Getting work published in a magazine spread is somewhat a rite of passage for most successful fashion photographers, models and creatives. The competition is often fierce. Each photo is analysed and scrutinised to every corner before they are selected. Truth be told, your work won’t get in unless it’s of certain quality. Therefore, to have your work published is a real achievement and a sign of acknowledgement of your work.
So how do you actually get your work published? Well, here are some hints and tips for you, so pay attention.
1) Read the submission guidelines and follow their instructions
Every submission based magazine will include some sort of submission guidelines. The information is right there on websites and social media. It won’t take you more than 5 minutes to go through. Don’t be lazy, find it and READ IT before sending a message asking how to submit. It really puts a negative first impression on you as a professional if you can’t be bothered. I cannot stress this enough.
There’s really no point reading the guidelines and then do something completely different to what the editors are asking for. Some magazines are super strict and will delete your submission right away. So pay attention, follow the instructions. Keep to the deadlines. If it’s not clear and you have a specific question, then its right to ask.
2) Look at the mood boards if provided
If the magazine editors actually took time to make a mood board for their issues, they obvious have put some thought into what kind of work they are looking for. Look at them, take inspiration but do not copy them. Magazines are always looking for something unique, inventive and creative. If your submission bears some resemblance to the mood board, I guarantee you your success rate has just tripled.
3) Team up and collaborate
Several people joining forces to make something creative often look more impressive than one person doing everything. Yes, that one super person can do everything, but in reality, many high end commercial / fashion shoots involve tons of people, and it’s very unlikely that one person can excel in all parts of a creative shoot. Networking is key in the fashion photography business. It opens door to many opportunities and insider knowledge of what is happening in the industry. Working with people who have already been published in the magazine may just give you that extra credibility. Often these creatives already have some understanding of the aesthetics of the magazine. So get out there, make friends and collaborate. You might not have a huge budget, but if your work is good enough, people will likely join you if your concept is good. Choose your team wisely. Quality work of course will put you above the crowd.
4) Plan, plan and plan
Planning is crucial to the success of a shoot. Apart from Afi, there are also a few submission based magazines out there. Do some googling for these magazines and keep a list. Remember each magazine have a different style and you want to tailor your shoot to them. Again, look at their mood boards. The more time you and your team have to bounce and refine ideas, the more likely the end result will reflect your efforts. Sometimes you want to look at the themes of the magazine several months ahead. For an editorial, you want to shoot several looks (usually the more the better) and make them connect. Different poses, backgrounds, crops will make your editorial more interesting. You also have to think about potential layouts of the magazine; putting your subject bang in the middle in your landscape composition will make the photo unusable as the subject will be in the spine of the magazine in print. Remember an editorial is like a story, it should be cohesive and send off a vibe, a mood and create a lasting memory for the viewers.
4) Think like an editor when you shoot
Think like an editor when you shoot. That is to think about the compositions of your shots. Most magazine would prefer portrait orientated shots as compared to landscape ones because it takes up less pages and you can fit more photos in to the magazine. The second important point is when you shoot in portrait orientation you have to allow room for cropping. The standard magazine size is 4x3 (as to the conventional 4x6 size in a default camera shot). So shooting a little wider allows you (or the editor) to crop it to fit the magazines physical size. The third thing about composition is think about the actual spine of the magazine. You should avoid shooting with the subject right in the middle of your composition, because that shot can no longer be used in a double spread as the subject will end up in the spine of magazine. Even better is if you think about where headings and titles can potentially go. Editors have an eye for those and will be happy to use them. After composition, think about the poses. Editors like to see a mixture of full length, three quarter lengths and portrait in an editorial. Different crops and poses will make the story more interesting, so do think about each shot carefully. The last thing is your wardrobe. Great wardrobe and accessories make the editorial richer with more content. The more looks and the more highend your wardrobe the better but its not always a must and definitely is not easy to pull. That is why a great stylist will make and break your editorial story. Making sure your editorial shoot meet all the above will no doubt increase your chance of your shoot being accepted (and potentially get more pages in the spread!)
6) People love seeing behind the scenes
Lots of magazines including Afi love behind the scenes. This can be videos or photos. People just love seeing what goes on behind the curtains and it really is a pleasure seeing another side of the photoshoot. So bear this in mind when you do your shoot and try get some quality behind-the-scenes footage and tell the editor you have these available when you submit. These may not be published in the actual magazine but have a good chance to be shared on their social media.
7) Keep it a secret
It is extremely temping to share your work straight away after a shoot, but many magazines now put preference to exclusivity. It might be ok to share the work with your own team, but certainly not the whole world before it is even published. Yes, it might take weeks to months before they are actually released by the magazine, but that is the decision you have to make before even submitting. Make sure you keep your team informed of the waiting times so no one gets upset.
8) Don’t cc your submission to every magazine in the world
What editors hate to see is your submission email CC’ed to ten other magazines with it. That really loses the exclusivity and most likely it will be discarded straight away if the magazine asked for exclusive content. It would be best to send your work to another magazine only when it is declined, otherwise you risk loosing all your submissions if you are found out. Magazine editors do have a black-list, and they tend to be in the same circle, so there is a good chance they will hear about it.
9) Establish a rapport with magazine editors
It’s always nice to establish a professional rapport with the editors. Be friendly in your emails. Don’t just say “here are some photos, now publish me”. Instead, in your submission email, refer to their mood board, or similar shoot that was published that gave you inspiration. Give a background about your shoot and why it suits the magazine. Don’t write a huge long essay; editors don’t have time to read it. Do a little research into who the editors and decision makers are before you submit. Address your submissions to the editor by name is always a good start. A little small talk is no harm. Especially after the publication is released, keep a friendly contact. Share your publications and tag the magazine to get noticed. Returning creatives who have established a good rapport with the magazine do have a better chance of getting published again.
10) Don’t give up, keep trying
Sometimes despite all the above, your work may still get rejected. This is a very common thing so do not take it to heart. You have got to love your work and keep trying. There are many reasons why your submission may not have got accepted. Your work might be technically amazing and well executed but the style might just not fit the magazine. (Remember it has to fit the theme if there is one). Some magazine will provide feedback but most of them don’t nowadays unless you paid for it. Yes, it can be disappointing to get rejected, but don’t give up. One last thing, we are strongly against people paying to get their work published by magazines. You should work hard to reach the industry quality, and your work should speak for itself.
To submit to Afi - make sure to check out our submission guidelines or visit the submission portal on Kavyar! Good Luck!