<VV> RE: Communique article rejections

Mon Aug 8 11:46:09 EDT 2005

Hi--

We are looking into the submission by Joe, but without more information on 
the other two, we don't know if indeed the articles were tech articles and 
we do not know why they weren't published.

Jim, Mike is an electrical engineer. I have a background in mechanical 
engineering. I think we know our audience which is composed of a LOT of 
people will similar backgrounds.

We both think the majority of our readers have a tech background and those 
who don't, want to learn more about the technical aspects of the Corvair. 
Neither Mike nor I want to 'dumb down' articles, but we DO want the 
articles to be interesting to our readers. Because of the technical 
background of our membership, some of the submissions we receive need 
'work' to be publishable. I cannot speak for Mike, but I have offered to 
help authors rewrite their submissions to be more readable. I am not 
talking about 'dumbing down' articles, but I am saying we can and do 
present the facts differently to make them both more entertaining and more 
useful.

You say: "Certainly your comments support the prevailing wisdom is that 
anything "overly technical" doesn't get published." But my post says 
nothing of the kind. In fact, the vast majority of tech articles do see 
there way into the Communique. Mike and I have been producing the magazine 
since the Feb 1987 issue. That's over 18 years. Assuming an average of 3 
tech articles a month, that's 648 tech articles published during our 
tenure. You have cited 3 examples of articles which might not have been 
published.

You ask: "Anyhow, does the Communique reject out of hand any submissions 1) 
about commercial products  OR 2) from people who stand to gain from the 
publication of the article?" Short answer: No. Longer answer: We would 
welcome tech articles of from Rusty, Ray, Duane, or anyone else on their 
products if it has some (any) redeeming value to our members. We will not 
publish an article which SOLE purpose is to promote a product.

Finally, both Mike and I have had some posts from some well respected 
Corvair people on how to improve the Communique by finding volunteers to do 
this task or that. While the suggestions might have some merit, those who 
offer the suggestions are not interested in volunteering to do the tasks. 
CORSA is a member supported organization. If you want to help CORSA or the 
Communique, volunteer to help by sending an e-mail to either me or Mike. We 
can put you in touch with the guys with some credible ideas. Better yet, if 
you have suggestions to make CORSA better and those suggestions involve 
volunteers, try to find a volunteer to try the idea.

The Communique is clearly a labor of love for Mike and I and some others. 
If you really want to make the Communique better, consider writing an 
article. We need tech articles. We will publish most everyone we receive. 
Thanks to contribute to the Communique including Craig Nichols and Randy 
Stuart for their help as assistant editors.

Take care...

