Questions Answered: Submitting Funny Signs

One of the reasons, perhaps, that the book, Caution Funny Signs Ahead, so captured my attention is that in the course of my travels, I too have snapped some funny sign photos.

Could one of my funny sign pictures make it into a future funny sign compilation?

It wasn't long before I was pulling up image after image from my own digital picture library, trying to find the funniest of all my funny sign shots.

Should I submit the billboard filled with little naked men that I captured somewhere in the Czech countryside?

Or maybe the picture I took of a sign inside a fancy Vietnamese hotel elevator advertising the culinary "words" of art prepared by the chef in the lobby restaurant.

I did submit a picture to RoadTrip America's funny sign collection, although neither of these were my final selection. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see if the one I sent makes the cut.

In an attempt to improve my odds, I figured I'd quiz the collection's co-editor, Mark Sedenquist, about the submission process. Here's what he had to say:

How long have you been collecting funny sign pictures from RoadTrip America readers?

Roughly, since 1996.

How often is a new funny sign picture posted?

Every week. You can see them here.

To date, do you know how many images have been submitted to RoadTrip America?

The total online collection now stands at 466 published Funny Sign photos, but of course that will change next week.

At the present time, we have about 100 images waiting in the “on-deck” circle for eventual inclusion in the collection.

We’ve had over 1600 pictures submitted to us, but we’ve only accepted about 300 of those into the collection. We verify the authenticity of every photo and many do not pass our tests.

What do you think drives travelers to snapping pictures of funny signs and then submit them to your collection?

I think they do it for the same reason we do it – to share moments of whimsy and humor with a greater audience.

What do you like best about editing the funny signs collection?

Writing captions that are not the obvious first choice. We prefer captions that require a little thought when viewing the images.

We spend about 5 hours each week nominating the new featured sign, writing the caption and preparing it for publication on RTA.

What guidelines do you have for photo submissions?

We prefer 300 dpi, jpeg, 600 x 600 pixels as a minimum, but with the advent of cellular phone cameras, we often accept smaller images.

Once a picture is accepted, it could be anywhere between five days to a year before it is posted online.

We don't post them in the order we get them. Instead, we select each week's photo by how funny it strikes us at the particular time we're choosing pictures.

Hmmm. I can only hope my own submitted sign strikes them as funny as it did me!

Do you have your own funny sign to submit?

You'll find the submission guidelines here.