HUFF Guidelines for Submissions

Guidelines for Submissions to HUFF

What does HUFF mean anyway?
OzHPV’s quarterly newsletter is called HUFF, which stands for “Head Up, Feet First”. Sort of what we are all about anyway.
 

What kind of articles are you looking for? Personal adventures, trail reviews, something else?
We'd want something readers all around Australia can relate to and also have some bearing on human powered vehicles.  So trail reviews would not be so good but personal adventures involving Human Powered Vehicles, stories about how you acquired bikes and what you think of them, technical stories about making and improving recumbents and other cycles and what worked for you are all great for HUFF. 

“Human Powered Vehicles” covers all sorts of transport including pedalled and rowing boats, human powered aircraft and human powered vehicles that run on rails.  Also of interest are applications of alternative human powered machines to everyday tasks, ie: juice making, water pumping and electricity generation.

Relevant book reviews and stories passed on from obscure corners of the internet are also gratefully received.
 

Can I access back issues of HUFF so I can see what has been published in the past?
Of course, see http://www.OzHPV.org.au/huff/huff.html .  HUFF has been published since OzHPV began in 1997 and magazines up to 2010 are available on the internet. Only current financial OzHPV members receive current issues of HUFF.
 

How many words? I have no issue with writing, but would need to know a word limit.
A good length for an article would be from 400 to 2000 words.  With a few photos, 400 words will fill a page and 2,000 words will fill 3 – 4 pages.  We also encourage letters and responses to articles and photos with captions.
 

What kind of style? Full on specs or light reading?
Really up to you but try to keep it consistent within the article. If you start writing about a cycle tour, don't suddenly break out with 3 paragraphs on why the load concentrations in the doodah caused the whatsit
to bend. Just say that the whatsit bent and leave the technical stuff for another article or “breakout piece” if you want.  Purely technical articles can be quite dry so its worth trying to lighten them a bit with some humour.
 

With photos, what size and resolution? Should there be particular subject matters, to fit with a theme of the magazine?
Jpegs of about 2 - 400k size should be fine. If you're on tour, the preference would be for smiley face photos and ones with recumbents in them rather than straight out landscapes.  Limit emails to 6MB or under please
 

What formats for text?

Practically any word processor will save your article as .rtf (Rich Text Format), or .txt (Plain Text).  You could also use a Word 97 format file.  Send it as an attachment to an email.  Simply writing text in the body of an email is fine too.

I am very old school and don’t have email, write all my correspondence by fountain pen and take pictures with a Kodak Box Brownie. Can I still write for HUFF?

Well of course, mail all submissions to the address listed below.  Please don’t forget a stamped self-addressed envelope so your photos and writing can be returned.
 

What are the deadlines for sending in articles for HUFF?
In 2011, the deadlines for submissions of letters and general articles are Feb 7, May 7, August 7, November 7.

HUFF editions will come out a week or 2 after those dates.
 

Ok, I am thoroughly convinced that writing for HUFF will do me the world of good, where do I send my articles to?

By email to:     huff@ozhpv.org.au

Or by snail mail to:       

OzHPV HUFF c/o
PO Box 1189
Fitzroy North
VIC 3068
AUSTRALIA

or

OzHPV HUFF c/o
10 Abbott Grove
Clifton Hill
Vic 3068
AUSTRALIA