Contribute
There are several ways that you can contribute to Nessmuking.com:
- Donate money.
- Writing articles, essays, trip reports or reviews, submitting pictures. See Below.
- By Submitting an entry for the 35 Day Challenge.
Writer's Guidelines
Articles should range in length from 500 words to 5000 words, and they should relate to canoeing and kayaking, preferably about lightweight canoeing and kayaking. Stock photos are available for spicing up articles, but if you have diagrams or specific pictures, please, provide them, or spell out your needs, so they can be drawn up or photographed.
There are several categories for articles on Nessmuking.com, and additional categories can be created based on need. These categories are: How to Choose, Photography, Trip Journals and Reports, Build It Yourself, Technique, Personal Essays, Equipment, and Reviews.
The most popular submissions fall into these three categories:
Trip reports can be anything from a simple write up of where you went, how the route treated you, and what gear you used to elaborate feature stories about an exciting adventure. Because long trips often entail many aspects, try to pick just one theme and stick to it, even if you have to ignore other important parts of you trip. Those other parts could become stories in and of themselves. Don't bite off too much. Journal entries can also work as trip reports, but try to keep your daily journals exciting by showing the struggles you faced and how you handled them. Trip Reports can run from 500 to 5000 words. You should also provide photos for these Trip Reports.
Build It Yourself is the single most popular category of articles on the website. Submissions include builder's journals, kayak and canoe plans, building tips, plans for equipment. Your imagination is the only limit to what is possible here. Also, if you don't have your own website and would like to host a builder's log, that is possible also.
Reviews, typically are 500 to 1000 words and can be on any type of gear relating to canoeing, kayaking, outdoor recreation or camping. You should state in the review how long you used the item and what kind of trips that you had it on. You should then tell us what you liked and what you didn't like for each of the items.
All writers will still hold the copyright to their material, but what Nessmuking.com receives is perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free right and license for use on this internet site. You still own your copyright. Your name will be stated as the author and your copyright will be shown. If you have a website, you can have a link to it on the link page and in the article. If you submit and have published 4 or more articles you have the option of having your picture and brief biography (150 words) appear on the About page.
Photographer's Guidelines
Canoe and kayak photography can be rewarding, and often becomes more rewarding when you have your photos published. If you are looking for a primer on photography you can find it here. When submitting photos to the website, the photos should have a well defined subject, that are simple and reduced to their basic elements, and are exposed correctly and sharp. Photos are for web publication so if you use digital you don't have to have the latest DSLR; 2 to 3 megapixel and higher is fine. If you shoot film, have the photos scanned. And follow the procedure outlined below:
To Submit Photos:
- Open to photo first in a program like Photoshop, Elements, Picture Window Pro, or any other than allows you to resize your photo.
- Find the Auto Contrast or Auto Levels command, and use it on your photo. If it makes your photo look better, then leave the photo that way. If not then undo.
- Find the command that allows you to resize an image. In photoshop it is Image Size. Change the maximum pixel width (either horizontal or vertical based on the way you shot the photo) to 500 pixels. Change the resolution to 72 dpi. Select Resample Image. Use Bicubic.
- View at Actual pixels just to make sure everything looks good.
- Find a Save For Web command. Save as a jpeg that will load in 14 seconds at 28.8Kbps, which should give a file size of about 40k..
- Don't save the changes to your original image!!! Make sure you only save these changes to a duplicate image.
Please, only send a max of 6 photos at anyone time. When they appear on the site, they will carry your copyright symbol. If you want a link to your website, one will be provided. By submitting you grant perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free right and license for use on this internet site. You still own your copyright. If you have more than 6 photos published on the site, you have the option of having your picture and brief biography (150 words) appear on the About page.
Where to Submit
Submit all articles with a brief summary to .
Submit all photos with above formatting applied to the .
If you have questions about submitting, then email .