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Write for American Bonanza Society Magazine

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Your ABS Magazine is a member-written publication that tells your stories and what you’ve learned to benefit other Bonanza/Debonair/Baron/Travel Air owners and enthusiasts. ABS Magazine and ABS website are the best ways to regularly give and get information that benefits you and your fellow members – and that’s why ABS was founded.

We need you to make the system work, since the monthly magazine primarily relies on member written articles. Write about technical experiences, piloting, letters to the editor, travelogues or articles about your personal experience buying and owning your Beechcraft. You also can submit your aircraft for Beechcraft of the Month—the cover airplane!

This Is Your Magazine – It cannot exist without a steady stream of information flowing to and from the Society’s nearly 10,000 members. ABS members represent the greatest source of information, ideas and insights into safe and efficient use of Bonanzas, Debonairs, Barons and Travel Airs. All told, this amounts to millions of hours of flight experience, hundreds of thousands of years of airplane ownership and countless maintenance episodes. It’s clearly the best and most complete member-service coverage in the industry. Your support and participation make it all possible.

THE COVER
Let’s start with the cover with its signature Beechcraft of the Month, affectionately called the BOM. The opportunity to display your airplane is open to every member and features Bonanzas, Debonairs, Barons and Travel Airs.

Here’s how to submit your article and photos to be a Beechcraft of the Month:

There are three components to a submittal: (1) a cover photo; (2) an article – first-person experience (including an equipment list); (3) photos of exterior and panel. A professional-quality color photograph for the cover must be of portrait orientation (long edge up) in high resolution to retain its clarity when it is enlarged to fit our 8 1/2 by 11-inch format. The preferred format is with the airplane in the bottom two-thirds of the image area, which allows for the masthead at the top of the magazine cover. See past covers for ideas.

Although airplanes usually look best when they are flying, we understand that getting good air-to-air photographs can be both time-consuming and expensive. So shots on the ground are also accepted. If on the ground please position the aircraft where the background is also suitable for publication. Make the airplane appear ready for flight, that is, tiedowns, chocks, gust locks and pitot covers removed, wind shades removed, doors and cowlings closed, etc.

An equipment list is preferred, as well as some background information about yourself and your airplane. For instance, tell the readers about when you learned to fly, how you became an owner, flying experience, how the airplane is used and any other information you care to share.

The members especially enjoy variety in their BOMs, so personal experiences in your Beechcraft are appreciated.

Make your submission in WORD in normal formatting. Do NOT embed photographs or otherwise format the article—we cannot pull photos from a WORD file with enough resolution to print, and we’d have to undo any nonstandard formatting before we can begin the production process. So use the usual letter format for your article and send your photos as separate image files (jpg, etc.) at the highest resolution you can. Typically an image file must be at least about 600 kb to print well, an 1 MB or greater per image is best. Send them in multiple emails if you need to, or use Dropbox or a similar photo sharing system.

You need not be concerned about your writing skills, since we employ professional editors and proofreaders. Just give us the facts and your best effort at putting your thoughts on paper, and we’ll take it from there! You do, of course, review the article as it is being laid out to make sure you’re pleased with the final result.

Other than the cover shot and an equally sharp photo of the panel, we encourage you to provide a variety of pictures that the magazine designer can choose from. For instance, include a horizontal shot of the airplane on the ground with you or you and your family or friends posed

with it. If you want photos captioned then include the caption for each after then end of your article in the WORD file, clearing indicating what caption goes to which photo (by photo file name is best). Be sure all people shown in photos are identified with full names, left to right. If a photographer wants credit for an image include that with the captions as well. You are responsible for obtaining permission for ABS to reprint any photograph you yourself did not take.

The cover subjects are selected on a first-come/first used basis and we retain the right to decline articles or photos. It may be several months from the time you submit your article until it makes its way into the magazine. Your article will be sent back to you by e-mail for your approval shortly before publication. This will give you an opportunity to update it or make corrections before it goes to the printer.

When the magazine ships we will send you six additional copies free, in addtion to your usual membership copy. We’ll let you know how to arrange to purchase additional copies if you want more than the seven we’ll send you.

Send your Beechcraft of the Month articles and photos to tom@bonanza.org.

