Congrats to NVCichlids!

Maybe a follow up article about actually collecting fish because you always read about people going to South America and Asia to collect fish and you really don't have to spend all that money for getting a few fish.

My first instinct is to tell you "don't waste your time with TFH." The editors at TFH don't seem very interested in articles about natives unless they are very low-level and slam-full of pretty pictures. Yes, a few years ago they did print a famous natives issue, but the reason it's famous is that they don't normally cover natives very much. The competition is tough these days, and they want articles about fish that most people will likely be able to find, since they presume that is where all the interest lies. The editors told me they didn't want my article on how to spawn the Bluenose Shiner simply because the odds were that almost no readers would have any interest in Bluenose Shiners. Isn't that sad?

On the other hand, I have noticed a lot of good natives coverage in AFI & FAMA over the past two years, so while it surprises me that an aquarist & AFI writer of some renown like Mike Wickham would say such things, I can say with some confidence that your article will have a better chance of seeing print in one of those other magazines. The pay is low, by the way, so don't do it for the money.

TFH is going to be running a big article on many of the fishes of the southeast soon, written by that Stan Sung guy, a regular TFH writer. Bruce can tell you much more about it than I can, since Stan visited him while writing it. While that is good news, it also means that TFH already knows it's planning a big natives article from one of their favorite pet writers, and thusly probably won't be as likely to want another one. Again, AFI is your better bet.

I'm just a shining ray of hope, aren't I? Still, if TFH gets a lot of article submissions about natives, then who knows... maybe they'll start to figure out that natives are more popular than they think, eh? By all means, give it a try. Good luck!

That seems weird that they don't want an article on breeding bluenose shiners because they'll make people's jaws drop. I'm sure you sent a picture to.

I might try a different magazine then. I just hope Stan Sung's is good.

I can sorta see why TFH may not be interested. Sure, they are amazing fish, but with so uncommonly available that most won't be able to work with them.

Edited by critterguy, 03 December 2008 - 12:42 PM.

yeah that is true. but they cover many other uncommon fish too. like the fourth neon tetra for example.

And an excellent counterpoint. But I won't be surprised if they become more common or if people have been cherry picking them on the occasion from SA tetra imports.

P. welaka(perhaps fortunately since CB is not exactly common right now) is not commercially available. Period.(short of going to collect them yourself or getting them from someone who does)

yeah, but the only known place where they're found is deep in the Amazon. And I also remember thos red-striped zebra platies that someone developed a few years back. I haven't ever seend them on aquabid or anything eventhough you think they would be pretty common.

TFH used to be bad about paying you for articles and then sitting on them The pay about the same as the other guys. I haven't written any articles in a LOT of years so the situation may have changed.

TFH used to be bad about paying you for articles and then sitting on them The pay about the same as the other guys. I haven't written any articles in a LOT of years so the situation may have changed.

They actually did that with my last article, sent the contract and then the check and waited several months before publishing it (for those interested; Goldfish Myths, January 2009). I've written four articles for TFH, two of them concerning natives. Not surprisingly they've published both the articles concerning typical aquarium fish (catfishes and goldfish) but nether of the ones on natives. They've told me they're interested and intend on sending out contracts but the one I wrote on largemouth bass I sent out about a year ago and nothing has become of it yet.
The only article I ever sent to AFI was the goldfish one I mentioned before, after a couple months of no response from them I sent it on to TFH instead.

so i take it that sending an article in is easier said then done?

No, actually it's quite easy. It's just that TFH has this little idiosyncrasy. I guess these magazines really NEED writers, because they never turned down any of mine. That show how desperate they are! There are also UK publications that you might write for. I always liked A&P.

No, actually it's quite easy. It's just that TFH has this little idiosyncrasy. I guess these magazines really NEED writers, because they never turned down any of mine. That show how desperate they are! There are also UK publications that you might write for. I always liked A&P.

Ok. Thanks Irate!

Wow, I know this is old, but I didn't even know this topic was started. I have actually written a couple of articles for them and told them they could use them for free, just acknowledge I wrote them and nothing ever happened.

Wow, I know this is old, but I didn't even know this topic was started. I have actually written a couple of articles for them and told them they could use them for free, just acknowledge I wrote them and nothing ever happened.

The first article I ever wrote - I didn't know if anybody would publish it, so I submitted it to 3 magazines, simultaneously. They ALL accepted it, so I was in rather a bind. I had to apologize to two editors.

I particularly favored FAMA because I liked Don Dewey. His passing was a great loss.

That was a long time ago. I don't have the inclination to write anymore.