Articles now being paid for?

[BSteinIPMS]

I always thought MC was a class magazine, especially after the grand treatment Harry Pristovnik gave my 1929 Duesenberg SJ article in MC Issue 192, January 2015. On the cover, too. Thus inspired, my next article was on the John Deere 1918 All-Wheel-Drive Tractor which appeared in the November 2014 issue. On the cover, again. However, I was never paid for that article, and upon several e-mail inquiries I was told by Mr. Hutchings that it was too late to pay me: MC was a small family business, money was tight, and he needed back surgery.

My response was that MC depended on good articles. Good articles come from good modelers. Good modelers continue to write articles based on trust that the publisher will remunerate them. Publishers who renege on payment lose their integrity. Loss of Integrity means good modelers will no longer write articles for MC and will send them elsewhere.

Me? My last two automobile articles went to Kalmbach’s Scale Auto, and they not only did a fine job, but paid for the articles as well. I guess I learned MY lesson.

Cheers!

--Bob Steinbrunn

[stitchdup]

How to not get a job, 101

[Danno]

What's the point?  Looks like that's 5 & 6 year old water under the bridge. 

Did you have a firm commitment for payment BEFORE you submitted the articles or were you just EXPECTING to receive compensation for unsolicited material?

Did MCM renege on an actual agreement/contract or were you just disappointed in your great expectations?

And again, even so, what's the point now?  If it was so important as to fester for 5-6 years, why didn't you sue for it long ago, before the statute of limitations ran out?

And speaking of Scale Auto / Scale Auto Enthusiast, why don't you just keep writing your articles for them?  Oh. Yeah.

Okay, why don't you post your venomous spiel on their forum/bulletin board. Oh. Yeah.

Just asking. With whatever all due respect. 

 

??

 

[Ron Warner]

Hmm.

I've been stiffed on jobs, and it's bothered me for more than a few years, so if this person was defrauded this seems like a pretty mild way to share it. Not sure why two out of two responses seem to attack the ripped-off person? Maybe there's more to the story with the people responding?

I'm new here, and getting up to speed on the story of MCM's (many?) troubles. Looks like there have been lots of problems with the magazine over the years. However, these seem like harsh responses for someone who didn't get paid for services rendered. Unless those covers are fake? Maybe that's what you two are suggesting and in that case, it's terrible someone is making up fake stories of the magazine not paying people. I mean, how would MCM still be around if it didn't pay people?

It would seem to be very easy to prove one way or the other. Does anyone who works at MCM have prof the writer was paid? If so, this is without back-up. If not, maybe think about paying him now that the magazine is being published again.  

You seeem very angry Danno. Sounds like you may know the writer personally. Maybe take your personal problem with the writer to him directly? With all the due respect.

[peteski]

Interesting thread.  Let's see - Model Cars Magazine, after several years of being under water and "drowning" has just barely put their proverbial head above the water, and suddenly grievances show up?  For goodness sake, give them some time to recover financially - they might still be in the red for all we know.

Edited December 29, 2020 by peteski
Fixed the magazine's name

[mikemodeler]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

Interesting thread.  Let's see - Scale Auto Magazine, after several years of being under water and "drowning" has just barely put their proverbial head above the water, and suddenly grievances show up?  For goodness sake, give them some time to recover financially - they might still be in the red for all we know.

I think you mean Model Cars Magazine Pete? 

Maybe the non-payment is true, maybe not. Wouldn't be the first time something went wrong, things happen, maybe someone from the magazine can explain and as Paul Harvey would say...here's the rest of the story.

[Danno]

2 hours ago, Ron Warner said:

Hmm.

I've been stiffed on jobs, and it's bothered me for more than a few years, so if this person was defrauded this seems like a pretty mild way to share it. Not sure why two out of two responses seem to attack the ripped-off person? Maybe there's more to the story with the people responding?

