Sport Diver (UK) assignment update

I had a quick chat yesterday with Mark Evans, the editor of Sport Diver magazine (UK).

For those of you who have been following the progress of the attendees on the last "From Photograph to Byline" workshop in the Philippines, they have all been working on an article for Sport Diver magazine as part of an assignment

Download Brendan_Letter.pdf

they received from Mark at the beginning of the workshop.

However, only one of the articles will be selected for publication. Mark told me he hasn't had time to look through each submission in detail, however, he did tell me how, "from what I've seen of the opening paragraphs it's going to be a tough decision."

It'll be a week or so before Mark makes his final decision and the result will be announced on this blog.

What Mark said reinforced my belief that you have to have a strong lead paragraph to catch the attention of the editor. Mark also told me how he reads far too many unsolicited submissions which start off with, "we were in XXX to..." followed by a chronological account / diary entry of what they did. I won't say what happens to these submissions, it would be unfair on those who hope they will be published.

What I will say is, how many articles do you get to read that start like this?

A strong catchy lead, essential if you want to succeed.

Keep writing...

Brendan