Motivation Revisited
After taking a few deep breaths, the Photographer’s Market book has been reopened with a little more confidence. Unfortunately, how I feel about my photos doesn’t affect whether or not these publications will take them. I might be able to say with infinite certainty that I will never be able to sell images to Ft. Myers Magazine or the Journal of Adventist Education. Regardless, after meticulously reading every detail of the consumer publication, newspapers and newsletters, and trade publications sections, I have found a handful to submit to. My favorite of these: one famously amazing Dog Fancy.
Maybe I’ve fallen into a certain style. Maybe I just haven’t had enough experience to photograph certain situations. I just wish there was a publication out there called “Really Neat Portraits Monthly”. Or “Nobody You’ve Heard of Fashion just for Photography Reasons Magazine”.
It’s still a lot harder than it should be. Lots of people want slides or tearsheets that I just don’t have. This book is very valuable in the sense of teaching me what is needed in professionally approaching hopeful buyers. It’s not as frustrating when you realize that the book can’t tell you how to get to that level, only what to do when you are there. Getting to that level is what takes so much time that can’t be avoided. It’s the line that sucks.