I'm new here, and getting up to speed on the story of MCM's (many?) troubles. Looks like there have been lots of problems with the magazine over the years. However, these seem like harsh responses for someone who didn't get paid for services rendered. Unless those covers are fake? Maybe that's what you two are suggesting and in that case, it's terrible someone is making up fake stories of the magazine not paying people. I mean, how would MCM still be around if it didn't pay people?

It would seem to be very easy to prove one way or the other. Does anyone who works at MCM have prof the writer was paid? If so, this is without back-up. If not, maybe think about paying him now that the magazine is being published again.  

You seeem very angry Danno. Sounds like you may know the writer personally. Maybe take your personal problem with the writer to him directly? With all the due respect.

No, I'm not angry,  let alone 'very angry,' Ron.  But I appreciate your amateur psycho-analysis after having read only one post on a social media forum. You must be very, very good in your practice. Twelve posts and you already have everything and everybody figured all out. 

I don't have 'a personal problem' with the writer, Ron. 

 

PS:  Does the writer have proof that an payment agreement was in place?  If not, his allegation is without back-up. 

 

Oh, BTW. Welcome to the forum.

??

Edited December 29, 2020 by Danno

[peteski]

41 minutes ago, mikemodeler said:

I think you mean Model Cars Magazine Pete?

I sure did - fixed it.

[Ron Warner]

12 minutes ago, Danno said:

No, I'm not angry,  let alone 'very angry,' Ron.  But I appreciate your amateur psycho-analysis after having read only one post on a social media forum. You must be very, very good in your practice. Twelve posts and you already have everything and everybody figured all out. 

I don't have 'a personal problem' with the writer, Ron. 

 

PS:  Does the writer have proof that an payment agreement was in place?  If not, his allegation is without back-up. 

 

Oh, BTW. Welcome to the forum.

??

Edited 5 minutes ago by Danno

My mistake. You seem like a very reasonable and not at all angry person based on your response. I now appreciate your clarification that how many posts I have made here determines my ability to say things. Not at all angry Danno. I'll have to remember that. I'll leave your statements about me right where they are, because they're conclusive proof you're not emotionally reacting and getting angry. 

BTW, thank you for your heartfelt welcome to the forum. I truly appreciate it.

 

[Russell C]

8 hours ago, BSteinIPMS said:

....I was told by Mr. Hutchings ... he needed back surgery.......

Knowing Gregg as moderately well as I do from having met him in person several times, that's an understatement about his injuries that you can't begin to fathom.

[larrygre]

Friends of MCM,

When I accepted the position of Associate Editor, I knew that a lot of bad blood existed from the past few years, and that turning that bad blood around will take a bit of doing.  And if there's one thing that always burns my toast, so to speak, its festering negativity.

Many of you understand it wasn't easy to bring MCM back from the dead, so to speak.  Our new team is dedicated, VERY dedicated.  We love the hobby, we love the magazine., and we are fellow modelers.  Most important, we are dedicated not only to keeping the magazine coming on a regular bi-monthly basis, but to restore MCM to financial health so that we CAN keep the magazine coming on a regular basis with the kind of quality all of you have come to expect.

Several people have told me, publicly and privately, that they have not been compensated for editorial contributions made in the past few years.  Gregg and i have discussed this several times, and I can tell you that it is his intention to correct that situation once MCM has been restored to financial health.  And I know him well enough to know he intends to follow through with that commitment - and that would include Mr. Steinbrunn.

I know that for some individuals, the bad blood will continue for some time, and for other individuals, "kicking a man when he's down" will always be the sport du jour.  However, for the vast majority of you, you have my commitment that MCM will grow to be the best and most useful car and truck modeling publication in an age when just such a publication is needed.  And I count on your support as we overcome the remaining hurdles to profitability.

Thank you for being friends of MCM and for your continued support of our efforts.

Happy New Year to all, and best regards,

 

 

[RickyD]

I know of one MCM contributor who passed away whlle owed hundreds of dollars for his articles. How are you going to correct that?

Edited December 29, 2020 by RickyD

[larrygre]

2 minutes ago, RickyD said:

I know of one MCM contributor who passed away being owed hundreds of dollars for his articles. How are you going to correct that?

