The Secret To Getting Published in Magazines

Whether you are a model or a photographer - or a make-up artist, stylist, or so on - you will at some point in your career benefit from getting published. This normally means working on a fashion editorial, commercial photography, advertisement, or feature, to be published in one of a multitude of places: a magazine, a newspaper, a website, a catalogue, and so forth.

Getting published is a goal to reach for, and it feels great to achieve it for the first time. But that journey can be a long one, as a set is rejected multiple times. Here’s the secret to achieving it:

1. Study up on requirements

All publications have different requirements, and it pays to know them. Magazines need a certain number of looks, and may have restrictions based on their particular style or a monthly theme. For almost all other types of work that can be published, it will be commission-based: in other words, you are paid to do the shoot from the off. In this case you must study the requirements of your client carefully.

2. Deliver great results

A mediocre shoot does not deserve to be published. If the images are not great, go back to the drawing board and start again. This also applies to your post-production skills! Once you have a shoot which is around the standard of the other images published in the same magazine or etc, gather together a collection of the best according to the number requirements.

3. Follow instructions carefully

Particularly when submitting to a magazine, follow all of the instructions very carefully. These instructions are given to ensure that the right person sees the submission, they have all of the information they need to make a decision, and they can go ahead with putting your work into a layout as soon as possible. If you fail to follow instructions, your work may be lost - or they may simply delete it when they see that it has not been dealt with properly.

4. Respond quickly

Once the magazine decides that they want your work, normally you will need to send the high-resolution images over as soon as possible. Do not delay on this or on responding to any questions asked. Magazines are created to tight deadlines and if you miss the boat, you won’t make the cut. It will only be your own fault!

5. Share and save

Make sure that you share the magazine on your social media pages, and be sure to add the tear sheets to your portfolio. Your portfolio can act as a photographic CV, showing everyone what you are capable of. If someone sees that you have been published in a high-quality magazine, more work could be coming your way as a result!