Anyone interested in having photos of their fish published?

[Anonymous]

You ask a simple question and all you got was some crap from people.I will send some pics.If you make money all the power to you.I am new to this web site and all I have seen is alot of teary eyed,runny nose punks posting there opinions.See I make alot of money and I like to share things with people so they can make some.I learned this from my wife.So if you make millions enjoy but remember the movie Pass It On.Try it .it Feeeeeeels Goooood.

What? Somebody say something about childish retorts? :roll:

If you would have read the entire thread, you would have seen that no one here was trying to flame, just give advice. I'd be happy to supply Terry with pictures free of charge, but I'd have a contract go along with them guaranteeing copyright control. Oh I so desperately want to flame the crap out of this post, but I'll hold my tongue. :?

 

[Anonymous]

I wasn't going to respond, but clearly TerryB has taken offense to my statements.

So, Terry, please accept my apology if I offended you. I'd like to offer a brief history of my own experiences. I was a Graphics major in college, and had some of my own work stolen out from under me. Because I hadn't taken care to get paid or copyright my material, there was nothing I could do. It happened one other time after that.

It has also been my experience that other magazines that cater to specific interests both pay for photos, and address copyrighting issues. If fish/aquatic magazines do otherwise, then it's completely different from my own experience.

All that being said, I wouldn't have said anything beyond my first post (which I don't think was out of line. I'm sorry, but you certainly never mentioned anything beyond photo credits here), except the man asked. I'm not the only one who noticed this, either. You may be perfectly honorable in your intentions, but I also know for a fact that these laws were created to prevent the possible abuses mentioned. I also don't know you from Adam. You will be hard pressed to convince me that you won't benefit from having pictures (nor will the publication, which, I'm sure, does copyright its material, yes?) included with your article.

However, again, I apologize if I offended you, that was not my intention.

I don't think I flamed, I simply put my point across as well as I could. I see no reason for the thread to be closed, either.

 

[GSchiemer]

They probably make an exception here and there but generally the magazines that I talk to don't want to pay.

I've written for just about every aquarium periodical, both online and in print, and they generally do pay for photos. If FAMA has a new policy and doesn't pay for photo contributions, they should be ashamed of themselves and we shouldn't support them by giving them free use of our photos. They're not a non-profit organization. They charge for ads and subscriptions, so why shouldn't they pay for contributions? I haven't written for them in a few years, but at one time they paid for photos, if you waited long enough I guess now they're counting on contributors being happy just to see their words and photos published. That's why most of the content is pure trash.

Greg Schiemer

 

[Terry B]

I want to make it clear that I am not singling out FAMA or any particular magazine. I write for FAMA, TFH, AFM and others. My intention was to view some photos and then set people up DIRECTLY with a magazine. I did not expect anyone to sign any rights to me whatsoever. If any of the magazines are willing to pay for your photos that is fine with me. I don't even care if they use them with my articles. The magazines do not all have the same policies, but I believe that they all want permission and all pertinent information before they will use any photo. I rarely submit any of my own pics because photography isn't my thing and frankly I don't have the time to learn all about photography. If I just had another two hours in each day then maybe I would learn about it and spend the money for some nice equipment. I never asked anyone to give ME any rights to their photos. I simply offered to help people get photos that are publishing quality in print. I can do this because the editors will listen to me if I ask them to include a particular photo with one of my articles. Otherwise the mags add whatever pics that they want to my articles.
BTW, I have had discussions with editors that don't want to pay for pics. They are too cheap to pay as much as they should for a decent article. Why do you think they get so many articles that have little content? It is pretty easy to write another article on how to set up a tank without any technical knowledge. If you guys want good content and articles that you can actually learn something new from then you need to tell the mags yourself. They think that most of the readers are newbies so they don't want to read anything in depth. I think most of the readers are newbies because the mag doesn't have enough in depth articles. What comes first the chicken or the egg? When you see something that is informative let the mags know (as in write or call them) that you appreciate it and support them by buying an issue. Mags can be a source for cutting edge info that is more up to date than books and much more accurate that internet chatter. I just finished a three part series of articles detailing my hypothesis on what causes HLLE. I seriously doubt anyone has heard my theory before because it is original. I also talk about how to improve fish health through nutrition, stress management and something else most of you have never heard of. This is an agent that is actually scientifically proven to stimulate and enhance immune function against most any bacterial, fungal, viral, parasitic and even growths such as tumors. No, I am NOT talking about garlic. Now let me ask you, are you going to support info like that or would you rather read another article about thermometers?
Terry B

 

[GSchiemer]

I want to make it clear that I am not singling out FAMA or any particular magazine. I write for FAMA, TFH, AFM and others. My intention was to view some photos and then set people up DIRECTLY with a magazine. I did not expect anyone to sign any rights to me whatsoever. If any of the magazines are willing to pay for your photos that is fine with me....