TECH TIPS
The questions that appear in Tech Tips are gleaned from member communications with the ABS technical advisors. The member receives a response when the question is asked, then selected questions and answers will appear in this column. Most Tech Tips items come from the questions and answers that appear in the Members' Forum on the ABS website.

ABS MAGAZINE MEMBERS' FORUM
This is the letters-to-the-editor column and you are encouraged to submit reactions to articles or just about any other issue or point you wish to present to your fellow members. We also encourage you to provide input about aircraft service providers, products you have experienced or sources you have found and other helpful information.

REGULAR COLUMNS
The magazine has several regular columns. We encourage you to submit questions or suggestions for topics by these columnists – sent to the ABS office to the attention of the columnist.

FEATURE ARTICLES
We invite you to submit your own feature length articles of 500 to 1,000 words on a subject of your choice about your airplane, problem identification and resolution, restoration projects or interesting flights or destinations. If you submit a story concerning an especially challenging flight experience, be sure to pass along useful tips and information for others to use for the same type of flight. Send along any photographs, diagrams and charts.

Although what you send to ABS headquarters may need to be edited for clarity or for length, we will try to preserve the individual flair and flavor of your contribution. We will be in touch as the editing, design and layout progress to completion.

Though we carefully proofread your copy, it is YOUR responsibility to ensure people and vendor names are correctly spelled and their contact information, if included in the article, are correct.

Another writing opportunity is to submit articles on subjects listed on the Editorial Calendar, which is posted on the ABS website through a link on the Members Only page.

THE REVIEW PROCESS
All material for an upcoming issue must be received at least a full month ahead (example, January1 for the February issue). Although we frequently use articles in the next available issue, it depends on what is already slated for that issue. When your submittal is received at ABS headquarters, it is reviewed by editorial staff, then moves to our magazine consultants for further editing plus design and layout before going to reviewers from the ABS Board of Directors. This extensive process may mean your article will not appear in the ABS Magazine for two to three months. We may also hold the article if it fits a theme planned for a particular future issue of the magazine.

SENDING YOUR MATERIALS
Send all articles and photos electronically. Write your article in WORD using standard page format, single spaced in Arial 10 point. Do not embed photographs in your article file--embedded photos are not in high enough resolution to reproduce in print. See below for more about sending photographs.

Photos:

  • Send photos and other illustrations in a standard image format (jpg, png, etc.) at the highest possible resolution so they will reproduce sharply in print. In general an individual image file will be 500 KB in size minimum; to appear sharp in a print magazine the file size should be 1 MB or greater.
  • We no longer accept hard copy or original (film) photogrpahs for publication--digital only.
  • Ensure your camera or mobile phone is set up for high resolution photography before you take pictures--photos usually can't be "upgraded" to high resolution if taken in lower resolution. Procedures vary by device so see the manual for the camera you use.
  • Do not screen shot photographs online or download photographs from the internet. They will not be high resolution enough to reproduce in print, and those photos will probably be protected by copyright. 
  • When sending photos, if prompted select "Actual Size" (Apple products) or your system's equivalent.
  • Because of file size you may have to send photos in multiple emails or use a file sharing system. If you use file sharing be sure to set permission to info@bonanza.org to access your shared folder.
  • If you have photo captions then include the caption for each after then end of your article in the WORD file, clearly indicating what caption goes to which photo (by photo file name is best). Be sure all people shown in photos are identified with full names, left to right as they appear in the photograph.
  • If children appear in your photographs that are not your children or grandchildren you are required to obtain the parents' or guardian's written permission for ABS Magazine to print a photograph containing minors prior to sending it to ABS.
  • If a photographer wants credit for an image include that with the captions as well. You are responsible for obtaining permission for ABS to reprint any photograph you yourself did not take.

E-mail: info@bonanza.org 

CHECK OUT THE ABS WEBSITE
The ABS website offers opportunities to submit letters, ask questions and make comments online. Selected questions and responses may appear in the Forum or Tech Tips, while general comments and/or questions may be referred to the various columnists for use in their articles.

YOUR PARTICIPATION IS WELCOME!
The purpose of the magazine and its staff and contributors is to serve your aviation interests as an ABS member. If you have questions or requests, please let us know. We’ll do our best to ensure your ABS Magazine provides information you need and want.