SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
Wednesday, September 14th, 2005 at 9:08 pm by angrybob
I want to take a few paragraphs of your time and explain a few things regarding this site’s purpose and/or potential opportunity. I also hope that this does not come off as a cheesy solicitation, but more defining the idea.
It is obvious that none of us are professional writers, but choose to do this voluntarily at our own pace and available time. I consider it, much like washing my bike(s), the labor of love. For me, it has served as a reasonable substitute for my lost saddle time over the next period of time while my wife and I raise our two daughters (almost 1 & almost 3).
Some of the contributors asked to come on board, others I bugged (you know who you are). Regardless, there is no commitment to write “X” articles per “Y” period of time. Again, its all voluntary. Second, the rules are simple: Keep the topics on bikes, the pics under 100kb, and the language PG-13. That’s it. And with today’s movies, PG-13 give a lot of freedom. 
I have had moderate interest over these past months about people wanting to become a contributor. The problem I am guessing is in the word “Contributor”. That screams commitment and thats not the case. So, I want to clarify the idea behind contributing and also its ‘commitment’…or in this case lack of commitment.
Now that the background is over, let’s get back to the subject matter - “Submit an Article”.
I am absolute that many riders want a means to share their stories, opinions, lessons learned, wisdom, etc. to fellow riders with mutual interests. Simply by being a blog reader, you are likely on the leading edge of current events and information regarding today’s motorcycle topics. Therefore it is likely that there is a greater chance that you want to share your thoughts with others. Enter this place.
While starting a blog is easy and can be free these days, it is likely either intimidating or too much of a time commitment for one person with a real job that doesn’t have anything to do with motorcycle musings. That, and the stats suggest that while all blogs get a running start, most fizzle out within two months. This is the place for those who want to blog, but don’t want a blog.
The offer - if you ever want to knock out an article about ant motorcycle topic, you have a place to do so.
What’s in it for you? I have found that blog readers are a few steps more serious and (gulp) seasoned than the average bulletin board member. This site provides the means for the enthusiast in us to author up articles of anything motorcycle in nature in an almost professional format (pictures, quotes, links, etc.), with no other commitment time beyond the writing. I will format, edit, and post the article(s) shortly after submittal.
The other thing that I think is worthwhile is that it will be a permanent place to direct people to your article. You will own it. I will simply host it. Should I ever decide to pack it up (highly unlikely), each author will get their article(s) sent back to them for their records. This I promise.
What’s in it for me? Truth…possibly a little more traffic, but more important a bigger knowledge-base of riders to spread their collective wisdom. Admittedly, there is a little self-stroking that “I started this thing”, but that’s limited. There is still a goal of having enough people on board to have more than one article per day by unique authors. I would also like to build an extensive technical section that is generic enough to cover all the routine maintenance that motorcycles require, yet can be focused enough to be on specific makes and models. Technical articles are perfect examples for ‘one-time authors’.
I think another excellent opportunity where individuals are limited, is the topic of favorite roads. All of us are likely to leave on multi-day rides. It would be nice to have a database of favorite routes to choose from in your neighboring states.
Of course the above will take time to build, but after a while it could serve as an excellent resource for rider information.
The process is simple:
- Write an article…don’t bother asking me about the topic (if its about motorcycles, its good)
- Do not worry about perfection. If necessary (unlikely), I’ll make suggestions to help things along but in the end its yours
- Email it (along with pics and their explanations…where to place them, etc.) to me to: angrybob”at”motorcyclebloggers.com
- I will do the rest…including allowing you to view the article before its published
Each article will be under the name “guest” if you wish not to register a ‘nickname’. Full credit will be given at your choice and discretion. Allowing comments will be your choice, but comments are encouraged. You can submit one article or one hundred of them, that’s up to you.
That’s it. If you ever wanted to share your experience regarding your world of motorcycling, but never had the means you now have a home. Give it a shot.
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Hi, I’m obviously in the wrong section but culdn’t fond the email contact. I have been following your blog for some time now, it’s great.
I publish a motorbike blog in France (I suppose someone has to…). I’d love to swap link with you if you’re interested. we are on www.leblogmoto.com
Regards
Christophe