I don't want to belabor the point, but this is not what you initially proposed. Your original post came across as "give me your photos to use with my articles; I'll get paid; it will be fun for you to see your name in print." I believe that was the cause of some of the contentiousness. I certainly don't have any problem with what you've said here.

As you know, remuneration is often received for photos used in publications, either directly or indirectly. I write for AFM, and there have been instances where I've needed to borrow a photo to accompany one of my articles. In all cases, the person was not only credited, but paid for the use of their photo.

BTW, I have had discussions with editors that don't want to pay for pics. They are too cheap to pay as much as they should for a decent article. Why do you think they get so many articles that have little content?

I agree with you here and that's why these publications are lacking. We shouldn't support them with free use of our photos or our subscription money until they offer quality content. They're counting on submissions from people who just think it's cool to see their names in print or their photos published, which is why the content is often trash. I sometimes think they'll publish anything, and there's obviously no editing. I cringe when I read some of the things published in FAMA. It's bad enough that many times the information is useless but's it's often dangerously wrong (Jack Fong are you listening?).

It's no coincidence that many of the quality writers that you see in Advanced Aquarist Online don't write for certain print publications. I'm not afraid to name names. I've written for FAMA in the past and I would never write for them again. I actually lost money on the last article I wrote for them. The pittance I received 15 MONTHS after my last article was published didn't even cover the cost of duplicating my photos for the article. It's not worth the time or effort to put together a quality article.

Is it too much to ask for decent photos and useful, edited content in our printed periodicals? We know it's possible because it's being done online in periodicals such as Advanced Aquarist Online. Those of you that have seen the German aquarium periodical, Koralle, know what a quality printed publication should look like. I hope an English version makes it here one day. The old Aquarium Frontiers magazine was also very good. Unfortunately Fancy Publications pulled the plug on it.

Enough of my ramblings

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

Actually, G, I'd really like to thank you for your ramblings. This has ended up being quite an educational thread. (For me, at least. And quite pertinent to something I'm currently involved in, too.)

 

[Terry B]

Greg,
I would like to know your thoughts as to why you believe that some online mags are superior in quality of content when compared to print mags? Do online mags pay better for articles? What makes them more appealing to some authors? I have written articles for five different print publications related to aquarium keeping, but I have not attempted to write anything for an online mag to date. What is the advantage?
Terry B

 

[GSchiemer]

I would like to know your thoughts as to why you believe that some online mags are superior in quality of content when compared to print mags? Do online mags pay better for articles? What makes them more appealing to some authors? I have written articles for five different print publications related to aquarium keeping, but I have not attempted to write anything for an online mag to date. What is the advantage?

Terry,

I can only comment on Advanced Aquarist Online e-zine, although I believe the same comments can be applied to Reef Central's periodical. The biggest difference is that the content is edited by professional aquarists and others with academic credentials. It's not peer-reviewed, but at least you can trust what you read! Compare that to FAMA, where the content is completely unedited. IOW, they'll print anything, and they do! Marine Fish Monthly, which I'm not sure is still in business, also prints anything that's submitted to them. AFM edits their content but it's newbie in nature, as is TFH.

For me, it's not a matter of payment, but association. Do I want to appear in a publication that has no regard for its content, as exampled by the Jack Fong column in FAMA? Sorry to pick on Jack. It's just that he appears every month and is a good example of the drivel and often dangerous information that goes out as fact each month. There are occasionally good articles in FAMA (Julian comes to mind) but how does a newbie weed out the good from the bad?

Lastly, it's a pleasure for me to work with people such as Terry Siegel and Craig Bingman at AAO. They push you with ideas and critiques that not only make you a better writer, but a better aquarist. I actually get to see my edited articles before they go to "print." You'll never get that kind of feedback with any of the printed publications. I recall submitting articles and pictures to FAMA and then keeping my fingers crossed that they didn't screw them up too much.

