I have a couple article concepts I'd like to submit to some magazines, and was wondering if (like in the science world) there's a particular "prestige" order, or "impact factor", of the various photo magazines that I should take into account when submitting articles. (ie. in science we submit to Nature, then Science, then PNAS, and on down in impact factor, unless we're sure it won't make into the top ).
Any advice on which magazines I should consider "top priority" would be super, and also which ones prefer what kinds of articles. I have both technical, as well as more "philosophical" ideas I'd like to pitch.
I realize I should just spend some time reading some... but any straightforward advice or opinions would be much appreciated
Posted by Dan Borzynski on September 17, 2009 at 10:04 PM
From mathematics, I know what you mean about the hierarchy of journals. There are some that us mere mortals will never publish in
Anyway, I suppose the top dog is National Geographic but that doesn't really help you much. Of the 15 or so photomagazines I look at regularly, there tends to be a wide difference in the level of the anticipated readership and the subject matter which they shoot.
What I'd probably do (and actually did, but then my job went bad before I had a chance to really followup on it ) was to sit down and write out the general pitch used for the article and a decent actual outline/body of the text itself. Then off to Borders, pick up all of the magazines and see which ones best suited what I was thinking of doing. I think the match between the article and the magazine is probably more important than the magazine itself.
Don't forget to read the submission guidelines before proposing an article. These tend to be online now.
Don't get discouraged if they say no. You'll get that far more than a yes.
And last, the rest of us certainly would be happy for any contribution you make here.
Posted by Steve Foss on September 17, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Floris, from your post I'm unclear whether your brainchildren have to do with conducting photography or the results of the art.
If you have articles on the process/inspiration of photography itself to present, the audience/magazine will be different than if you have a destination piece to write accompanied by photographs.
Steve - I have a variety of ideas, including process, inspiration, and destination pieces I want to write. Since I don't have all the time in the world, I don't know which magazines cater to what communities and run what kinds of articles. So I was wondering if you folks who do spend some time reading through the magazines had any suggestions on which magazines you think would (a) be good to submit to in terms of moving forward in photography and getting my name out there (ie. readership/prestige related), and (b) which magazines run what kinds of articles (Dan's suggestion is probably the best answer for that).
I guess a better way to pose my question is, if you could choose 3 or so photography magazines (within the realm of mortals when it comes to submitting material... ie. not NG), which ones would you pick up to leaf through to learn new techniques and get inspired? I guess in the end it's probably best to just submit all over.. so perhaps it's a moot point.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on September 18, 2009 at 7:12 PM
By the way, depending on what exactly the article may contain, you might want to look at art magazines rather than strictly photography, or a subject matter related magazine.
Here's what I make it a point to pick up:
BW
Nature's Best Photography
Nature Photographer
I'll usually thumb through Popular Photography, Outdoor Photographer(y?) and its Canadian counterpart, Amateur Photography (British) and read the stray article. It is mostly for the pictures since the articles tend to repeat after a couple of years, at least in content.
There are a couple of black and white oriented magazines I look at, more for the non-darkroom articles, Digital PhotoPro, a few PS mags, plus a bunch of others that really don't stick in my mind since their contents lie outside of my primary photographic interests. I'll look at them anyway since you never know what you'll find.
I'd probably look at the best fit for an article rather than worrying as much about the magazine itself..
Posted by Chris Rice on December 18, 2009 at 3:44 PM
Floris;
Anything come of this? Thinking of a photographic art/science journal somewhere (Ebscohost, Elsevier, JStor, et. al.)? Our graduate research is allegedly being published in a geographic journal, but we aren't certain of the release. Good luck, and keep us posted sir.
Discussion
6 repliesAny advice on which magazines I should consider "top priority" would be super, and also which ones prefer what kinds of articles. I have both technical, as well as more "philosophical" ideas I'd like to pitch.
I realize I should just spend some time reading some... but any straightforward advice or opinions would be much appreciated
Anyway, I suppose the top dog is National Geographic but that doesn't really help you much. Of the 15 or so photomagazines I look at regularly, there tends to be a wide difference in the level of the anticipated readership and the subject matter which they shoot.
What I'd probably do (and actually did, but then my job went bad before I had a chance to really followup on it
Don't forget to read the submission guidelines before proposing an article. These tend to be online now.
Don't get discouraged if they say no. You'll get that far more than a yes.
And last, the rest of us certainly would be happy for any contribution you make here.
If you have articles on the process/inspiration of photography itself to present, the audience/magazine will be different than if you have a destination piece to write accompanied by photographs.
Might you care to elaborate?
Steve - I have a variety of ideas, including process, inspiration, and destination pieces I want to write. Since I don't have all the time in the world, I don't know which magazines cater to what communities and run what kinds of articles. So I was wondering if you folks who do spend some time reading through the magazines had any suggestions on which magazines you think would (a) be good to submit to in terms of moving forward in photography and getting my name out there (ie. readership/prestige related), and (b) which magazines run what kinds of articles (Dan's suggestion is probably the best answer for that).
I guess a better way to pose my question is, if you could choose 3 or so photography magazines (within the realm of mortals when it comes to submitting material... ie. not NG), which ones would you pick up to leaf through to learn new techniques and get inspired? I guess in the end it's probably best to just submit all over.. so perhaps it's a moot point.
Here's what I make it a point to pick up:
BW
Nature's Best Photography
Nature Photographer
I'll usually thumb through Popular Photography, Outdoor Photographer(y?) and its Canadian counterpart, Amateur Photography (British) and read the stray article. It is mostly for the pictures since the articles tend to repeat after a couple of years, at least in content.
There are a couple of black and white oriented magazines I look at, more for the non-darkroom articles, Digital PhotoPro, a few PS mags, plus a bunch of others that really don't stick in my mind since their contents lie outside of my primary photographic interests. I'll look at them anyway since you never know what you'll find.
I'd probably look at the best fit for an article rather than worrying as much about the magazine itself..
Anything come of this? Thinking of a photographic art/science journal somewhere (Ebscohost, Elsevier, JStor, et. al.)? Our graduate research is allegedly being published in a geographic journal, but we aren't certain of the release. Good luck, and keep us posted sir.