FLYER magazine - contributor guidelines Last modified: 03 May 2006
Contributors' Guidelines
Usually, there are two types of articles offered to us and which have appeal:
1. Personal Experience
This is the usual type and such articles are often about a particular flight, being published as 'Flying Adventures'. These have appeal when they are both anecdotal and factual. They can be unusual flights, experience with a particular aircraft or a good/ bad aviation experience. Details of the flying as well of personalities and descriptions are what make such articles work well.
2. Researched articles
The other type of article is one where the writer goes out and researches the subject. For instance, an article about an element of aircraft technology.
Please stick to subjects you know well and fully understand.
General guidance
FLYER is intended to be an entertaining and amusing read, as well as conveying facts and opinions. We are dealing with our readers' leisure time, not their business. We enjoy wit but are less keen on jokes and puns - nor do reams of figures and bald statements make good reading (however, shortlists of figures make good side panels). The best guide to style is a good read of past issues: we don't suggest that one style suits all, nor you should copy any one contributor's style - just that you should develop a feel for the kind of writing that we publish.
Wherever possible, try to extract dry facts and figures and put them into a summary table. The figures may be essential to the article but they are best removed from the text.
Make the point of the article known early in the story, preferably the first paragraph.
Stick to the subject.
Be ruthless and realistic when deciding whether the subject is a News story (max 500 words), a short article for one page (max 1,000 words) or a major feature (anything from 1,500 to 3,000 words over two to six pages). The guiding criterion is "How many people will read this?" You can be sure that if you're not ruthless and realistic, the editor will be (that applies to any publication).
Copy is best supplied electronically, preferably by e-mail, as a text file. If you're worried about a table losing its formatting, for instance, send a hard copy by fax or mail as well. Sending Excel or MS Word files sometimes works, but e-mail and transfer to different systems can mangle these files.
If you agree to write an article, submit it within two weeks. Only leave it for longer if the deadline has been agreed.
Don't hesitate to "be yourself".
Try to think about how the article will appear on the page. If it is a very long story, then it's useful to have one, two or more short pieces of text or 'sidebars'. These could explain a particular point covered in the main story, or contain a summary of facts and figures.
Photos are essential, and - within reason - the more we have to choose from the better. If you are contributing a travel story make sure all aspects are covered, from the big picture - landscapes and approaches - to details, including close-ups. It's not all about how you got there: don't forget to show people and places - think 'National Geographic' and you will have an idea of the ideal coverage! Images must be of the highest possible quality: shoot at maximum resolution if you are using a digital camera - do not economise by attempting to get as many digital pictures on one card as possible. Please provide full caption details with any images, and make sure we can match captions with images.
Unless otherwise agreed with the editor, FLYER is buying worldwide rights to your words and pictures. Transparencies (slides) provide the best quality but colour prints of a high standard are acceptable. High quality digital images are acceptable, the size at 300 dpi being a good idea of the normal maximum reproduction size on the printed page (at their highest quality JPEG setting, 6 to 8 mp cameras generally produce images that can be run full page). The photos make or break an article.
