Magazines...Have you ever wondered?
 

I have spent years in the hobby and more time than I want to remember on my 'Stang. The end goal was a spread in a print magazine...The same as many modifiers dream.

I've also always wanted to know how true to life a feature was...and how well we really know the cars we see splashed upon our favorite pages...Well, here's an inside as to how close mine was.

Example of the little things we miss when we don't know someone personally displayed in a feature....

I spent a lot of time writing MM&FF 5 typed pages of well written info - yet I was misquoted many times (I don't even know where the first quote came from! I must've read it three times like, "What?!!"). They quoted "Me" somewhere about my Welds...I didn't say that...Nor do I EVER talk like that! They said my 12.5 was run with this combo...NO! The old motor! They make it sound like I've never raced in my life. That really bugs me since I have been since I was 14.

They said I have headlight covers (even gave a brand name) and quoted my mileage wrong (it's far more). They said it was shot in Ennis, yet it was done in Houston. There were many things that were so mixed and matched, you'd think I never sent them a word. Oh and the funniest part of it all....They call poor "Bob" (as I always refer to "him") as a "her"...in what are stated as MY WORDS! :p

The worst...

My car and the web site ventures I have taken do NOT go hand in hand. My efforts on my car have been going on far longer than I've owned a keyboard. However, if it IS going to be mentioned then it should be mentioned correctly. This is my second feature which has blatently directed visitors to my personal site...NOT to MW. It's almost a conspiracy. :confused: WTH?

I guess I assumed that if they did mention our section and the goals of bringing more ladies to the hobby...They'd be directing them to the right place? :confused: I am adding yet another easy access button on my home page to make sure they get here! Because I moved here for a reason...I want others to call it their home too!

**Dan, I send my deepest apologies to you. I am in awe. I thank you personally for the chance you gave me and the offer of a lifetime. I'm sorry that my efforts to show you my appreciation publicly has failed again. I now know why we are on the net and not in a print shop!!

In such a small write up...I can't believe how many mistakes there were. I hope that I never do that to ANY of my Mares or Studs!

Believe me, I tell you these things because I too was interested to see how many features I've read and been duped with. I pay $5 an issue and hope to be reading factual information...Or as close to it as possible. I now wonder about the people who have to fill out that paper work at the track or show. How close is THEIR feature to true life?

But in the end....IT MADE IT! Call me selfish, but they could've put a picture of the wrong chick in there and I'd still be like, "Look! It's Bob behind her big boobs!" haha! ;) This feature wasn't for me anyways, it was for the car and what it stands for...Endurance. Time always pays off! The pics and the commentary are awesome and I am extremely overjoyed (to say the least) to see his smiling face in the middle of a print mag. I can sleep now.

Thanks to you all for your support and to friends for being there to share this with me!

nic, journalist's are like lawyer's they twist thing's the way they want them, you still have a great car & do a great job here,as long as we know it ,that's all that count's, good luck,see ya.:D

Re: Magazines...Have you ever wondered?
 

Nic, im confused. the feature wasn't for you? why? you worked hard for it, so why not? Endurance? their is no doubt in my mind it stands for endurance, but doesnt it stand more for you and female automotive enthusiests? hence the name "GIRLS CAN TOO "!

your welcome for your support. we have your back! we all know about you and what you have done. all 17,945 of us! we all know the truth and what the car is made of! well they made mistakes, but at least you made it! again:rolleyes: congrats on your hard work and determination. maybe i was wrong....where is that red carpet after all.....:p j/k

hahaha! :p Thanks too, I appreciate that!

I don't want ANYONE to get the wrong idea. I am overjoyed at the feature...Words can't EVEN describe how I'm feeling! :)

I've been waiting to see it because I thought it would be a cool study case to find out just how much we read in a feature is "hype" or "twisted" to make it sound better or fill a page. When I do a write up for MW I always pray that it's as close to home as I can get it...Hopefully he too hoped for the same. Mistakes happen, I just hope the MW part wasn't deliberate. :(

As for the rest, who cares. It's why I built an informative home page. Ya know? :)

Re: Re: Magazines...Have you ever wondered?
 

...wow. :( Words definitely can't describe how I feel after reading that. All I can say is THANKS...You just made my...YEAR!! ;)

well like i said we all know you do one hel-uva job here so ,hey take the glory ,you deserve it;)

Congrats!!
 

