This is the third part of my Getting your craft book published series: in Part 1 – I covered the beginning steps, getting an agent and researching a publisher and narrowing down that big idea! In Part 2 — I talked more about a writer’s platform, writing a proposal and included a bunch of publisher’s links to their online submission guidelines. Today I am going to discuss what happens next … what to expect after you have submitted your proposal and received a positive response.

What happens after your proposal has been accepted?

When you have submitted your proposal to the correct person at the publishing house of your choice, you will need to wait, and wait and wait a bit longer. Generally the person you submitted the proposal to was the acquisitions editor whose job it is to find new books and new authors, they also then champion the manuscript (and the author) to the publisher.

Next the proposal goes to the editorial board — this is made up of the publisher, some editors, and the sales and marketing team, together they discuss the books uniqueness, its financial viability and its marketing capabilities. This board meets regularly to discuss the proposals that are being considered. There will likely be more than a few proposals considered, and not all will get through each round.

If your book is a chosen one, then you move up in the process and you will be assigned an editor, the person who will work closely with you on your book. This is the person who will be your lifeline to the publisher, the photographer and the designer, they will go to bat for you and will put you in your place, they will weigh up your needs and wants against the practicalities of the book publishing world.

Next it is contract time, if you have an agent they will deal with this for you, if not then you need to carefully read through all the points, have a lawyery type friend look it over for you if you can, make sure to ask about anything you don’t understand, royalty payments, digital rights, who pays for and is responsible for photography and illustrations, how much say will you have in the title, design and cover etc…

Payment: Every contract is different, you could be paid a lump sum which is an advance on royalties, or you could be given a set fee without the option of royalties, or you might not be given an advance at all — you may have to wait for a royalty payment until after the book is published.

An advance on royalties is usually paid out in sections, often part on signing and part on completion, and is not enough to quit your day job, it certainly won’t pay for the time you will be putting in, but it may pay for your supplies and tools. This advance on royalties is exactly what is says, it’s an advance on the future earnings of this book and if your book doesn’t ever sell enough to pay out this advance then the chances are you will never see any more money other than this initial lump sum. But if your advance does pay out then you will continue to receive royalty payments for the sales of your book – so it is important to negotiate what percentage on the wholesale price of the book you will receive.

Another to be aware of is that your payment may include the cost of photography (the step by step photos and/or the final beauty shots) and/or the cost of getting illustrations and patterns drawn up. If you can do these yourself or the publisher has budgeted for this then you are ahead, but be sure to ask those questions.

The writing and submitting process

Each editor and publisher is different about how hands on they are with the writing process, some editors will sort of just leave you alone once the contract is signed and until your deadline, other editors will want to see the manuscript at regular intervals and will want more input about your designs and the materials you use, so this is something to make sure to discuss before signing the contract.

The writing of the book can take anywhere from 3 months to a year or even longer, this is something that again will be in your contract and will be a negotiable point — be realistic when you agree to a deadline — writing the book and making all the projects will take longer than you imagine.

Once you have finished writing your book and sent it to your editor, you will then be back and forth with your editor and a copy editor and a technical editor and possibly another technical editor and the designers and illustrators for months and months, it will seem endless, your eyes will glaze over and you will be totally sick to death of reading and rereading your book.

Then the photographer does their magic — you may or may not participate in this step. You may have to organise and pay for the photographer yourself, or the publisher may have a budget for this, or the publisher may want total control over the choice of the photographer. Then the layout and designers do their magic, then the fonts and designs are worked through (again you may not have much say here either).

Finally you get a proof to look over. You have to look carefully — do the photos and illustrations match up? Are all the templates included? By this time there are no major changes allowed — just essential stuff. Then goodbye book — you won’t see it again for a while — months — before finally the book arrives in all its gloriousness on your doorstep — it was all worth it for this moment.

But it’s not over yet — now is the time you have do all that marketing you promised back in your proposal: blog tours, guest blog posts, book launches etc … but don’t worry you will have a publicist that you will work closely with, but you will still need to do a lot of the leg work yourself — use your contacts to get the word out there about your amazing fantastic book and just hope for the best!

More reading:

• Podcasts from Sister Diane: Publishing a Craft Book, with Christina Loff and Kate McKean :: Two Ways to Publish a Craft Book, with June Gilbank.
• Podcast from Paper n stitch: the how-tos for getting a book published with Ellen Luckett Baker.
• Craft buds: Getting an editors attention with Allison Korleski, Acquisitions Editor for Interweave Books and with Tonia Davenport the acquisitions editor at North Light Books :: Interview with Jessica Levitt about her book publishing process.
• Chronicle books: The Grinch Who Opens Your Book Proposal.
• The crafty princess diaries has a whole category on getting published – worth looking through the many posts she has on the subject.
• The Crafty Chica has some good advice on writing a book proposal.
• Susanne Woods from Stash books discusses their publishing guidelines and expectations.
• Croqzine dug up some old glitter discussion archives on getting published – interesting reading.
• Margot Potter has an extensive series on this topic.
• Biz ladies series: How to publish a craft book with meg mateo ilasco.

