As I sat at my desk the other day compiling the next round of “Gear” items for the upcoming digital issue of Speed On The Water magazine, I started thinking about how many of these smaller product spotlights—usually not more than 100 words—I’ve written over the years. One thousand would be a stretch, but I’m probably more than halfway there.
Livorsi Marine’s Vantage View Bezel Pod was featured in a recent issue of Speed On The Water magazine.
Just counting the 17 editions of Speed On The Water at seven items per issue, that’s 119 products right there. I can’t take credit for all of those as my co-publisher Matt Trulio has written some, too, but the list continues well beyond our current medium. In my seven years at Powerboat magazine we produced 11 issues a year that featured five “Accessories” as they were called in the now-defunct publication. Thanks to our family of boating publications, I also took on product reviews for Trailer Boats and WaterCraft World magazines.
Some products actually were tested, others were merely described based on specifications and highlights from a press release. The writing part is generally pretty easy, except when you have too much to describe for the allotted space. For me, the most common roadblock in doing the job has always been photography. One would think having a nice, clean image of what you’re trying to sell would be important, but that’s not always the case.
and then