You may have recently noticed that I have set-up my website recently. I've also been a bit more active in getting my work seen. One of the risks of these activities is that people may actually take note. As a total rookie to the business side of things I was wondering : does the photographer usually approach a magazine to get on the cover or layout? Or is it more usual to get approached by the magazine's publisher? Am I supposed to make an offer for the use of a photograph if approached or do most magazines offer a set price? I really have no idea how this works. It was hard enough to come up with prices for my prints but at least I was able to visit several websites to get an idea of what was reasonable. For the purpose of publishing I don't even have a ballpark figure in mind. As I already have a day job I am not even looking to eke out the maximum figure. Help!
I would start with a couple of books to read. Numbers one, two, three, four and five would be John Shaw's one book on the business of nature photography. It is written from a very practical point of view and addresses many of your questions and several obvious ones you haven't asked as followups. I'd like to see an update of the for the changes which have occurred since it was published (the internet comes to mind), but it is a good start. Other suggestions would be Jim Zuckerman's on selling your work and the Photographer's Market. Also, if you can, try to sit down at a Border's, Barnes and Noble, or other large bookstore and read every book on photographic marketing, sales, or business. A lot of them seemed to be geared towards portrait and studio work, but they cover things you may not think of.
With respect to your question. Generally, here is the workflow: Go to the publication's website and get the contributer's guidelines. Go to the library and look at the last 2-5 years of of issues and decide what gaps you can fill. Write an article using your photos. Send a query letter to the publisher with a proposal for an article to write (yeah, the one you just more or less finished). Hope they are interested. When you get a yes, send in the article. Hope it does get accepted. Wait 1-6 months for payment.
Usually, your best chances for early articles are with smaller, regional publications.
Some editors also maintain lists of photographers, with sample work, for use if they need a particular style or subject. Again, you'll need to send a query regarding this, be familar with thier articles and style, and/or visit their website.
The cover is often a marketing decision which has little to do with what specifically you send them. I have to be careful with that - I mean that someone else's article may contain a photo that will catch a browser's eye on the newstand, so they will go for that, even though your photos or article might be better.
When you are shooting, try to get a second shot which leaves room for text, and when appropriate, shoot both a horizontal and vertical. Again, this gives the editors more options with your article.
The final price is usually the result of negotiations. FotoQuote gives you a high, low and mid-range price. Those are good starting points. Some magazine also set their own prices and in a way this approach make things simpler. This is the case for National Parks magazine for example.
"For the purpose of publishing I don't even have a ballpark figure in mind. As I already have a day job I am not even looking to eke out the maximum figure. Help! "
Not to be rude, but if you aren't going to ask for market value for your images then why bother selling them? It's an equal amount of work to receive ontime payment for $75 or $750.
Here's a few links to price calculators readily available on the net.
I hope I am not intruding on this bu I'm an amatuer. I would like to tell you what it does to people when you do not go for the best you can get, it lowers everyone else's wages over time.
A little insight for you. I used to be a commercial diver, it's a dangerous job, lots of people have lost life and limb in the name of oil gas power and other sorts of things. Because divers could not stick together over the years, the wages became stale. cost of living has gone up 22% in the last 22 yrs wages for divers went up 1%. All because the young guy coming into the field wanted to do the job so badly he lowered his price! In other words older guys would not dive for less, young guys would come in the field and dive for a 6 pack and a tank of gas, all in the name to call themselves a diver. It kiled much of the industry and many of the older more experienced hands left the industry to do other things that they could make a living at. I know diving and photography doesn't match up but the situation is the same. If you have people low balling prices eventually everyone suffers, your better people leave the field to do something else, quality in the industry suffers.
Thanks for your responses & those very useful link. Regarding the prices, I am not suggesting that because I have other income I am going to undercut market price. Of course I'd like to get top dollar for my work, but at the moment I don't even know what market value is for magazines and this is what the thread is about. However I am not going to waste my time going through long-winded negotiations for a few bucks when I could use that time earning better dollars in my day job or preferably, being out in the field shooting.
Discussion
5 repliesWith respect to your question. Generally, here is the workflow: Go to the publication's website and get the contributer's guidelines. Go to the library and look at the last 2-5 years of of issues and decide what gaps you can fill. Write an article using your photos. Send a query letter to the publisher with a proposal for an article to write (yeah, the one you just more or less finished). Hope they are interested. When you get a yes, send in the article. Hope it does get accepted. Wait 1-6 months for payment.
Usually, your best chances for early articles are with smaller, regional publications.
Some editors also maintain lists of photographers, with sample work, for use if they need a particular style or subject. Again, you'll need to send a query regarding this, be familar with thier articles and style, and/or visit their website.
The cover is often a marketing decision which has little to do with what specifically you send them. I have to be careful with that - I mean that someone else's article may contain a photo that will catch a browser's eye on the newstand, so they will go for that, even though your photos or article might be better.
When you are shooting, try to get a second shot which leaves room for text, and when appropriate, shoot both a horizontal and vertical. Again, this gives the editors more options with your article.
http://www.fotoquote.com/
The final price is usually the result of negotiations. FotoQuote gives you a high, low and mid-range price. Those are good starting points. Some magazine also set their own prices and in a way this approach make things simpler. This is the case for National Parks magazine for example.
Not to be rude, but if you aren't going to ask for market value for your images then why bother selling them? It's an equal amount of work to receive ontime payment for $75 or $750.
Here's a few links to price calculators readily available on the net.
http://ozimages.com.au/stockpricing/calculator.asp
http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm
Good luck.
A little insight for you. I used to be a commercial diver, it's a dangerous job, lots of people have lost life and limb in the name of oil gas power and other sorts of things. Because divers could not stick together over the years, the wages became stale. cost of living has gone up 22% in the last 22 yrs wages for divers went up 1%. All because the young guy coming into the field wanted to do the job so badly he lowered his price! In other words older guys would not dive for less, young guys would come in the field and dive for a 6 pack and a tank of gas, all in the name to call themselves a diver. It kiled much of the industry and many of the older more experienced hands left the industry to do other things that they could make a living at. I know diving and photography doesn't match up but the situation is the same. If you have people low balling prices eventually everyone suffers, your better people leave the field to do something else, quality in the industry suffers.
Just some thoughts on that!
Cheers