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Want to earn more money, while at the same time increasing your chances of selling your story? One of the best ways to entice a hobby and crafts magazine editor to give the "go" assignment on your query is to offer color transparencies or black-and-white photos. As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words". In the writing business, the picture can help sell the story and get the writer a few extra dollars.
It is important to realize that the people who read these magazines like to see as well as read. Being interested in hobbies, crafts, and collecting means they are very visual persons. Much of their creativity and talents is sparked or inspired by what they have seen at a show, work of a friend with similar interest, or what they have seen in a magazine. Including photos with your work is a fairly simple thing, even if you find yourself on the shy side of using a camera.
Of course if you don't own a camera, you will need to purchase one. However, before you run out and spend a small fortune on camera equipment, consider the new compact automatic "point and click...drop film and load" models. The new Kodak Advantix 2000 auto does it all and sells for under $100. It uses the most advanced film of today (use 400 advanced), which you drop in, then close the lid and take pictures. Minolta makes the Family Zoom 35mm model 2435-340, and Cannon has the 80 Tele. Both sell for under $90 and are fully automatic.
If you have experience taking pictures and own a 35mm SLR (single lens refelx) camera, there are some inherent flexiblities. You get to see exactly what will come out on the film before you shoot. For very close-up work of a specific hobby or craft item, the detail is vital. But unless you have been using such a camera for a while, it takes practice when you begin to take photos for publication, as with writing. A little tip: buy your camera at a camera store verses department store. Have your film developed there too. The owner of the camera store will help you learn how to take the best photos once they discover you are a writer and you are doing business in their store. Why will they do this? Simple! They know that if you ever get yourself involved in a really hot article for a big magazine and professional photos are needed, you may give the assignment to them to do the job for you.
Magazine editors need color transparencies (use Kodachrome 64 or Fuji 100, for bright light outdoor, and Kodak Elite II 200 or Fuji Sensia 200 for outdoor or indoor flash). Black & White photos are taken using Kodak T-400 or T-max. If you have a scanner, you can take your photos with regular all purpose high-speed print film (400 asi). Once developed they can then be scanned, provided that the magazine can accept electronic mail. Otherwise you need to mail the pictures or slides to the magazine with your story. You can buy photo mailers at the post office, which keep photos from being wrinkled and can be slipped into the manuscript envelop.
Keep the remaining photos in a reference library booklet. You will soon discover that these photos can be used in other articles.
Should you take pictures then write, or write and then go get your pictures? If you have prepared an outline before you submitted your query letter to the target magazine, you will have a general idea of the more significant aspects of the story. Sometimes taking your photos prior to sitting down to write can stimulate ideas found in the pictures. It is a matter of timing as well. You may have a hobby or craft show in your area and need to attend to get pictures. In this case, you may want to write (at minimum) a rough draft, since there may be some specific photo opportunities at such a show that fit well in the theme of your story.
Your pictures should compliment your words in the article. For instance, if you are simply attending a local hobby & craft show, or collectors show, your photos can be fairly general, wide angle candid shots to show the feeling of the event. You would be surprised how many quick assignments you can get by notifying an editor of a show or event in your town and offering to attend and write a story about it. Offer them photos and you are almost certain to get the nod to go ahead.
For the more technical article, where a specific facet of the hobby or craft is being featured, the pictures need to be more of a show-and-tell nature. In this case you may need equipment that is just a bit more involved. An article on coins and stamps, should you plan to produce some substantial stories in this area, would certainly warrant the purchase of a close up lens to get the fine details of the work. Lay out the object on flat surface, with a white background if the object has color. Place a tripod over the subject, make sure flash is on, then shoot. For a collection, say several needle point pieces, you can set them up on a wall or flat out on a table and shoot the subject from a distance of about 3 to 4 feet. In this case you are not showing close up detail, but rather the flavor of the collection.
Payments range from $5 to $10 for black-and-white 8x10 glossy to $10 to $75 and higher for color transparencies. Some magazines include photo payment as part of manuscript payment and require photos in order to sell the story. If you plan to work diligently in this market, your photo payments can easily pay off some modestly priced camera equipment.
Adding photography to your writing credentials is a smart choice no matter what types of articles you write. For just as each writer becomes a better writer the more he/she writes, so goes the photo work.
The story Photography with Your Hobby and Craft Articles Can Help Sell the Story is Copyright 1998 by Michael Bavota.
The collection of works called Fish Eggs For The Soul is Copyright 1998 by Brian Rickman.
Copy edited by Sara Fawbush, editor of The Young Writer's Collection.