--H

At 05:39 PM 8/7/2005, Jim Burkhard wrote:
>Thanks for the reply and interest.  Let me state first that I think you and
>Mike do a great job running CORSA and publishing the Communique. I *know* it
>is ton of work.  I only sent that email because it seems that I keep hearing
>more about tech articles being rejected or otherwise never seeing the light
>of day at the same time we're being requested to submit.
>
>As to the instances I alluded to:
>
>1. Well, Joe Potts was one  -- I see from things I was copied on offlist,
>you've already exchanged info on that.
>
>2. The second guy sent me an offlist private earlier email today (before
>yours) specifically asking me to not mention his name as he does not want to
>antagonize CORSA. You posted your request after that, so I'm going to ask
>him to give you the information you request. I'm sure you must get some
>things definitely not ready for publication, but he writes very well (some
>of his other stuff has been published in the Communique), so I don't think
>this is likely the problem.  Anyhow, I'd like not to be a middleman. I'll
>try to get him to contact you directly.
>
>3. The third guy I ought not to mention by name without his permission
>either, really (I will ask him, though). But this was the whole point of my
>original post.  I wanted people who've had problems getting technical
>articles published to mention their OWN names and get the whole thing out
>into the open. When my dad and I talk with people at conventions (or
>elsewhere) who have done excellent work (and are literate), often they have
>reluctant to write about their work because of prior rejections or rumors of
>other people having been rejected (or submissions "sat on" forever). My
>intent was that if this is a real problem, let's hear about it from those
>who've experienced it.
>
>On to something you mention below in your second paragraph: Please don't
>request authors dumb down their articles to make them interesting to a
>greater fraction of the CORSA membership! I think you are really
>underestimating the readership. Sure, some people might not be interested in
>the article, anyhow, but those who are want the "full meat".  Now, I don't
>think we risk waves of submissions of treatises on computational fluid
>dynamics...  I think if the tech is at the modest level of Hot Rod, Car
>Craft, Circle Track, and Grassroots Motorsports, we are quite fine. For
>people whom even that is "too much" they can look at the pictures and read
>the opening and concluding paragraphs. Again, I'm not suggesting the
>magazine be packed like this, but 1 such article an issue would be nice if
>good quality material has been submitted by authors.
>
>Certainly your comments support the prevailing wisdom is that anything
>"overly technical" doesn't get published. Maybe this needs to be fixed ...
>The average prospective newcomer to CORSA is MUCH more likely to be
>interested in a technical article than reading about "Flo and Vern" (whom he
>doesn't know) winning "Shopper's Choice" at a mall show in Kansas somewhere.
>THAT is of little interest to anyone who doesn't know Flo and Vern!  If you
>want something more people are interested in, I'm betting it is the tech.
>If a new eager Corvair owner thinks the Communique is mostly about people he
>doesn't know and what they did at their far-away local events, he devalues
>the Communique; that's a big loss of membership incentive.
>
>Oh one more thing ... What is the Communique's policy on people writing up
>an article that prominently features a commerical product?  In the small
>world of our hobby (even our "big" vendors are small businesses) oftentimes
>somebody will develop something for himself which he later produces (often
>in small quantity) to offer others perhaps for profit or perhaps just to
>recoup his own significant investment. Besides the larger vendors who do a
>lot of development themselves, , let me offer (there are many others... my
>apologies for all the omissions) Rusty Rose and his A/C stuff, Ray Sedman
>and his many performance engine parts & services, Duane Cartwright and his
>intake manifold + fuel injection, or Tom Scalzi with his electric fan. I'm
>just using these as examples ... perhaps some of them have been published in
>the Communique already, I'm not sure.
>
>Anyhow, does the Communique reject out of hand any submissions
>1) about commercial products  OR 2) from people who stand to gain from the
>publication of the article?
>
>I have heard this is true, and if so, this is a shame because it's the few
>brave souls such as these (I mentioned small guys, but let's not forget the
>"big" vendors either) who are really working on developing the future and
>keeping people interested in the Corvair. To be sure, there should be limits
>on sales puffery and the articles should be written to proper technical
>standards (if you make a claim, back it up), but just because the article
>presents a product that is offered for sale should in no way disqualify it.
>I've been a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) for many
>years and in that capacity have written and presented papers to SAE on
>behalf of my employers (General Motors for 12 years and Delphi for the last
>5). SAE has very high standards for paper publication, yet most of the
>papers published are by people selling the things they are writing about!
>There are requirements for how this is done, but it is the standard within
>SAE and many (most?) other professional organizations -- I've presented
>papers to the Global Powertrain Congress and the Aachen Kolloquium (the
>major European powertrain conference) under the same basic rules. I'm
>frequently one of the peer reviewers (on Advanced Valvetrain papers) for SAE
>and one of the points that must be satisfied is an absence of puffery and
>excessive salemanship. Note that does NOT mean that actual products cannot
>be written about by their creators or others.  Just some thoughts ... I'd
>like the official word on Communique policy regarding this - what's the true
>scoop?
>
>Thanks & best regards-
>
>Jim
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
> > [mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Harry
> > Jensen, CORSA Executive Secretary
> > Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2005 12:01 PM
> > To: Jim Burkhard; virtualvairs at corvair.org
> > Cc: 'N. Joseph Potts'
> > Subject: Re: <VV> Communique article rejections was RE: blow
> > up electric fans
> >
> >
> > Hello--
> >
> > I too would like to know about article which have been
> > rejected by the Communique. I know of none.
> >
> > I know of one in which the article was sent back to the
> > author requesting changes to make it less technical to make it more
>interesting
> > to a greater percentage of our membership.
> >
> > Understand, I am not one of the editors. And Jim, I agree
> > with everything you've said, except for the unsubstantiated accusations of
>rejecting
> > articles, especially tech articles. I understand that you may
> > not want to name names on VV, but send me a private post and let me know
> > the who and  when, and let me supply you with the facts.
> >
> > Take care...
> >
> > --H

|--------------------------------------------------------------
| Harry Jensen  mailto:corsa at corvair.org
| CORSA Executive Secretary
|
| Corvair Society of America (CORSA)
| P.O. Box 607, Lemont, IL 60439, 630.257.6530  fax 630.257.5540
| http://www.corvair.org
|--------------------------------------------------------------  