Disturbing Trend in GRM and CM

dean1484 wrote: I have an idea. How about everyone here that has posted up in this thread try writing an article and submitting it to GRM.

Sure, let's do it. Bravenrace, I invite you to submit something. My e-mail is david@grassrootsmotorsports.com.

David S. Wallens wrote:

dean1484 wrote: I have an idea. How about everyone here that has posted up in this thread try writing an article and submitting it to GRM.

Sure, let's do it. Bravenrace, I invite you to submit something. My e-mail is david@grassrootsmotorsports.com.

Well Dam!!!! I guess the ball is in our court guys.Time to put up or shut up.

David S. Wallens wrote:

dean1484 wrote: I have an idea. How about everyone here that has posted up in this thread try writing an article and submitting it to GRM.

Sure, let's do it. Bravenrace, I invite you to submit something. My e-mail is david@grassrootsmotorsports.com.

Check your email. I just re-pitched an idea to you for a fabrication article. If you guys are interested, I'll take a stab at writing up the text and lining up good photos to illustrate the ideas/methods.

And check your e-mail for a reply. If you can deliver good, consistent photos, then we'll go to the next step.

dean1484 wrote: I have an idea. How about everyone here that has posted up in this thread try writing an article and submitting it to GRM............1. It is not as easy as you think. Trust me I have tried. I have my moments of brilliance but tying together a complete article or even three paragraphs is tough.

I thought I could write funny car stuff or interesting "Datsun" articles. I've tried and found it IS a lot of work. I have some stuff I've written and find I don't want it published since it is weak. It's easier to spew my stuff on a forum.

David S. Wallens wrote: And check your e-mail for a reply. If you can deliver good, consistent photos, then we'll go to the next step.

Thanks, I'm on it.

Keith Tanner wrote:

JThw8 wrote: I'd love to see a "project car" magazine. Go to the build threads section for inspiration. I'd like to see builds like these, classics, oddballs, whatever. Start from the purchase and show the build, multi part series are fine. I personally dont even care if the car is race or performance oriented, my interest is in the fabrication, the imagination and the building. Its not a very marketable magazine, thus it doesn't exist.

I dunno, it sounds a lot like Project Car magazine :D

Hmmm...well I was unaware of that one. But I did google it and the fact that it is Project Car Tuner...its a bit not quite what Im looking for but then again noone is going to make "Eastern Bloc Project Car" so that may be too specific. PC looks to be a bit too geared toward the tuner crowd, not really my interest either.

Practical Performance Car, maybe. It's a bit hard to find over here, but it's the GRM of the UK. A very good complement to a GRM subscription, and you might find their "£999 Challenge" familiar. Definitely not tuner-biased, I seem to recall they were trying to make a track beater Rolls Royce last time I saw a copy.

David S. Wallens wrote:

dean1484 wrote: I have an idea. How about everyone here that has posted up in this thread try writing an article and submitting it to GRM.

Sure, let's do it. Bravenrace, I invite you to submit something. My e-mail is david@grassrootsmotorsports.com.

Can you afford me? I don't come cheap.

All of you potential writers out there, this is your chance, and don't sell it short. True life story: in 1985 I took a chance and submitted a story and photos to a new magazine called Auto-X. They bought it for $40 - a photocopy of the check is hanging on the wall right in front of me. One thing led to another, I became a regular, and over the years I've sold more than a hundred articles to GRM and CMS. That gave me the confidence to branch out to other car and truck magazines, then some travel, and into my current passion, history of the American West. Along the way I've won national awards, and even in my real-world job as a geologist for the US Department of the Interior, my experience as a professional freelancer got me a promotion into the office technical reviewer position, which was worth a lot of money over the years before I retired from the "real world".

So if you've got the interest, the passion, and the skills, dive in and send David a query - an idea - and you may be next. Believe me, there's nothing cooler (well, not much, anyhow) than seeing your name on the byline for the first time. And the GRM staff are absolutely the best, bar none.

Jim Pettengill

Jim speaks the truth. Plus he's awesome to work with.

This is a huge opportunity. I have a couple things I think I want to explore in writing.

@David Should ideals be sent first or do you want "compleeted" pieces?

I've got a similar story to Jim's--I took my chance in 1999 with a GRM story about Judson superchargers and have written a few hundred for GRM, CMS, and many other magazines since. I pretty much only write for GRM and CMS any more because they are among the last few magazines that still listen to and respect their readers (most just listen to advertisers or bean counters).

I talk to a lot of people who want to write, but I never see them follow-through and do it. It's not as easy is it looks, but I think it's more about discipline than rocket science. Give it a try. You guys write for the messageboard all the time, so you've got a leg up already.

--Carl

David S. Wallens wrote:

dean1484 wrote: I have an idea. How about everyone here that has posted up in this thread try writing an article and submitting it to GRM.

