Published?

[Former_Member]

I recently was contacted by a publishing company asking if I would be interested in making a piece to go into a pattern book they are republishing as an updated edition. They are willing to pay me for the item and ship it back to me once they are done taking pictures for the book. They pay for the item AFTER they get it and it is approved to be in the book. SInce I have to send my fabric choices via photo before starting the item I have been told they are pretty sure they would accept it. Has anyone ever dealt with this situation? Does it sound like normal procedure? Did it help your sales in anyway being able to advertise that your items was used in such book? Im looking for some insight and if anyone has been in the situation. I feel like its a great opportunity but I have no idea if its going the way it normally does when you are published. Any insight would help! Thanks in advance

[CatherineMarissa]

Being published did not help my sales. I was published in a book of tutorials. The target market would be other jewelrymakers and I rarely sell my work to others in the same field. I did get a few emails related to the publication, but those were from people looking for specific materials.

I was paid after receipt of my item by the company. Seems standard. From their perspective, they could pay you for the item and then you could flake and not send your work. I've only sent work in once it is accepted for publication, but never to be considered for publication.

Also, make sure you have a contract.

[Former_Member]

" From their perspective, they could pay you for the item and then you could flake and not send your work."

- but isn't that exactly what every single person who ever buys something online does? ... pays for it, and expects the seller to send the item :O

[CatherineMarissa]

Sure.

That being said, I think there is a difference between an "unknown" buyer on the internet and a well known publishing company. The contract would be their payment up front, in a sense. They go into an agreement with the artist that the artist will be paid once the work is received.

[WintergreenDesign]

I was contacted to design an item for a book. The wanted something I had done before but I went ahead and designed it and wrote the directions and made a couple templates etc. The payment I received would be based upon the amount of editing they had to do. I sent it into them and had a coulple of people make it based on my instructions and sample I had sent. It all worked out fine. I was paid the top amount eligible, they sent back my samples and I received 3 books once it was published. It did nothing for my sales here but I hope that it will help when I choose to publish my own book of designs (though I can't put that one in the book because I don't own the rights to it anymore... so make sure that you retain the rights to the patterns if your choose to proceed. Plus it's kind of cool to see my stuff in a book : )