Greg

 

[jamesw]

Hi Guys,

The reason that Advanced Aquarist is well respected and deemed "high quality" is that the magazine PAYS good money for:

1) Writers to perform experiments
2) Take the time to do a quality writeup
3) Go through a process where the article is sent out for review (Greg, some of the articles ARE sent out for review by qualified aquarists and scientists)
4) The author and editors go through the article to improve it
5) Then it is published in draft form to be reviewed by the Author and corrected again
6) THEN and ONLY THEN is it published.

Is that something that you expect from the current crop of print magazines? (Rhetorical question of course).

The authors are paid $250 for a column, or $400 for a feature article. On top of the fees that are paid to the authors for their work, they also get a good chunk of our time (yes, time is valuable) working with them to improve their work. Ask any of our authors if their work has improved since working with Terry Siegel or Dr. Bingman.

TerryB, I hope that answers your question about the difference between AAOLM (online magazine) vs the current crop of print magazines.

FWIW, I own a professional quality digital SLR camera and a good "stable" of lenses - worth over $4,000. When I make images for reefs.org or Advanced Aquarist, I consider them to be of considerable value both to the site, and to the aquarists that view them.

Cheers
James Wiseman

 

[GSchiemer]

James,

Thanks for expanding on my comments related to AAO magazine.

After re-reading my comments, I think the word I was looking for was "respect." AAO treats its contributors with respect, and that's often lacking with some of the print publications. That's important for me and other serious writers.

Greg

 

[AF Founder]

Thanks Guys! It's nice to know our efforts are appreciated.

Terry Siegel

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW, I own a professional quality digital SLR camera and a good "stable" of lenses - worth over $4,000. When I make images for reefs.org or Advanced Aquarist, I consider them to be of considerable value both to the site, and to the aquarists that view them.

Cheers
James Wiseman

What're you shooting, James? I didn't have the cash to invest in a true D-SLR when I upgraded this past winter, so I went with a 'pro-sumer' model--Minolta Dimage 7i. Does everything I need it to...only drawback is that it doesn't have the versatility of interchangable lenses.

 

[Terry B]

For those of you that expressed an interest in having your photos published please send an email to me at [email protected]. I need to see the photos before I put you in direct contact with a publisher. They are going to want to know what particular photos that I would like used with each article and I can't tell them that without seeing them first. I don't care if you post the photo somewhere on the internet or this message board. You can even send it to me if you like. After I see them then I can suggest where (if I can use them) the publisher can use them. The next step is putting you in direct contact with the publisher so you can send them the photo along with my suggestion where to use it. They need the photos in a JPG file preferrably 300 resolution. I will provide a caption for each photo. They will need your name for each photo also.
Thanks,
Terry B

 

[Karm40]

I always find it interesting when people are looking for FREE material. Why don't you pay the photographer and write the article for free??? When you ask/use photographs for free, you demean the value of the photographers labor and expertise.
I'm sure that whatever your avocation is, you wouldn't like it if there were people taking your jobs away from you by doing it for free.
I don't happen to do aquarium photography, but I'm sure there are people trying to eek out a living and are appalled at this.
Well, that's enough bitching for me, I have flatworms to siphon.
Mark

 

[AF Founder]

You might be interested to know that to my knowledge we pay better for material than any other publication in the field.


Terry

 

[Will C1]

i tried to email you but it was returned???

 

[AF Founder]

Email me at [email protected]

Terry

 

[Lynn]

OMG! I can't believe some of these replies!! Unreal!

Anyways, I would love to send you pics and have them published!

I could probably PAY YOU! LOL

What exactly are the type of pictures that your looking for??

cheers

 

[Terry B]

Terry,
I will send you an email and tell you about some things that I am currently working on the first chance that I get.
Thanks,
Terry B

I can't say why the email address I listed wouldn't work. I have been getting email there.

 

[Anonymous]

OMG! I can't believe some of these replies!! Unreal!

Anyways, I would love to send you pics and have them published!

I could probably PAY YOU! LOL

What exactly are the type of pictures that your looking for??

cheers

What, pray tell, is so unreal about being realistic, Lynn?