Congrats again Nic...:)
I got my mag and havent got to read it yet. Actually, I think its still packed somewhere! Hopefully one day soon I will be able to catch up on my mags, and stuff like that. I will look for it.
I"m sure it was still a good article, and any article even if it is not 'correct' is still something to be proud of!!!!!
You deserve it...You've done alot for the women of the sport and i"m glad and honored to have you as a personal friend of mine!!! (although we only see each other once or twice a year!) I respect you and your car. And it will only get better!!!!
Cant wait to see ya'll in Baytown....I should be ready for that party in my new 'crib'!!!! Hope to spend some time w/ you...If you need a place to crash, lemme know, your welcome to stay here w/ me!!!
Congradulations and keep up the good work!!!!!!
Christine;)

/btw: I never did recieve that Mare thing...I'm not sure what happened to it...do you think you could send me one to my new address?????/ Thanks so much!!!!!!!:D

Hmm I wonder if you should send a letter to the editor and complain. Or at least ***** someone out. I know it might sound ungratefull, but it is a HUGE missprint and they OWE it to you to correct the information. I'd even send an e-mail to the publisher. Nicolle, if that happened to me, I seriously would be furious and would do more than just post about it. Cause an uproar and hopefully this will not happen again. (hopefully it has not really happened to every other feature)

Oh yeah congrats on the feature, its well deserved. ;)

Thanks again!
 

Christine, I do have this thing for you, send me your mailing addy and I'll get it out to you quick like. I was going to send them all out at once, but I know you have some shows to win! ;) Thanks for the offer, I may just take you up on that. I don't want to bring my car this year due to the pita it was last May. :rolleyes: I think instead I will spend my time there (while Duff cleans house in the show with his truck) talking to more ladies and getting some awesome coverage. Karen (Frogger) will also be in tow! See you soon my friend! :)

Thanks Rebel. I know, it shouldn't happen. Maybe if I'd filled in a couple lines and they did the rest, but man...That was some detailed info. Just a shame for MW! And my pride. ;) haha! What they misquoted makes me sound a bit like a cheerleader whenever they talk about anything remotely racing. Duff was making so much fun of me and I was like, "I DIDN'T SAY THAT DANGIT!" haha! :p

nic if i ever get my car back, & clean it up really good can i send in odie for mare of the month,i really would like to do that for her, i have to find someone with a digital camara,if they ever give us our car back, thank's,marty.

I've thought of this already. Do drop me a PM as soon as you can take some pics. They don't have to be digital. Buy a throw away one and mail it to me. I'll develop them, scan them and we'll get one done! :)

congrats on the article .......even if they didn't get the specifics right and misquoted you.......

i havn't read the article yet but i'm sure it hasn't comprmised the opinions of those who know your car and how hard you've worked on it......(and that includes alot of peaple)...........

a cheerleader ,huh...........no way

you'll still have my vote for a cool mustang chic.......:D

Girlscan2

First, and most importantly, congratulations on the magazine spread. We are all proud of you and your efforts. A very sharp 'Stang with gobs of power to boot! Awesome. ;)

As for the misquotes, well, it seems to happen alot more than I thought (your experience confirms this). For example, about 6-9 months ago, a very sharp 8 second TRUE STREET LX coupe was featured in MM&FF. Having spoke to the owner of this 'Stang on several occasions, it was unreal how many "typos" were made. The owner said that he provided a complete spec sheet on the car with brand names - giving proper credit where credit is due. To his surprise, MANY of the key components in the engine were not the manufactures that were actually in the car.

He seemed to think that MM&FF is catering to their major advertisers.

Just thought I'd share what I've heard first hand.

Regardless, you got to grace the pages of MM&FF for thousands to see! Again, congrats.

E

That would drive me nuts. I hate people who twist things around, especially to tons of readers!

