My Automotive Job: Jonathon Klein, RideApart.com Editor-in-Chief

Jonathon Klein is Editor-in-Chief of RideApart.com - a motorcycle news and reviews site. With a job that many people would kill for, we spoke to Jonathon to find out more about him, how he got into the industry, and how other hopefuls can do the same.

What's your job?

Editor-in-Chief of RideApart, as well as professional vagabond and weirdo.

How did you get into it?

Happenstance, honestly.

I had just graduated from my graduate program, and I was working a dead-end job, wanting to lose my mind. For our anniversary, my wife got us tickets to the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, and when I returned, I wrote a little ditty about the experience on Jalopnik’s old Opposite Lock forum. I wrote it at 1 am and half toasted, and for some reason, the editor there pulled it over the front page of Jalopnik.

It snowballed from there, with me writing for Jalopnik, Road & Track, Top Gear, Playboy, The Drive, Field and Stream, and countless others.

What's the best part of it?

Anxiety? Kidding.

I think the best part of this job is being able to be expressive in your writing and finding your voice to tell all the stories you’ve always wanted to tell. To find what gets you stoked and finally see those stories come to life through your own words.

What's a side that people don't see or understand about it?

Traveling to events aren’t vacations…

We’re whisked away to some far-flung destination and put up in hotels, yes, you see that on everyone’s social media. But you end up spending almost the entire time in the hotel writing. The same goes for when you’re home. Though you may get some fancy-pants car or motorcycle or vehicle, only about a 30th of your time is spent behind the wheel in any given month.

You also aren’t going to make bank with this gig, as I recall one month going to the bank in a McLaren to deposit $83 in singles so I didn’t overdraft.

What's the thing you're most proud of in your career?

Writing about my foster-to-adopt story and finding my children through it. Hard as all hell to live through, as well as write, but the end was amazing.

What advice do you have for people wanting to do the same?

Be authentic in your writing and your pitches. Anyone can regurgitate a press release. Anyone can review a vehicle. But why should you be allowed to write about that thing? What can you bring to the table that isn’t going to be said by every other person? Why should you get paid for your writing?

Tell the stories that only you can tell, only you can convey, only you can write. Those are the stories that’ll make the most impact, both in terms of viewership and in getting a story accepted by an editor.

You can read more from Jonathon over at RideApart.com.