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Re: latest NSS News

Postby Squirrel Girl » Jan 20, 2009 8:07 pm

Hey, I just got my January 2009 News today. I was surprised to see that the ad that's created such a stir is less than a 1/4 page. No big deal to me.

Dave had a 3-1/2 page article on sea caves in CA and the pics on the inside front cover. But it didn't seem too Dave heavy to me. There were more Gulley et al pix from glacier caves. There's a big article on an AZ cave (even if there is none to speak of). Plus a review on a weird-sounding book Rabies Mom that I can't decide if I want to read. And I found out Hazel didn't get a giant bat tattooed on her back--it's someone else's back.

Coolest of all is the cover photo. That shot won the print salon. I liked it so much I bought the original and had it framed!
:woohoo:
Barbara Anne am Ende

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Re: latest NSS News

Postby mgmills » Jan 20, 2009 9:23 pm

Squirrel Girl wrote: Plus a review on a weird-sounding book Rabies Mom that I can't decide if I want to read.


I've already decided I don't want to read it. . .the review was more than enough for me.
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Re: latest NSS News

Postby Anonymous_Coward » Jan 22, 2009 5:00 pm

Dave Bunnell wrote:Very little is ever rejected that I receive, I don't often have the luxury to be too picky. I do like to keep the features related to exploration, and occasionally reject something that is clearly just a trip report.


Hey Dave,

I was wondering if you could clarify this point. You want exploration features, but don't want to publish just trip reports. Could you give us some guidelines as to what separates the two? I usually don't read trip reports about caves I have not been in. What makes a good exploration article more than a trip report?

When I wrote a large article two years ago, I was afraid it was going to be seen as just a giant trip report. I am about to start writing another one for this summer, and would appreciate any direction you could give. I don't want it to be a big boring trip report that no one reads.

Thanks.

P.S. I appreciate you being an "editor" that actually edits. You wouldn't be doing your job if you published every half-baked attempt at photography or writing that you receive. Thanks for making the NSS News more prestigious than a grotto newsletter.
Andy Armstrong
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Re: latest NSS News

Postby Mudduck » Jan 22, 2009 8:09 pm

I like trip reports. :grin:
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Re: latest NSS News

Postby Dave Bunnell » Jan 23, 2009 12:40 pm

Andy Armstrong wrote:
I was wondering if you could clarify this point. You want exploration features, but don't want to publish just trip reports. Could you give us some guidelines as to what separates the two? I usually don't read trip reports about caves I have not been in. What makes a good exploration article more than a trip report?



Andy,

Well when I said "trip reports" I really meant the content and not the style of writing involved. I do try to focus on the idea that it is the NSS "News," so one standard is that something is newsworthy (no double entendre meant). An article about exploration would almost always meet that criterion because readers may learn something about a cave or caving area they didn't know before. By the same standard, trips that involve science activities and conservation also fall into the same category and are newsworthy. So did the article by Nathan Williams on trying out a new type of photography in a cave. Trip reports, as Mudduck point out, can make great reading, and a good exploration piece will probably read very much like a trip report but with a purpose other than simply touring a cave. Such reports are popular in grotto newsletters largely because readers know the caves and people involved. Although in our grotto newsletter, which has tons of trip reports, I'm probably most likely to read a report about a cave I haven't been to in order to assess whether it's some place I want to go. I'm hoping other people share that desire to read about caves they haven't been to.

In that regard. I have sometimes run articles about caving in other countries that are in fact largely trip reports but in this case I think it informative because readers can learn something about caves and cavers in a different part of the world than their own, and may stimulate them to travel to those regions.
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