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How to get paid by a magazine...
...I want to know. Here is my dilemma...I have great ideas and stories that I know will work well in local magazines. How would I go about getting my ideas funded for an editorial in the local magazine? Is it as easy as calling them up, telling them my stories and asking them to pay for it? I highly doubt it; does anyone have any suggestions? Help! May 27 05 06:52 pm Link No No No. DON'T DO THAT. They will mostly likly steal your ideas. Write the magazines a query letter with your idea and how you plan on fleshing it out. If they like it, they will bite. www.writers.com has info on 'query letters' or you can google it. Cheerio- Sun May 27 05 07:01 pm Link My solution to that problem was to start my own publication. But before you do that, get hired on or freelance for any magazines and newspapers you can so that you get the experience necessary to do well. I'm still learning every day, but I love the independence! Also Sun is right! Don't ever send unsolicited stories AND copyright your work! http://www.copyright.gov/ Good luck! May 27 05 07:16 pm Link Posted by Ephotique: Ephotique...Editorial is a strange monster to crack and ideas as endless as you may think you have just about everything has been thought of by these publication. If you are going in just as the photograher....you can easy have your story idea given to another photographer and dealing with a writer, they will hook you up with someone that might not see what idea you thought of. I have been doing editorial for over 25yrs, I can be just the photographer or writer or I can combine both. Never go nto any magazines with unfinish ideas or ones that will be taken away from you and given to someone else. I will get ideas and do all the research from invterviews to photography..do all this and finish it up......maybe talk with one of the editors about this idea I have just to get a feeling. Once I have gotten some insight then do I take in the finish project that will come out of my pocket...from film..processing & writing time(lots of phone calls). It's rare that you are going to get funding...that is not an industry word to use.....what you are looking for is pacgage for the writing & photo skills if anything. So don't back down when they say we are only willing to pay you this amount, if the story idea is great..take what your creativity is worth and go for it. May 27 05 07:25 pm Link I agree, never give them your ideas, they will steal them and get someone they know to shoot it free. A lot of local magazines do not pay for editorials, they don't pay anyone on the team....sometimes they pick up lunch, sometimes the more successful local magazines pay a few hundred dollars to the photographer some really good locals pay the entire team a few hundred each. Even the big national magazines pay very little for editorial, they figure your name on the photo and all the free publicity is enough. I'm sure they pay the big name photographer but the rest of the team doesn't make much. The people I have worked with approach the magazine armed with a good book (one full of shots that are similar to the magazines tastes) and ask to shoot an editorial and give them just a general idea of what you would like to shoot. If and when they give you the go-ahead share more details. You would be wise to NEVER let the magazine choose the photos. Give them only the stuff you would not mind the public seeing, touch them up yourself and then hang on because you can bet they will choose your least favorite shots and even when they say they will touch them up, they usually don't. Before approaching the magazine look at the print quality....I have had more shoots than I can count that I have never been able to use because of print qulity and bad cropping by the magazine. You would also be wise to get it in writing that you will get a cd of the art work (page before it goes to print) so that you can print your own....in case they screw it up. That way at least you will have a decent tear. May 27 05 08:14 pm Link Thank you all who have responded, I am delighted with the responses that have come back and will take each under careful consideration. I'm not quite sure if I was clear but when I meant stories I meant photos that tell a story. I definitely am not a writer just a creative mind that wants to tell a story thru our photography, as you see in editorial spreads. For lack of better word, I mentioned "funding", what I meant was I want the magazine to pay our company to do an editorial spread. I don't want to shoot the editorial and go to them with the finished product because they could look at it and say no (not that they would or anything), then our time and money would have been wasted. I really like the idea of going to a magazine with my book, giving them a hint of my idea and having them say yes we'll pay you to do it! I just hope that it's that easy.  Thanks so much! Kortney P.S. Mary I enjoy your work, it is absolutely amazing (I'm an MUA as well)! May 27 05 10:07 pm Link Hi Kortney, You do great work as well! I just noticed you are also in San Diego, small world I'm sure we will run into each other sooner or later. May 27 05 11:40 pm Link I sure hope so Mary, I've been to your website and your tips are great! May 28 05 12:14 am Link Posted by Ephotique: When you find out, please tell me. May 28 05 04:50 am Link Create the editorial first. As in: do the shoots, do the writing or whatever text you need, and deliver it to them complete & print-ready. Do this for a magazine that looks stylistically like the photo editor or art director will appreciate your style. I think this approach is a good way to get started. May 28 05 07:38 am Link Create the editorial first. As in: do the shoots, do the writing or whatever text you need, and deliver it to them complete & print-ready. Do this for a magazine that looks stylistically like the photo editor or art director will appreciate your style. I think this approach is a good way to get started. This is exactly what I did to get my first magazine article done. You kinda have to spend the money and time to produce something that the magazine "cannot live without". Walk in and present it. It seems next to impossible to just submit an idea if you are an unknown... Leona May 28 05 09:03 am Link Leona & Anthony, First of all I thank you for posting. Ordinarily I would say that doing that is the way to go but being a photographer and doing exactly what you have just mentioned does