Hi Rick,

Send me the details of this in an email please.  I have no knowledge of many issues still outstanding.

Also please understand, my responsibilities for the magazine are EDITORIAL ONLY.  Financial control rests with Gregg.  I can only do what I can do.

 

[larrygre]

19 hours ago, peteski said:

Interesting thread.  Let's see - Model Cars Magazine, after several years of being under water and "drowning" has just barely put their proverbial head above the water, and suddenly grievances show up?  For goodness sake, give them some time to recover financially - they might still be in the red for all we know.

Hi Peter,

Heartfelt thanks for your continued support and understanding. 

Best regards,

 

 

[BSteinIPMS]

16 minutes ago, larrygre said:

Friends of MCM,

When I accepted the position of Associate Editor, I knew that a lot of bad blood existed from the past few years, and that turning that bad blood around will take a bit of doing.  And if there's one thing that always burns my toast, so to speak, its festering negativity.

Many of you understand it wasn't easy to bring MCM back from the dead, so to speak.  Our new team is dedicated, VERY dedicated.  We love the hobby, we love the magazine., and we are fellow modelers.  Most important, we are dedicated not only to keeping the magazine coming on a regular bi-monthly basis, but to restore MCM to financial health so that we CAN keep the magazine coming on a regular basis with the kind of quality all of you have come to expect.

Several people have told me, publicly and privately, that they have not been compensated for editorial contributions made in the past few years.  Gregg and i have discussed this several times, and I can tell you that it is his intention to correct that situation once MCM has been restored to financial health.  And I know him well enough to know he intends to follow through with that commitment - and that includes Mr. Steinbrunn.

I know that for some individuals, the bad blood will continue for some time, and for other individuals, "kicking a man when he's down" will always be the sport du jour.  However, for the vast majority of you, you have my commitment that MCM will grow to be the best and most useful car and truck modeling publication in an age when just such a publication is needed.  And I count on your support as we overcome the remaining hurdles to profitability.

Thank you for being friends of MCM and for your continued support of our efforts.

Happy New Year to all, and best regards,

 

 

Hi Larry,

Your response was measured and well written and I appreciate your sentiments. I, too, hope MC gets back on track financially and - with your help - is restored to its former glory. 

My original post wasn't written out of festering bitterness, but rather as an advisory for prospective writers to be aware of the past, otherwise we can't learn from it. I would hope future writers for MC have a signed contract, or an e-mail confirmation of same when they submit articles so that agreement exists on both sides and good will continues to flow. Without intending to cause dissention on what should be a fun and uplifting forum I would submit that I am under no obligation to provide any proof of what I've written since this is not a court of law. Besides, I've let it go long ago since I choose to not allow negativity obstruct the fun things in my life. I might also say I've received several e-mails and Private Messages from past writers who have had the same experience as I have.  

I know Mr. Hutchings has had dire physical problems in the past and I have empathy for this. I might also observe that integrity is a fragile thing. Once you've given it away it's difficult to restore it.

Best of luck as Associate Editor and let the good times roll. On four wheels.

Cheers!

--Bob

[Scale-Master]

1 hour ago, larrygre said:

 

Several people have told me, publicly and privately, that they have not been compensated for editorial contributions made in the past few years.  Gregg and i have discussed this several times, and I can tell you that it is his intention to correct that situation once MCM has been restored to financial health. 

Intentions are all well and good, but actions are what's needed.  

Out of curiosity, what will constitute "MCM being restored to financial health" in light of past excuses?  Or is it a term like "flattening the curve" that changes as time goes on to justify never quite being able to follow through?  (See "moving the goal posts".)

Another observation, isn't there a lot of lifetime subscriptions to fill?  Those won't be generating any revenue... 

