CarLady News Submission Guidelines

ARTICLES 

Please send submissions as a word document to Madelyn@travellady.com  

VISUALS 

Please attach jpg when you submit the article.

If there is a particular place where a jpg should be positioned, please indicate that in the copy you submit as follows  (place abc.jpg here)

STORY MUST CONTAIN

Articles must be submitted in doc, rtf, or txt files.  The headline, subhead and author must be in upper and lower case.  All caps will not be accepted. 

Each review should indicate which VEHICLE category it should be placed in and the information must be included at the top of the article above the title. 

Categories are listed on vehicle page  http://www.carladynews.com/cars.html

Ideally, each article would end with a paragraph entitled

THE FEMALE FACTOR

example:  THE FEMALE FACTOR on this model car is the high safety rating and the purse hook below the dashboard.

Here are some tips for writing better car reviews

Performance.  Don't get too technical.  Do woman really care if they can beat a Porsche Cayenne in the quarter mile.  Talk about getting into traffic safely, not horsepower and torque.  Do you feel safe driving it around sharp corners or are you constantly hitting the brakes because it just feels funny.  Does it shift smoothly enough not to spill your coffee?  Can you stop quickly and safely when the neighbors cat decides the chicken had the right idea?

Comfort.  Are the seats comfortable?  Is there enough head and leg room?  Is there enough hip room for the plus size among us?  Is the heat and air adequate?  Will you freeze in Anchorage and fry in Phoenix?  Can you get in and out without showing more leg than the Rockettes?  Does the seat adjust for comfortable road trips?  Is there a storage compartment the driver can reach or just a glove box for the passenger?  Where are you going to store the Foster Grants?

Function.  Will four suitcases fit in the trunk?  How about room for kids car seats?  Can you easily reach all the controls?  Is the headlight switch easy to find in the dark?  Can you change a radio station without causing a wreck?  Is there a vanity light on the visor mirror?  Can you easily reach the cup holder?  What, no cup holder?  Who designed this thing?

Design, Fit and Finish.  Is this car embarrassing you when you pull up to drop off the kids at school?  Do they wear disguises when they have to ride with you?  Does it make you feel like Mario Andretti or Princess Grace?  Can you adjust your makeup in the paint finish?  Does the trunk liner shed fibers on your Gucci Luggage?

Price.  Is the price in line with the quality and amenities?  Overpriced?  Bargain of the year?  Why?  Would you spend your hard earned money on this car? 

Who should by this car?  Maybe it's not for you but is there a section of female America that would love to drive this car?  Who would that be and why?  And, if not, why are they selling this piece of junk?

Stats.  If you want to add all the car company stats about a car, make it a footnote at the end.  If people have read that far, they might be interested.  If not, they can skip it.  Remember, stats should be taken with a grain of salt.  I know some four cylinder German cars that blow the big American V8's out of the water and look great doing it.