how do you get a story in a mag?

[monsta]

so, when I started looking at building my monsta, I thought that, what'd be nice is to win a trophy(didn't expect best in show!) and to get my bike in a magazine...
So, I have the trophies, now I'm wondering how to get in a mag. Do I wait to be discovered or do I have to send them a pic and grovel to get a spread. Also, if I was to get a spread, do they give you the hi-res pics taken? can I negotiate for some extra copies of the mag to give to friends? What mag? (I guess Rapid) Do I get a girly draped over it? 
anything else I should know?

thanks

[heatherp]

Grab a copy of the mag you want the article in. Within the first few pages there should be a listing of contact names, phone numbers and/or emails of the editorial staff.  Send them an email and pics to see if their interested.  You may be able to do this through a web site also.

[monstermick58]

We could start our own magazine

MONSTERS UNLIMITED[/size]

Of course what heather said makes sense




                                          Mmick

[J5]

rapid would be my choice

an email to them , i think they have their own forum ?

[techno]

Regardless of what you do, I agree with getting a girlie draped over it.... if only for yourself.  

But what Heather said makes sense too. You should mention any awards. They probably get quite a few emails asking to feature readers bikes. The fact you have awards means someone else thinks its special other than you. You need to tell them why yours deserves coverage.

[mattyvas]

Heathers advice is a great place to get the necessary info to contact the magazines
The editor of Rapid Bike is Jeff Ware, they do work on very long lead times so you might not get a feature until the middle of the year.

Your best bet is to give them a good write up on what you've done, how and why if you need to say why like i washed it and found dirt in places i couldn't clean so i took it apart.

Give them some decent images so they get a real good idea of the bike, not just things taken on your phone.
Give them every reason to do a feature on your bike, hours to rebuild, custom work, who's helped out etc.

As to getting Hi Res copies of images that's something you'd have to negotiate with the mag, along with copies of it in print. But remember they are a business and giving stuff away might not make them happy. Just saying cause i know how I'd react to the request.

Good luck and be persistent. Asking once might not be enough.

[monsta]

yeah, pretty much what I was thinking...  thanks everyone   
I thought Rapid would be the go, they have more modified bikes than twowheels, (tho, twowheels did more years ago)
and AMCN mostly do the racing and production bikes.

[brad black]

i've seen bikes in rapid a week after they were finished the build.  generally these mags are keen for good stuff.  don't give jeff an essay, just the brief facts on what's been done, prizes and a few photos.  he'll know if it's worth a story.  the big bore kit will help seperate it because it adds a little ducati mystique bullshit padding to the story, and that's what it's all about.  plus the fact you work for vee two (sorry, atg).

try two wheels also, remember they're trying to sell magazines, so if it'll help pick up interest on the cover they'll run with it.  possibly not old enough or wacky enough for them - think tony hanagan's modified bevel 900 - but worth a try.

[mattyvas]

Don't discount AMCN though, recently they had a story (from the US i think) of an R1 that was modified into a flat tracker. It looked the business and went like the business too.

[monsta]

  plus the fact you work for vee two (sorry, atg).

yeah, I'm sorry too! veetwo are no more...   you may be interested to know Brad, that Brook Henry bought all the veetwo stuff back. We loaded it all up just before crissy.



I reckon a cover screaming 'ROSSI's MODIFIED MONSTER' would sell!   
which mag is the tabloid?