Gun of the Week?
- Thread starter mcfish
- Start date
Forum Boss
Administrator
McFish,
For a lengthly period I was getting out a new story every week. To do that it was common for me to pull 3 or 4 all-nighters a month. And that was before we had the Bulletin, the Blog, and dozens of emails a day to answer.
Not much fun when you're working without pay...
It takes 15-30 manhours to do a major story and that's AFTER the field work and research is complete, and there's only one guy to do the text editing, research, photo editing, layout and coding.
However, if the gunsmiths out there would take some good photos when they have a special project, that would help enormously. In the past 6 months I've had to drop a half-dozen stories because the gunsmiths or gun owners could not provide minimally adequate photos.
That said--we are always looking for new stories. We need 1200+ words and 10+ good photos--showing rifle and components from a variety of angles.
To put things in perspective, a typical print magazine will have 2-3 editors, 3-4 staff writers, and maybe a dozen freelance writers to come up with, maybe, 6-8 1500-word stories a month. And there will be a separate copy editor and a couple graphic artists to put the whole thing together.
Our stories are typically 3000 words with double the photos, plus video.
This site has one guy doing ALL that plus moderating the Forum, writing the Daily Bulletin, answering email, preparing a monthly blog. You get the idea...
For a lengthly period I was getting out a new story every week. To do that it was common for me to pull 3 or 4 all-nighters a month. And that was before we had the Bulletin, the Blog, and dozens of emails a day to answer.
Not much fun when you're working without pay...
It takes 15-30 manhours to do a major story and that's AFTER the field work and research is complete, and there's only one guy to do the text editing, research, photo editing, layout and coding.
However, if the gunsmiths out there would take some good photos when they have a special project, that would help enormously. In the past 6 months I've had to drop a half-dozen stories because the gunsmiths or gun owners could not provide minimally adequate photos.
That said--we are always looking for new stories. We need 1200+ words and 10+ good photos--showing rifle and components from a variety of angles.
To put things in perspective, a typical print magazine will have 2-3 editors, 3-4 staff writers, and maybe a dozen freelance writers to come up with, maybe, 6-8 1500-word stories a month. And there will be a separate copy editor and a couple graphic artists to put the whole thing together.
Our stories are typically 3000 words with double the photos, plus video.
This site has one guy doing ALL that plus moderating the Forum, writing the Daily Bulletin, answering email, preparing a monthly blog. You get the idea...
I hope my humble donation helps keeping those Gun of the Week stories coming. Being a riffle junkie I can never get enough. Maybe if you get enough people to support through donations and you get a full blown staff, someday we might see Gun of the Hour. Told ya, junkie.
By the way I stopped using Google after reading how they treated this sight and how they feel about guns. Tons of other search engines out there. But as far as I know the others might be just as anti-gun as Google. If I find out they are, I'll quit using them too. My small way of protesting them.
Sorry if I hit a sore subject with my Gun of the Month comment. Would have never guessed this sight is a one man show. Hope those owners and gunsmiths take you up on your offer about submitting copy to feature there stuff.
By the way I stopped using Google after reading how they treated this sight and how they feel about guns. Tons of other search engines out there. But as far as I know the others might be just as anti-gun as Google. If I find out they are, I'll quit using them too. My small way of protesting them.
Sorry if I hit a sore subject with my Gun of the Month comment. Would have never guessed this sight is a one man show. Hope those owners and gunsmiths take you up on your offer about submitting copy to feature there stuff.
Forum Boss
Administrator
McFish,
Thanks for the donation. You're right... if we can ramp up the funding I can bring in some help and that will free time for the big articles.
I wish I had the capacity to clone myself, or the ability to make more than 24 hours in a day. Just today I spent a few hours packing up and shipping gun parts for a new project rifle we are doing with Robert Whitley.
Would love to get back on pace for a big story every week,whether a tech feature or rifle/shooter profile). There are lots of great rifles out there and many more disciplines to explore--Silhouette, Palma, Ultra-long-range varminting.
Thanks for the donation. You're right... if we can ramp up the funding I can bring in some help and that will free time for the big articles.
I wish I had the capacity to clone myself, or the ability to make more than 24 hours in a day. Just today I spent a few hours packing up and shipping gun parts for a new project rifle we are doing with Robert Whitley.
Would love to get back on pace for a big story every week,whether a tech feature or rifle/shooter profile). There are lots of great rifles out there and many more disciplines to explore--Silhouette, Palma, Ultra-long-range varminting.
Paul:
You are doing a great job, but not a thankless job. I know that this entire forum appreciates you efforts, and the product produced speaks for itself. For the quantity and quality of work you do, you would need more than one clone. BTW, I miss Jason's threads and articles -- is he still doing the "new husband" thing?
Thanks again,
Jim Hardy
Jim--Yep, this fall Jason moved his residence, changed to a new, more high-pressure job, and got hitched almost all at the same time. He's been really, really busy.
Also Jason had planned to write up a new 6-6.5x47 project and the gunsmith has been way, way behind schedule. 3 weeks, became 3 months, became 6 months, became 9 months.
You are doing a great job, but not a thankless job. I know that this entire forum appreciates you efforts, and the product produced speaks for itself. For the quantity and quality of work you do, you would need more than one clone. BTW, I miss Jason's threads and articles -- is he still doing the "new husband" thing?
Thanks again,
Jim Hardy
Jim--Yep, this fall Jason moved his residence, changed to a new, more high-pressure job, and got hitched almost all at the same time. He's been really, really busy.
Also Jason had planned to write up a new 6-6.5x47 project and the gunsmith has been way, way behind schedule. 3 weeks, became 3 months, became 6 months, became 9 months.
Paul: This is a great site because you are doing a great job of it! The photographs and layout make it much easier for me to see and learn about equipment and developments in accurate shooting. If advertising does not bring in enough revenue, then we will have to pay a subscription.,especially if it means independence from media people who are against the 2nd Amendment) This site has been an asset to our 2nd Amendment, hunters, competetion shooters, and the shooting sports industry in our country. Thanks: Larry Kramer, Victoria, Tx.,probably spend an average of $1,500.00-$2000.00/yr. on shooting)
Forum Boss
Administrator
Guys,
This ain't a full-blown gun of the week, but I created a little "something extra" from a nice Forum post submitted by Forum member "TheSilverFox". This page, in hand-coded html, only took a couple hours to put together. It demonstrates what can be done if folks submit good images and some interesting text.
The "photo essay" definitely conveys some of the feel of being outdoors in the winter and Mike,SilverFox) does a good job explaining the challenges of ranging targets at unknown distances.
LINK: http://accurateshooter.net/alberta308.html
ENJOY...
This ain't a full-blown gun of the week, but I created a little "something extra" from a nice Forum post submitted by Forum member "TheSilverFox". This page, in hand-coded html, only took a couple hours to put together. It demonstrates what can be done if folks submit good images and some interesting text.
The "photo essay" definitely conveys some of the feel of being outdoors in the winter and Mike,SilverFox) does a good job explaining the challenges of ranging targets at unknown distances.
LINK: http://accurateshooter.net/alberta308.html
ENJOY...
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