Similar Posts:

• How to get your craft book published: Part 1 |
• How to get your craft book published: Part 2 |
• Guest blogger series | Introduction to the publishing world |
• book: The Knitgrrl Guide To Professional Knitwear Design |
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In Part 1 of this series I wrote about how to get started on getting published - I covered the beginning steps, getting an agent and researching a publisher and narrowing down that big idea! Today a bit more gritty info – how to build that author platform, write that proposal and some publisher’s submission guidelines to get you started. In part 3 of this series I will be discussing what comes next – negotiating the contract and writing the book.

How to build your author platform

First up what is an author platform and why do you need one?

Publishing books these days has more competition than ever before (internet, ebooks, self publishers etc), so publishing houses, when signing up a new author, need to know that the book you’ve brought to them will sell, they need to know that you already have a fan base and that you are able to self promote your work – this is your platform.

You need a web presence – when a literary agent or potential publisher begins to research you, they’ll google your name to get an indication about your credibility as a knowledgeable person in your field. To get this online presence you’ll need a website linking to articles, publications and projects you have worked on.

You should start a blog and write about your creative process, your projects and share insights about your work. Write guest posts for other blogs and join a social networking group such as twitter or facebook so you can stay in touch with like minded creative folks. Consider making videos and making them available on youtube, teach online e-courses and publish a free e-newsletter.

Your platform doesn’t only live in the virtual world though, teach classes, host events, speak at conferences and at local events, or write for print magazines. You don’t have to do all of these things – begin with what feels right for you … if you have any other ideas please share them in the comments. 

Writers digest has a very thorough article about building your writer’s platform.

How to write a craft book proposal

So you have an idea you have yourself a bit of a platform and you have written a couple of query letters, now you are ready to write that proposal.

Many publishers have their submission guidelines available on their website and the format of these all tend to be a little different … but the basics remain the same. A proposal is a synopsis of the proposed book — yes, but also it is an introduction to you — so you really need to sell yourself at the same time. Here is what you should include in your proposal — but make sure to read each publishers submission guidelines as they all vary slightly.

A few things to remember when writing a proposal: they are long and detailed (20-30 pages on average), writing one will help you hone your idea but make sure not to ramble – be succinct and clear and organised, make sure to get a friend to edit it for you before submitting it.

• Book title and book ‘hook’. You need to sell the book right from the first sentence — what is the hook that will make your book different and unique. Storey publishing give some examples of what a good ‘hook’ is on their submission guidelines.
• Introduction to who you are: What makes you special, unique, interesting. Why are you qualified to write this book? What is your platform (see above). What are your main selling points, discuss your website, your previous projects and writing.
• Introduction to your book idea: Give some background details about how you came to write this book or why you want to write this book — why it’s important and necessary and why others will think so too. This is where you discuss the scope and central themes of your book, the process of creating your book and the primary audience for your book.
• A project and chapter outline of the book: More details about each chapter of the book — yes details, project examples and sample chapters.
• Book promotion. How will you be able to help promote the book? (will you go on book tours, blog tours, promote it through your blog etc…). This is a very important part of the proposal, don’t gloss over this – ultimately the publisher wants to know that they will be able to sell your book. You need to show that you are able to self-promote your book and your work and that you are involved in your community.
• Competing titles. You need to do some research here about other similar books on the market – and why yours is different or special. What is special about your book – and why will it sell – your final sales pitch.
• Inclusions: A cover letter, your resume and some visuals*.

*Sending visuals with a non-fiction design and craft book proposal if very important and you can do this in a couple of ways. First take really good quality photos of your projects (they don’t need to be professional though as the publisher is not expecting you to be a professional photographer), then if you are sending the proposal by mail you will need to print these out and attach to your other documents, or if you are able to send your proposal digitally, then you can either send jpg images as an attachement or design them into a layout (using a photo editing tool) and send the images as a pdf, or upload the images to a private page on your website — this is called a lookbook. Don’t embed the images inside your document as this can make the document unwieldy and the text should be able to carry itself — the images and visuals are extra.

Craft and design book publishers and their proposal guidelines

When researching a publisher that you might like to send your proposal to, you should head to a book store and to their website to get an idea about the kind of books they publish. Don’t waste your time sending your proposal to publishers who don’t publish your kind of book. Make sure that the publisher you choose is a good fit with your aesthetic and with your topic.