Sure, let's do it. Bravenrace, I invite you to submit something. My e-mail is david@grassrootsmotorsports.com.

Sorry, I already have a full time job. If you want to come do mine, then maybe I'll come do yours.
But I'm not a writer, so why would I do that? I'm not sure why you picked me, but you might want to go back to my original post. It wasn't about the content. It was about calling a valve job a rebuild (which you still haven't explained to this point). As far as the content, all I've said is that it isn't what it used to be. And in this thread I've said multiple times that overall the 911 article was good, so why pick on me?
I don't know if what you do is hard or not, but I don't think anyone is asking you to do anything you haven't done in the past.
I don't have to be a writer to make that observation, only a reader. Now if you want someone to proof your work, then I may be available at a price.

Keith Tanner wrote: Practical Performance Car, maybe. It's a bit hard to find over here, but it's the GRM of the UK. A very good complement to a GRM subscription, and you might find their "£999 Challenge" familiar. Definitely not tuner-biased, I seem to recall they were trying to make a track beater Rolls Royce last time I saw a copy.

Well I didn't want to comment about another magazine in the GRM message board, but a lot of guys here would be very happy with Practical Performance Car. I subscribed for 6 years and it was great and GRM was a great complement to it. Lots of good tech like a series of article about fuel injection, adding a compressor, making your own bio-diesel, etc. And they go in great details. And their project cars are pretty cool (track rat Rolls-Royce, 27L V12 Rover SD1, v8 swap mercedes W108, etc... But its very euro-centric (from the UK), and getting a subscription is very expensive (use to cost me 90$/year, but at least I got a t-shirt). That first bit is why I stopped my subscription, because I just couldn't relate to the cars they were working on. An american version of that magazine would be perfect for me and a lot of people here I think.

David -

I sent a suggestion with an article I'd like to write.

Thanks!

I've been reading but have resisted commenting. First, the GRM staff do an amazing job with both magazines....and it seems we are splitting hairs on terminology. I too would have termed it a rebuild. To me, if you tear an engine down and build and replace what is required....rebuild it is. To me, a refresh is when you do what you can engine in place....such as pulling the pan and doing bearings, and the head for guides etc. But in the long run, who cares. I don't care what you call it, as i really want. To buy a 911 and am more interested in what was done.

Also, i've been on both sides of the "i have no money and have to fabricate my tools from a stone and duct tape" to the "i have no time and sign a check.". It's all good and there both types that read GRM.

I've also been reading since Auto X, and of course there have been changes...some i like, some maybe not so much. But as people get older, so does how you approach things. And it's a much better magazine today in terms of topics covered and general overall quality. GRM and CMS have always been a reflection of Tim's and his staffs personalities, and that is what makes them different.

Either good or bad, the biggest change to the indepthness, not sure that's an actual word, is that the project car load itself is bigger, and can limit how much space it gets. Also, each car will have different needs and lead in one direction or another.

I find it funny that as soon as David said send me stuff all of a sudden things in this thread go silent. LOL

Proof that it is easy to be a critic but when the time comes to actually do something about things everyone disappears.

The crickets are deafening.

dean1484 wrote: The crickets are defining.

What exactly are these crickets defining?

Maybe they just prefer that folks who write for a living read some of these suggestions and see what they can do to serve a few up if possible. I'm not an author by trade or skill set.

In reply to dean1484:

Since when do you have to write articles to justify making observations/comments about them?

fanfoy wrote: ...An american version of that magazine would be perfect for me and a lot of people here I think.

The magazine you are speaking of is called Car Craft.

Trans_Maro wrote: I tried CM but there is only love for British cars there and I understand why. .

You should try it again because that is not the case....at least not now. I just re-uped for another two years and I'm not big into British cars. The only British car I have has a Buick engine lol.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

dean1484 wrote: The crickets are defining.

What exactly are these crickets defining? Maybe they just prefer that folks who write for a living read some of these suggestions and see what they can do to serve a few up if possible. I'm not an author by trade or skill set.

Freakin auto correct on my phone again LOL "deafening" is what it should have been.

brave race wrote: In reply to dean1484: Since when do you have to write articles to justify making observations/comments about them?

I am not saying you do I was simply observing that as soon as David said that he would take submissions from people the thread went silent.

I for one am impressed. I can not think of any other magazine that would even respond to a thread like this never mind actually invite people to submit something to them.

One more reason why GRM is #1 on my book!

modernbeat wrote:

fanfoy wrote: ...An american version of that magazine would be perfect for me and a lot of people here I think.

The magazine you are speaking of is called Car Craft.

No, no it's not. I bought Car Craft a few times and it does not compare.

Heck, I'll try to write an article for the mag. And english is not even my first language, so I think others could try as well.