Thanks...and DEFINITELY! I am so honored!! :)

You're right! :o I didn't say this earlier, but where they mentioned Keith Craft, they "added" the company's location, etc. and also mentioned the main products who advertise with them. :confused: The info on Keith Craft made me back track. I'm kinda glad that my upcoming suspension, times, etc. weren't available in December...Less for them to mess up. :p

But at least with people filtering through my personal site, maybe they'll catch the true stuff before heading over here. :)

Congratulations Nicole!!!! It is a great spread even with the typos that were made...you and your car look great and you should be so proud of how far you have come and what you have accomplished!!! And you are in a huge magazine getting major exposure...whooohooo. Keep up all your good work and no matter what, just know that the girls and guys here really apprieciate everything you have done for women in the hobby.:D

Donna.

Hey, yesterday I heard about you being in MM&FF mag, but hadn't received it yet, so I knew my mag had to me coming in today. As soon as I got it from the mail box, I flipped right to your feature. GREAT article. So happy for you that you got your car in there! Sorry though that they screwed/misquoted up some info (morons :rolleyes: ).

When my car gets in that mag, Mustang Works will be THOROUGHLY mentioned. They better mention MW in there or I might have to reconsider putting my car in their mag. :p

Not surprised!
 

Well, I have to say that nothing Nicolle said regarding her feature surprises me at all. Unfortunately, I'd even have to say that I expected it. Especially regarding the mysterious absence of the URL for Girl Can Too on MW. Nor, what should have been a direct reference between MW and GC2 (what what I'm gathering). Furthermore, the glaring errors in the cars configuration, even though she provided detailed written info, is just horrible. But, again, not that surprising.

Sadly, it has been known for some time that many publications blur their writing to those paying them advertising dollars. MW may write information on a company's products, or an article on the company itself, but we have never changed people's information around to suit our own agenda. Nor have we said products are great when they suck. And, if we tell someone we'll put in certain information, as I believe Nicolle was told regarding MW/GC2, then we do it.

Furthermore, if we do make honest mistakes or typos then we correct them as soon as they are pointed out. Fortunately, we have the advantage of being a live Internet magazine and we can update information, at will, and have those changes instantly reflected.

Mustang Works has always told it like it is, both in the news and in any original features we write. Thus is why you see information regarding the Steve Grebeck tragedy here you don't anywhere else. And, as long as I own this site (can't see that changing really) than that is something that will not change.

Regardless, even if MM&FF purposely screwed MW on the plug, congratulations Nicolle and thanks to them for publishing it. Honestly, I can't think of anyone I personally know that deserves this coverage more than you. I know how hard you've worked on your car, doing shows, and also working with us to create a home for female enthusiasts on the Web. So, this feature is just a small amount of justified pay back. Frankly, I think you still deserve more.

Nicolle truly is one in a million... (Hey, and Duff ain't so bad either!) hahahahhahaha :p

Congrats!
 

Now see... that is EXACTLY the reason I keep my car dirty! If I kept it clean and got pics in a mag, and they screwed up on the write up... I'd start throwing squirrels, organizing protests, sending nasty-grams, etc. It's a lot safer for everyone if I keep my car unbuffed on the outside, with an overflowing ashtray on the inside.

Cereally though, congratulations Nic! I got my mag a few days ago and seeing you make it (again) really put a smile on my face! You deserve it. Now if they could only hire some good journalists for that mag... grrr.... here squirrely squirrely...

http://www.squirrels.org/

Wowza!
 

Thank you so much Dan (you are the shiznit!) ;)...and everyone else here! I'm beaming more from this thread than the spread! :p

I am not one to worry too much when others think poorly of me but I do care if the members of this site do. I am so proud to be a part of Mustang Works and I'm glad I've been given a great opportunity to work FOR you ALL.

It's simply an honor to have the support of so many here. I will continue to strive to make what started out as a little paint on the hatch of my car grow into something far beyond any of our expectations. And to give back a bit of the joy I've received throughout the years being a Mustang owner and enthusiast.

I feel like I'm giving a damn acceptance speech here, but I can't help it! ;) I am very sincere when I say thank you all for everything, it sure makes these accomplishments seem so much larger than they are! And to find that you know in your hearts how hard I've worked and given up to keep this Mustang...Well, that just makes my day! ;-)

And, although I'm proud my car is show worthy, he's not a show car at all. Instead I've simply spent the years building a car that can do it all and who reflects the "class" that I've always found in a Mustang, in the hobby and in the people who participate beside me! :) I'm so proud he's being taken seriously!

Now, if we can keep Duff from burning him to the ground...all will be good! :p haha! Thanks again you all!