Airstream Central - Info for Airstream Owners - http://www.airstreamcentral.com
Become an author for AIR Articles!
http://www.airstreamcentral.com/articles/31/1/Become-an-author-for-AIR-Articles/Page1.html
AIR Editor

Articles submitted by individual members are posted by the AIR Editor
 
By AIR Editor
Published on 01/18/2008
 
How to become an AIR Author. General information about getting started as regular columnist or alternatively, how to submit a single or occasional article.

In an effort to provide the Airstream enthusiast community tools to help share knowledge in a more formalized format we have developed this article website.  Our goal is to accommodate everyone from regular writers (columnist) to single articles submitted by members.  While we try to accommodate all our authors, we're looking for subject matter and content that we believe will interest our readers.

We are looking for people to write articles on topics including:

  • Getting Started Articles - Help new owners by writing articles you wish you had read when you took owner ship of you new (to you) Airstream.  These topics include articles featuring a quick how to guide for common tasks associated with using or maintaining your Airstream, safe towing practices, quick "break in" trips and, winterizing, etc.  These can be about any topic that would be good for a new Airstream owner to read. 
  • Restoration Articles - Are you restoring your vintage Airstream?  Have you completed a major project and would like to share you work with fellow Airstreamers in a nice organized article fashion?  We would love to have you write about your restoration project so others can share in and learn from your experiences.  You can even write an article with many parts so you can add new sections as your restoration progresses with each section of your project highlighted on single page.  This is a great way to keep the community up-to-date on your project.  
  • Historical & Research Articles - We are eager to get our members to memorialize the data they have collected in their heads.  Are you an expert about one trailer or a historical event?  If so, please consider writing an experts article on this piece of knowledge so the rest of the Airstream community can learn from you.
  • Member of the Month - We are looking for writers to create Bios on our diverse member base.  It's fun to know who everyone is, so if you like to write about people please let us know.  We are looking for a long term writer to write this column.  The format for this column has not been set, so let's talk about angles for this column.  If you are interested, please contact us.
  • Vendor Spotlight - This is a column that will be written by non-biased members who spotlight a vendor and write articles featuring their participation in the Airstream community and the goods/services they offer.  No compensation of any kind (money or gifts) will be accepted in exchange for an article in this section.

If you're interested in writing for us, please contact one of the editors, forum admins or simply register an account here on AIR Articles. 
There are two ways to submit an article for publication.

1. You may register an author account and begin writing.
2. You can submit your content to our editor or site staff via e-mail and they can publish it for you under our AIR editor account, giving you full credit of course.  

All articles will be reviewed for content and formatting prior to publishing and so your article will not be publicly visible until you tell us, it's ready to go. Our editor may "buff up" your article a bit prior to publication. If your register as an author you can edit your article or work on it progressively. Once it has been posted to the public, it can no longer be edited.

Once you have registered as an author, you can upload an avatar image for your account. This image will appear next to your articles. The image size is limited to 80 x 80 pixels. Be sure to fill out your profile information with a brief biography. Articles authors are volunteers; thank you for taking the time and making the effort to share your expertise with our readers. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with our community!


Article guidelines

  • Articles should be about topics of interest to Airstream owners and restorers and should be content heavy.
  • We encourage authors to provide references for material and facts and opinions should be clearly differentiated.
  • All forum rules about posting and copyright issues also apply to articles.
  • The article should be your original work. Material quoted from other sources should be clearly identified as such and appropriate credit should be given.
  • Please remember that images used cannot be copy protected images. Do no use a picture taken from a corporate website or a company logo, unless you have permission. Images taken by others must be properly attributed.
  • Articles about topics already covered by previous articles are acceptable as long as they contain new content or a unique perspective.
  • Articles about trips and personal experiences are acceptable, so long as they are noteworthy but articles are not intended for blogging.
  • Articles left in draft form (unpublished) may be deleted after 30 days.


Article Formatting

  • Images in articles should be no wider that 400 pixels.  
  • Fonts should be kept to our site standard, verdana 2,  unless there is a true need to deviate.
  • Although the software allows multiple pages, one long page is easier to format and read - keep it simple.
  • Decent grammar, correct spelling, punctuation and a tolerable outline were important to your mom and they're important to us as well. We have editorial help available if needed - just ask!
  • Consider writing your article off-line in a word processing program and copying and pasting test into the editor. This way if you lose your Internet connection you will not have lost a lot of good work.


Commercial content

Articles are not intended to be sales pitches or commercials for any one individual or business, but we value your experience and unique knowledge.   If an article is authored by a commercial vendor (registered as such at AIRforums.com) it is permissible to add a signature at the end of the article that contains one link to the authors business website and name, address and phone number of the business.  If you are a commercial vendor and would like to be an author or submit a single article, please contact us.

We reserve the right to decline publication of any article for any reason.