By Jack Houvouras
HQ 62 | SUMMER 2007
Over the last 18 years, numerous readers of this magazine have asked me how we come up with our story ideas. Many of them are baffled that we haven’t “run out of stories” pertaining to Huntington. But they are even more surprised when I inform them that we actually have a backlog of articles waiting to be published. So how do we do it exactly? Here’s our process …
As with most magazines we begin by brainstorming. Our staff gets together four times a year for a lengthy meeting where we throw out ideas for consideration. Some of those ideas are our own, but the majority of them come from a cheat sheet inspired by a host of sources. The first source is our Editorial Board which is comprised of various leaders from the community. The board is a valuable resource for what’s taking place in the region that may be of interest to our readers. But the bulk of material on our cheat sheet comes from readers just like you. Whether it’s a suggestion from a subscriber we run into at a restaurant, an advertiser who has a colleague with a great story to tell or a freelance writer with an inspired query, we field a lot of good leads.
This issue is a perfect example. The cover story on Troy Brown and his commitment to this community was the suggestion of First Sentry Bank Vice President Bob Hardwick. The story on successful businesswoman Marsha Mattingly came from longtime subscriber Tom Conaty. Our exclusive article on the author of the anonymous letter written to Hollywood filmmakers was the brainchild of freelance writer Dr. Ralph J. Turner. And it was Editorial Board member Marc Williams who called me one evening from Rocco’s Ristorante while enjoying a plate of pasta and suggested we compile a list of the Top 10 Dishes in our community.
Of course not all of the story ideas make the cut. We’ve had our fair share of odd requests over the years that, if nothing else, left us highly entertained.
There was the time a gentleman walked into my office unannounced, pulled up a chair and informed me that he had a wonderful story idea about his father. I then asked him for some more details about his father, to which he replied, “Well, he’s just a really nice guy.”
“Okay,” I said politely, “but give me some examples. What makes his story unique?”
“He’s just a really nice guy,” was all he offered.
There was the lady who wrote us stating she was fed up with our features on the nice homes in Huntington: “I’m tired of reading about how Dr. Bones fixed up his house. Why don’t you profile an average home?”
And I’ll never forget the gentleman who tried to persuade me to do a story on his funeral parlor.
With all of that in mind, I still gladly welcome story ideas from our readers. And to that end, I would like to invite each of you to send me any story idea you think is interesting. After all, this is your magazine. As a guideline, we generally publish stories that fall under the following categories: personality profiles, unique homes, local history, regional travel, business success stories, Marshall University news, sports, health and food.
So here’s your chance to tell us what you’d like to see in the Huntington Quarterly. I invite you to e-mail your suggestions to me at [email protected]. I promise to give your ideas serious consideration.
Finally, what prompted this column is a story idea we recently came up with to publish a series of diary entries from a bygone era in Huntington’s past. We thought it might make for some interesting reading. Our staff is currently looking for a pre-1950 diary from someone who lived in Huntington at the time. And we are willing to pay $300 for the rights to publish excerpts from the diary. If you are interested, please contact me by e-mail or call our offices at (304) 529-6158. I look forward to hearing from you in the coming weeks.
