"Was this reply from Travis terribly unhelpful?"

Travis' advice here is good. (Free tip #1: Use quality descriptives, like "good, or "nice." Makes your writing pop!) Here are my further tips on how to not just get your work frontpaged, but draw a lot of eyes and commentary. I am the least qualified person to write this, that's why I'm stepping up.

I asked about this. I was told that you still own the rights to your work, but that Gawker has the right to post it on any of their sites, or use it in sponsored content/ads for companies. So, you own it, but so do they, I guess. 

Wow, very nice car. Well done.

Good call for a new car.

Jalopnik doesn't think they suck. If they do, they probably haven't driven it. These cars will make any RWD snob see the truth.

I agree. Drive around with one of these with four hunting dogs in the back, or climb out wearing Go To Hell pants and grab your golf clubs, and the world will buy into your Rich Guy Exclusivity.

I love it. It may be a bit sophomorish in its humor, but whatever, my humor sucks too.

An Orlove shout out and a bossman Nick D comment "like" to close out the door. Watch out world I'm popular!

Wow, I remove the Eggwich moniker, use my real name, and get a co-COTD. I won't even pretend to have any pride in a comment about velvet blazers, it didn't exactly take a lot of insight to dis that fabric.

He can wear whatever he wants to, no doubt. He's earned the right to wear that coat. He just can't look good in it. None of us can, at least not any of us males.

Sure, this car performs, but like you said, the Beach Effect is a major part of owning this car. Simply put, it's a Stunner, well-equipped for stunting.

Are those thumbs slightly wrapped around the wheel? OMG YOU'RE GOING TO DISLOCATE YOUR THUMBS SO DANGEROUS SO ROOKIE UNFORGIVABLE GAHHHHH. (Sorry, just wanted to pre-empt the ridiculous faux racer critics.)

You know who looks really good in a velvet blazer?

Thanks for the response, much appreciated!

Wow, very clean. I'm so excited about this change that I'm actually going to act grown up and use my real name. Believe it or not, my birth certificate doesn't say Eggwich on it. I hope the simple format isn't muddled up by OMG HERE ARE 12 GIFS LOL posts too often.

I could answer this myself by actually reading the…

I didn't appreciate Ben enough when he was here. Great writer, strong engineering knowledge base, and pretty objective. Wes and Ray would give you the negative snark in a post without any basis or reason beyond playing up stereotypes, but if Ben found fault with something, he always provided sound reasoning. Miss you…

The key is to not view them as ads that have been spoiled by teasers. Rather they are "advertorials" within a multimedia campaign that strategically utilizes all forms of content delivery to present casual viewers and diehard fans alike with meaningful, significant stories that will humanize the brand. You should be…

I'm going to assume you were responsible for that link to Donk Snob the other day, and I thank you for it.

I've probably seen one Lancia in my life, and I don't remember it.