[vamach1]

I recently subscribed to MCM (after being on the Forum for years) for a few reasons.  When SAE bit the dust, a void was there to fill.  All I see is one “magazine” that you can buy for around $15 an issue via Amazon.  So, if the website continues and if I get three of four issues a year I’d be happy.  Clearly the profit margin of producing this magazine is very low and not paying writers is not the way to stay in business very long. On the other hand Gregg could say to heck with it and quit or “sell” the company to someone else that would not have to honor a single debt. So as a new subscriber I’ll take the chance and see what happens.  I know the past subscribers have been extremely patient and I can understand the overall frustration.  I renewed my Mustang Monthly subscription a few years ago and found out via Facebook the magazine was ending January 2020 - no refund - no email - no anything for the issues I paid for.  That’s what happens when big companies take over from enthusiasts - they can pull the plug anytime and say tough beans to everyone.

[larrygre]

20 hours ago, BSteinIPMS said:

Hi Larry,

Your response was measured and well written and I appreciate your sentiments. I, too, hope MC gets back on track financially and - with your help - is restored to its former glory. 

My original post wasn't written out of festering bitterness, but rather as an advisory for prospective writers to be aware of the past, otherwise we can't learn from it. I would hope future writers for MC have a signed contract, or an e-mail confirmation of same when they submit articles so that agreement exists on both sides and good will continues to flow. Without intending to cause dissention on what should be a fun and uplifting forum I would submit that I am under no obligation to provide any proof of what I've written since this is not a court of law. Besides, I've let it go long ago since I choose to not allow negativity obstruct the fun things in my life. I might also say I've received several e-mails and Private Messages from past writers who have had the same experience as I have.  

I know Mr. Hutchings has had dire physical problems in the past and I have empathy for this. I might also observe that integrity is a fragile thing. Once you've given it away it's difficult to restore it.

Best of luck as Associate Editor and let the good times roll. On four wheels.

Cheers!

--Bob

Hi Bob,

I appreciate both your kind words and your good wishes.  It is my sincere hope that we meet the best expectations going forward.

I am in the process of authoring a new set of Writer's Guidelines that will be publicly posted and available to all.  These will be quite specific and include photographic guidelines, how to submit articles, acceptance or rejection of articles, and remuneration agreements for published items. There will be no stone unturned as everything will be plainly spelled out so that there will not be any confusion or misunderstandings.  And they will be reviewed by at least one legal mind before they are published. Trust and confidence are the bedrock of the type of publication we produce, and all of us team members understand the fallout of that tree being shaken. In the words of a US President of the past, "trust, but verify."

Gregg has had more than his fair share of obstacles and tragedies, however, he has something else: good friends, and quite a few of them, including all of us on the team that stepped up together with him to resurrect a great magazine and make it even better than it ever was.  The naysayers will take potshots at us to assuage their own egos, even to the point of wishing death to the magazine just because they can.  We are already seeing examples of that on this Forum.  I, nor anyone else on the team, will dignify such vitriol with a response.  Those that just say "I'll wait and see" will be pleasantly surprised,, and those who support our efforts will hopefully enjoy the kind of high quality, informative articles that earmarked the original Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine (pre-"Scale Auto"), Plastic Fanatic magazine, the first 18 years of MODEL CARS, and of course, the automotive content in IPMS Journal.

Smoothing out the lumps and bumps of the past few years and making efforts to restore confidence and turn around all that bad blood isn't my favorite part of the job, but its one that has to be done if we truly want our readership to feel that MCM is THEIR magazine- and we do want that to be the case.

I hope that, as we move toward some degree of profitability, that the remuneration issues will all be solved,  That said, I hope you can return as a contributor once that occurs.  That Duesenberg is nothing short of awesome!

Happy New Year, and best regards,

 

[Dave Ambrose]

2 hours ago, vamach1 said:

I recently subscribed to MCM (after being on the Forum for years) for a few reasons.  When SAE bit the dust, a void was there to fill.  All I see is one “magazine” that you can buy for around $15 an issue via Amazon.  So, if the website continues and if I get three of four issues a year I’d be happy.  

Rex,

Where did you see that? I took a quick look and all I saw were issues of Model Car Builder magazine. I didn't see any for Model Cars magazine. 

