Comments on: Preparing your images for magazine submission http://photocritic.org/submitting-photos-to-magazines/ The Photocritic DIY photography projects blog Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:48:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Keri http://photocritic.org/submitting-photos-to-magazines/#comment-228243 Keri Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:07:16 +0000 http://www.photocritic.org/2007/submitting-photos-to-magazines/#comment-228243 I was the Photo Editor for a national magazine up until last year and I have to say that if a photographer was sending in images unsolicited, I'd never look at them if they were on CD. It takes up too much time and photographers have a tendency to send in too many that way. It's much easier to add "just one more" to a CD, which usually ends up being 20 more than the PE wants to sit and open. Also, if I DID happen to find something I liked, in order to show it to our editor/art director/etc. I'd have to either print out the image or call them over to my desk. Big pain. My advice for unsolicited images is to send a small package (5 images or so), nicely wrapped, of 5x7 images. Or a larger, 8x10, printout of a montage of smaller images. (I LOVE those heavyweight cardstock-type printouts rather than just regular photo prints) Include a link to your website where I can see more. I could tell really quick if a photographer fit our magazine style, and this type of submission (or something similar) allows me to quickly look at something and either decide to see more, or move on. I also liked the ideas above for commissioned submissions. ALWAYS send low-res jpgs because they open fast and the art department can use them for layouts. And pretty packaging is nice, but at the VERY least send your CD in a hard shell with your information and the location ON the CD. Also, YES YES YES for including the invoice (and signed contract if applicable) with the CD. Make it easy for the photo editors and they will love you forever. I was the Photo Editor for a national magazine up until last year and I have to say that if a photographer was sending in images unsolicited, I’d never look at them if they were on CD. It takes up too much time and photographers have a tendency to send in too many that way. It’s much easier to add “just one more” to a CD, which usually ends up being 20 more than the PE wants to sit and open. Also, if I DID happen to find something I liked, in order to show it to our editor/art director/etc. I’d have to either print out the image or call them over to my desk. Big pain.

My advice for unsolicited images is to send a small package (5 images or so), nicely wrapped, of 5×7 images. Or a larger, 8×10, printout of a montage of smaller images. (I LOVE those heavyweight cardstock-type printouts rather than just regular photo prints) Include a link to your website where I can see more. I could tell really quick if a photographer fit our magazine style, and this type of submission (or something similar) allows me to quickly look at something and either decide to see more, or move on.

I also liked the ideas above for commissioned submissions. ALWAYS send low-res jpgs because they open fast and the art department can use them for layouts. And pretty packaging is nice, but at the VERY least send your CD in a hard shell with your information and the location ON the CD. Also, YES YES YES for including the invoice (and signed contract if applicable) with the CD. Make it easy for the photo editors and they will love you forever.

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