Getting published online
A lot of people were asking me about online and print-on-demand magazines, how to get published there and what are the benefits.
Firstly, the main thing you need to know about such magazines:
1. All magazines that are not retailed (sold on stands) and that feature your work on submission basis are in MOST cases private entities. Some are comprised of extremely small teams and their sole profit is based on either making you pay for a chance to get published or on sales of magazine. Most part of such sales comes from your own vanity- you and your team purchasing the magazine just to see your work in print.
2. What it also means is- you are getting judged by a single person and their personal taste. By the individual who has started the magazine, in most cases. If your submission is rejected it means that this person simply didn’t think it was a fit or personally does not have a taste for this particular work. It does not necessarily mean your work quality is bad.
3. Anyone can start their own print-on-demand magazine. Which should give you an idea of how subjective and questionable is being published in one. Often people who start such magazines do not have credible qualifications.
4. Some magazines grow and their teams expand which puts pressure on them to follow certain industry trends and to keep the quality of work published accordingly. Such magazines sometimes grow to become trendsetters and getting published there will bring more benefits to you than getting published anywhere else.
Cons:
– subjectivity and questionable judgement criterias based on personal taste of editor who might not be experienced industry professional.
– small magazines bring you no visibility and do not expose you to the market. It’s just a vanity fest
– some magazines require you to pay to submit. It means you baring additional losses apart from what you have invested in your shoot. They also don’t guarantee publishing even if you pay and can still reject your submission. I would recommend to stay clear of such
– getting published in such magazines bears no weight or credibility when it comes to you being hired by actual heavy-weight industry publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar etc
Pros:
– bigger and more acknowledged magazines, even if they are print-on-demand provide you visibility. Since online industry is at its peak, a lot of esteemed online publications are followed by brands and industry professionals which can potentially lead to them discovering you
– getting published (anywhere apparently) still bears some prestige in eyes of the public especially in Asia at the moment, and is some prize candy for your hard-working team
– shooting with submission in mind helps you better understand and get used to industry demands and workflow which is a good practice
How to:
– Most of such magazines have their submission email mentioned on instagram and website along with submission guidelines, so you can email your work and get a response.
– Kavyar.com is an online platform for submission to some of such magazines.
– Before submitting your work check the magazine’s feed or moodboard to understand if style of your submission fits. No matter how amazing your shoot is if it doesn’t fit their aesthetics it will get rejected (example: magazine that mostly features bright sharp and high contrast imagery is very likely to reject soft pastel submission)
– Make sure to check submission requirements- what sizes and format is expected from you, dpi, etc
Side note: I will not consider Photovogue (online platform of Vogue Italia) as one of such publications, since images on photovogue get selected directly by online editor of Vogue Italia. It bears more weight, their taste is a representation of what Vogue Italia feels is in fashion now and what aesthetics is. As well as editors of actual retail magazines and big fashion houses from all over the world keep checking it and scouting artists from there.
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