[vamach1]

9 minutes ago, Dave Ambrose said:

Rex,

Where did you see that? I took a quick look and all I saw were issues of Model Car Builder magazine. I didn't see any for Model Cars magazine. 

Yes I was referring to Model Car Builder.  If the previous MCM “issues” were available via CD (maybe 25 issues) or Kindle for a few bucks an issue that would seem to be a way to recover some sunk costs without a big upfront investment.  But as they say time and money cannot solve everything without some hard work.  As it is potential new MCM subscribers that only subscribed to SAE may have never seen MCM on a newsstand.  Sometimes we just get tunnel vision and need to think outside the small group that is in the know.

[Dave Ambrose]

3 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Yes I was referring to Model Car Builder.  If the previous MCM “issues” were available via CD (maybe 25 issues) or Kindle for a few bucks an issue that would seem to be a way to recover some sunk costs without a big upfront investment.  But as they say time and money cannot solve everything without some hard work.  As it is potential new MCM subscribers that only subscribed to SAE may have never seen MCM on a newsstand.  Sometimes we just get tunnel vision and need to think outside the small group that is in the know.

Thanks. Digital distribution is high on our list of things to implement. It would fix a lot of problems for us. At this point, we haven't identified a platform that protects our copyrights, works well for legitimate users, and offers  workable economics. We haven't finished researching it yet, and if we find one, you can be assured that we'll be up on that platform in a hurry. 

[vamach1]

18 minutes ago, Dave Ambrose said:

Thanks. Digital distribution is high on our list of things to implement. It would fix a lot of problems for us. At this point, we haven't identified a platform that protects our copyrights, works well for legitimate users, and offers  workable economics. We haven't finished researching it yet, and if we find one, you can be assured that we'll be up on that platform in a hurry. 

Thanks for the info.  Like many I still prefer paper in hand going forward for now but if there are literally dozens of previous issues that people would maybe like to pay to see online and it was impractical for a buyer to share pirated copies with friends it would be a shame to lose all that history without at least offering it digitally and saving a whole lot of mailing costs and paper.  Perhaps down the road as I’m sure the #1 priority is getting issues to subscribers and retail outlets.

[Bugatti Fan]

In one of Larry Greenberg's posts replying to Bob Steinbrunn he mentioned that past remuneration issues would be sorted out.

Danno asked, 'What's the point in Bob raising this issue after 4 or 5 years?'  Well, maybe there is a point as I would imagine that Bob's article was probably commissioned at the time. If past remuneration issues were to be sorted out when the magazine gets back on its feet that would be great and encourage good previous lost writers back to contribute to the magazine.

Replacing Harry Pristovnik, the magazine's main layout man (and also an excellent auto modeller in his own right) was never going to be easy, so let's hope the magazine will prosper under the new regime.

[Can-Con]

A few years ago my '77 Volare Road Runner was featured on the cover. 

Harry did the text and I did the pics,, and of cores the build. 

At the time, no compensation was discussed and I do not now or then expect any even though I had been told by many people that I should have been paid for something.

Again, I didn't expect it than and don't now that years have passed. 

I might even try submitting an article again in the future , , ,  but I would expect compensation for that. ?

[mikemodeler]

16 hours ago, Can-Con said:

A few years ago my '77 Volare Road Runner was featured on the cover. 

Harry did the text and I did the pics,, and of cores the build. 

At the time, no compensation was discussed and I do not now or then expect any even though I had been told by many people that I should have been paid for something.

Again, I didn't expect it than and don't now that years have passed. 

I might even try submitting an article again in the future , , ,  but I would expect compensation for that. ?

I'd think that there is a big difference in featuring your build on the cover and having a few sentences about it inside the magazine versus researching and writing an actual article for the magazine. From what I have been told, the monetary pay varies and depends on the article length and complexity. Some of the people I know who have written articles over the years for various types of publications say it's a nice way to earn some extra bucks but by no means is their sole form of income. With the decline in the number of printed magazines, I suspect that the pay hasn't increased and may have actually decreased, not sure.