myself included.
New editor, new broom for 2008, let's give them a chance.
Tim
Footnote: I am a designer and can't spell and, as there is no spell check on this submission box, the author cannot guarantee that this submission is free of typos' and blatent editorial gaffs!
Put up or shut up
FUBAR said:
Its the usual thing Tim. Peeps who are happy enough to say its crap but not prepared to step up to the mark and contribute. The same sort that probably likes to watch their Mrs being serviced by a well hung 'stud' whilst commenting "I wouldnt have done it like that" etc
Put up or shut up
Nick, I think I love you! I can rely on you to raise a smile and take the level of post to another all time low. Put up or shut up
Tim
In fairness, Sprint has - as long as I'm aware of it - always been one of the better club publications. I can show you ones of clubs as big or bigger that are far, far worse. OTOH a very substantial part of the members' yearly contributions tends to go to producing a club mag, so an editorial team should go some way to make sure the club gets value for money IMO. Usually it's not so much a lack of knowledge and skill within the active part of the club membership base that holds the quality of the mag back, but politics (if you're taking the path of least resistance in whatever you're publishing - keep it light and superficial - there's less chance of standing on anyone's toes - in particular technical content that goes a bit further than 'how to check your car before it goes in for its MOT' is often being frowned upon as club folks tend to see liability issues should the information published be 'wrong'. Thing is, next to the social aspect, technical support is one of the chief reasons people join a marque club) and sometimes sheer bloody-mindedness.
FUBAR said:
Its the usual thing Tim, Peeps who are happy enough to say its crap but not prepared to step up to the mark and contribute.
Read the thread again, don't see anyone actually saying it was crap. Nothing wrong with being dissapointed with the quality of a contribution because you feel it lacked a little in accurate detail and readability (if that's a word) - that was my point.
Daftlad said:
FUBAR said:
Its the usual thing Tim, Peeps who are happy enough to say its crap but not prepared to step up to the mark and contribute.
Read the thread again, don't see anyone actually saying it was crap. Nothing wrong with being dissapointed with the quality of a contribution because you feel it lacked a little in accurate detail and readability (if that's a word) - that was my point.
I know where you're coming from, I haven't ready this month's mag yet, other than the sprint articles, so not sure to which article you refer. Almost as a matter of course I ignore the ones written by businesses as they invariably have a bias, two sides to every story etc. etc.
I think there are ways to approach this, maybe, as has been said many, many times, Pistonheads is not the place to discuss this, maybe the TVRCC forum would yield more replies.
I'd just like to say I have no responsibility for anything in the mag, and am not on the editorial or design team. Just know how it all 'ticks' as it's how I earn my shillings.
Tim
Daftlad said:
FUBAR said:
Its the usual thing Tim, Peeps who are happy enough to say its crap but not prepared to step up to the mark and contribute.
Read the thread again, don't see anyone actually saying it was crap. Nothing wrong with being dissapointed with the quality of a contribution because you feel it lacked a little in accurate detail and readability (if that's a word) - that was my point.
It's just these stonethrowers get on my (larger than average) tits.
trackcar said:
Nick Cooper said:
And yet again nothing on Cerberas just same old stuff. When will they start to listen??
It's coming Nick .. Ive submitted a brief intorduction to track car solutions in the January issue with the added bonus of an article every 3-4 months or so. Thanks go to cerbera Sprint editor Iain Cole for allowing me to have a small area in which to talk about what I do I just hope my punctuation and spelling are up to scratch
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