Resources and Tips for Getting Published by Art Magazines and Craft Book Publishers
Note: This is just a partial list and is most definitely a work in progress but it has some helpful links that I thought my readers might be interested in. Enjoy!
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Magazines that take submissions:
-Any Stampington Publication will have calls and challenges as well as take submissions and article proposals. There are usually deadlines that need to be met. Stampington also prefers you mail the art to them with your submission vs. an e-mail submission.
Sew Somerset, Somerset Studios, Somerset Home and Life as well as Jewelry Affaire, Altered Couture, Haute Handbags, Art Quilting Studio, Stuffed, Prims, Greencraft, etc.
Stampington Submission Guidelines can be found online at:
tips: Stampington’s director of publishing, Christen Oliverez, was recently interviewed by Rice Freeman Zachary about what you can do to further your chances at getting published. You can find that article online at Create Mixed Media:
-Interview Press has big magazines such as Quilting Arts,Cloth Paper Scissors as well as a huge variety of jewelry, sewing, knitting and crocheting magazines under their publishing umbrella. They do take submissions but prefer you e-mail them pics of the art and a proposal before sending in actual art. They do have reader challenges as well as the national CPS Artisan Search contest that is fun to enter. Because of the number of specialty publications that interweave has, the specific submission guidelines are found by searching for a particular magazine. You can however start here:
and specifically for Cloth Paper Scissors check here:
-There are other craft publishers out there but these are the two biggies that I have experience with and really think make it easy to take the leap. So check them out, browse the magazines at your local bookstore, and get a feel for what the magazine is about. Your art doesn’t necessarily have to look like it’ll fit right in, but it does need to follow certain obvious guidelines (don’t submit a knit pattern to a jewelry magazine and make sure that you’ve used some sewing techniques if submitting to Sew Somerset, as examples).
Craft Book Publishers
Before you check out publishers:
Really think through your idea so that you have a solid idea of what you’d like your book to be, this can help direct you as you look at publishers as well as give you a better understanding of what to look for. Then, create some examples of your proposed projects and write out an outline for the book, as well as a write up of your book idea that effectively communicates the format and feel you envision for your book.
Next, I would check out this podcast by Sister Diane of Craftypod. An author herself, she really tells it like it is and will give you a better understanding of everything writing and publishing a craft book entails. You might find that you want to go ahead, or you might want to shelve the plan until your life allows you the time it takes to go through this process.
You can find the link to this podcast at:
How to Choose a Publisher:
The best way to pick a publisher is to head to your local book store and take a look at the recent selections. Flip through them, handle them, and get a feel for the different publishing styles and formats the different publishers use. Imagine your book in that format and see if it’s something you can envision. Then, search them out online, most book publishers will have submission guidelines posted just like the magazine publishers do. The big publishers are Interweave, Quarry, Lark/Sterling, Potter, and F&W (North Light). There are other publishers that you might want to investigate, these are just a few of the biggies that come to mind. My personal experience is with North Light, and I would highly recommend them. They do a fabulous job at making each book a reflection of the author and the author’s personal style and art. The photography, design, layout, and editorial staff are all top notch.
North Light is a division of F &W who has posted their author guidelines here:
and two of North Light’s editors can be found discussing the book publishing process in this interview with Rice Freeman Zachary found here:
Interweaves author guidelines can be found here:
Lark/Sterling’s guidelines can be found at:
Quarry’s submission guidelines can be found here:
Some publishers such as Potter, which is an imprint of Random House, do not accept unsolicited proposals or manuscripts, unless submitted by a literary agent. They have a frequently asked question page here:
You can also self-publish. I don’t have any experience with this and have to say that as a first time author I’m glad I didn’t do it, although the end payoff is much greater. There are many creative self-publishers out there who write and market their own e-books extremely successfully. To find out more about self publishing you might want to check out this podcast (again by the fabulous Sister Diane of craftypod) that explains this method of publishing:
http://www.craftypod.com/2009/08/15/craftypod-97-two-ways-to-publish-a-craft-book-with-june-gilbank/
written and compiled by Jen Swift 5/20/11