not work (or hasn't worked for us I should say); they won't pay and just want to print it for free. I think they (the magazine) figures, well, you obviously had the time and money to produce it already and so therefore, why should they reimburse you for it? Also, there is a chance that they don't even want or need that idea and then of course you're stuck with the photos that no one will print. That is just my way of looking at it with the experience that we've had. I will however keep in mind that I should cater stylistically to the likes of the art director, that sure will get his/her attention. Thanks again for responding, I'm definitely learning a lot. Best regards, Kortney May 28 05 11:17 am Link Posted by Ephotique: I should have been more clear. You may very well not get paid for the first one. I meant it's a way to get started, as in, to get published - then, getting paid (possibly from a different editor for a different project) is very likely a big step closer. No, you just might be stuck with an editorial without a home. Keep shopping it. May 28 05 01:02 pm Link Look on the flyleaf of any magazine you are interested in and get the name of the editor for the proper division. Send him/her a short one or two paragraph letter with stamped, self addressed envelope introducing yourself and asking for their needs for upcoming issues. Almost all wil send a Xerox list of their plns for near future issues. Once you get it, come up with an idea and mail them a one page outline of your story idea, along with any publication history you might have. Make it short, businesslike and on letterhead stationary. Include a stamped, self addressed envelope if you want a response. Never send unsolicited photographs or stories. For several legitimate reasons, most will not accept them. Pick up a current copy of either the Writer's Digest or Photographer's Digest, whichever you are interested in. It's an annually published compilation of most of the buyers in this country, what they want, what they pay, how to submit and so on. It's invaluable! May 28 05 03:17 pm Link OOPS. I have to agree with Anothony...I didn't get paid for that first one, but now that I have been published, I must know what I am doing in the mind of the next editor. That was exactly the case, my next article (of course I had to write the text as well as shoot!) was paid...a nominal amount, but paid non the less. It had nothing to do with "pretty" or "hunky" models, but my other passion...travel photography. I actually didn't pick up any publication as Doug has suggested (probably a better way to do it though!!), but rather picked up a magazine, looked at the photography and figured I could do better. Inquired about the editor and picked up their "needs for upcoming issues" and created a whole article, photo essay from my stock. Wha la...first article in the can with minimal effort. Took that beautiful tear sheet and went to the next publication I took a fancy to... Leona May 29 05 02:43 am Link Great advice, I appreciate all the feedback. I will try writing a letter as suggested and see what happens. I was looking at another magazine and found their plans for future issues right in the media kit; I would assume that is what the other magazines will be sending to me (hopefully). Btw, we have been published a few times but not in the magazines we ultimately would like to be in. Thanks again, Kortney May 29 05 01:10 pm Link Posted by Leona: Does it work? This is exactly what I did to get my first magazine article done. Was it a widely published magazine or local? You kinda have to spend the money and time to produce something that the magazine "cannot live without". Walk in and present it. It seems next to impossible to just submit an idea if you are an unknown... Makes sense. I'll have to remember that. May 30 05 05:02 am Link I don't get this post at all If things were so easy then 80% of the photographers on this site would be shooting for large magazines.May 31 05 02:46 am Link Posted by ( ANT ) Mgaphoto: You are right but I'm sure that 3/4 of those magazines I write to will turn me down or not be interested in what I'm offering. It may be because I don't have their style, they don't work with freelance photographers or for whatever other reason but at least it's some good, working knowledge of how to go about doing things. May 31 05 08:06 am Link Posted by Ephotique: Posted by ( ANT ) Mgaphoto: You are right but I'm sure that 3/4 of those magazines I write to will turn me down or not be interested in what I'm offering. It may be because I don't have their style, they don't work with freelance photographers or for whatever other reason but at least it's some good, working knowledge of how to go about doing things. OK Gang! This is the bottom line when doing or trying to get work from publications(Magazine). They have a full staff of people coming up with ideas daily on different subject matters. So the idea of someone telling them their business is not always the right approach to getting work from them. Second mostly if you are a shooters and now you want to do the full article, you are now stepping on the toes of their writers. Remember they have ideas which are endless and unless that thing you are wanting to do spark their interest doesn't mean they will use you. This is a industry which will chew you up in a second and leave you laying there like bad sex. If you take everything personal, then you are in the wrong industry. I have been shooting for national & local publications for over 28yrs, sometimes I am looked over on assigments and then I am the first one they think of when doing stories. You have to always put yourself out there with ideas, endless as it may seems...it's that one that will attract you that might be the one, but don;t count on just one achievement to get to sucess. May 31 05 08:24 am Link Posted by * Visual Mindscapes *: Posted by Anthony: Does it work? Actually Leona was quoting me - it seems to, and it's certainly aligned with the advice I've gotten from several very established photogs (in re: getting an editorial published). May 31 05 01:14 pm Link So I guess it's all about being persistent and being in the right place at the right time and having the right look. I thank everyone for their comments and advice; I will take everything I've learned here and apply it in my quest for a paid photography editorial. I'll be in touch and you'll be the first to know when it happens (well, maybe the second, I have to tell my family first!). May 31 05 06:40 pm Link |
