Brian,
When building my models, I’ll take lots of pictures. When complete, I might send a picture of the finished model to Mark asking him if he’s interested.
If he is interested, we might discuss the type of article. It could be a “how-to” much like my series on building a boxcar. Or, it could be that it will be “here’s an idea” for you to go with, maybe like the current article on building a yard office.
If there isn’t interest, I might go ahead and write an article for the section here. I can use the pictures there, or on my web site. That’s the nice thing about digital cameras, it doesn’t really cost anything extra to take LOTS of pictures. Not only that, but when I’m building something similar it’s nice to have some pictures that show me how I built it last time. My memory never was much good. 
I have had good luck with “unusual” articles: my glad hands, for example, or molding with Magic Sculpt. Things that are useful, like my switch stands might also qualify. On the other hand, I’ve a number of articles that didn’t make the cut. The reasons are varied, and I think a lot of it is just in timing.
Don’t expect to be published right away. My boxcab was built in 2006, published in 2007. I’ve got a few articles that haven’t shown up yet. Fortunately, the check is quick.
Don’t expect lots of adoring fans. 
I think a lot of readers are like me, and really don’t notice the author’s name when reading an article. If I recognize a picture, I might look at the tag line and think that oh yeah, I remember Jerry’s boxcar, or Ray’s stone work. It IS kind of neat to be recognized on-line, and I do enjoy any discussions when one of us makes it into the magazine.