• Princeton Architectural Press, require a detailed proposal, they would like to see sample chapters, the introduction and more — they want to really evaluate your writing style and personal voice. They also encourage you to send in visuals, and in fact many publishers will require this — so consider putting together a Lookbook of some kind.
• If you are submitting to more than one publisher at a time then make this clear in your cover letter, Chronicle books submission guidelines state that you should indicate whether your proposal is a simultaneous submission.
• If you are submitting without an agent then most publishers, such as Lark Crafts, prefer to receive a query letter first.
• North Light and Interweave craft publishers, state on their submission guidelines, that they are open to accepting proposals and queries in different formats, you can send them a query with images and they will help you develop your proposal and idea.
• All publishers require you to discuss the marketing of your book in your proposal — big publishers such as Watson-Guptill publications and smaller publications such as Quirk books – all state clearly on their guidelines that the marketing aspect is very important, you’ll need a market analysis, competing titles and how you will be able to help sell the book.
• Storey publishing puts a lot of emphasis on the ‘hook’, make sure that first paragraph really tells a story.
• Shambhala (and their Roost craft/lifestyle imprint) have few specific guidelines (so follow the guidelines laid out above).
• The proposal guidelines with C&T publishing and their Stash books imprint are friendly and helpful, make sure to fill in the questionnaire and contact the acquisitions editor with any questions.
• Australian publishers – Penguin Australia are currently accepting unsolicited manuscripts for their non-fiction Lantern imprint and Allen and Unwin have a very accessible Friday Pitch for unsolicited manuscripts, however they publish very few craft books.
• Cooperative press is a small new craft book publisher who are seeking proposals. Shannon Okey write a guest blog post for whipup about the publishing world and about cooperative press last year.
• Martingale & Company are actively seeking craft book proposals – fill in their online form to receive a proposal package

Tomorrow I will be discussing what happens next as well as giving you lots of resources so you can gain more perspectives on this great topic.

I would love to hear your publishing success or not so successful stories — please feel free to ask any questions you might have too — I will answer them in the comments.Similar Posts:

• How to get your craft book published: Part 1 |
• How to get your craft book published: Part 3 |
• 3 tips on how to build an audience for your craft blog |
• book: The Knitgrrl Guide To Professional Knitwear Design |
• 3 tips for better writing on your craft blog |

I have written a couple of craft books and have written a lot of craft book proposals. I am here to tell you that it is a lot of work, and won’t pay you enough to quit your day job any time soon. But what a published book will give you is confidence to pursue your dreams.

In Part 1 of this series today I will explain how to get started on getting published - I cover the beginning steps, getting an agent and researching a publisher and narrowing down that big idea! In Part 2 I will give a bit more gritty info – how to build that author platform, write that proposal and some publisher’s submission guidelines to get you started. In part 3 of this series I will be discussing what comes next – negotiating the contract and writing the book.

Publishing a book is great for improving your platform, changing the direction of your career, and finding new and interesting opportunities. A year ago I worked for the man (3/4 time) at a magazine, I did the layout and design, it was a great job – very flexible for a working mother, but my creativity was being dampened down and opportunities to move around within the company were nil. On the side I worked on my blog and a book, and then pitched for a second book — I decided it was time to quit the day job and work from home doing some freelance stuff.

It was scary, I took a long time to make that decision, I agonised over it, the whole family discussed nothing else for weeks, months, but finally I just had to make the decision on my own and it was incredible. Straight away I felt free, creative, energised.

As soon as I put myself out there, opportunities came my way — a series of books, some freelance writing and editing and I had more creative time to start up new projects (Action Pack magazine) — I am so on fire! So while that craft book of itself won’t be enough to quit your job — the benefits of unleashing your creativity and being rewarded for it are huge — both personally and professionally — you really can make your own path!

So while I am no expert at this craft book publishing business I do have a few tips and secrets I can let you in on … so read on if you are considering writing a craft book and are wondering where to go to next.

Find a literary agent

Many publishers do not actually accept an unsolicited manuscript*, for example Abrams books (who publish Stewart, Tabori and Chang imprint) do not currently accept proposals without an invitation first. Chronicle books on the other hand do accept unsolicited proposals, however if they are not interested you may not hear back from them.

*An unsolicited proposal is one that you send without an invitation to do so — to get an invitation you need to either 1. go through an agent; 2. write a query letter and get a positive response to forward your proposal; or 3. know someone.

• An agent is also a great sounding board for your ideas, you can pitch your general concepts to your agent who will help you narrow them down and give you some sound advice, if you already have a publisher then you can work with them on your second or third book to narrow down the idea to something you both want to publish. If you don’t already have a publisher, and I am presuming you are reading this because indeed you don’t, then you need to develop your idea and write a proposal.
• Finding an agent. I have been told this is not easy — ask some friends for recommendations, and then send a formal (spell checked) query letter to them: outline who you are, if you have a ‘platform’* and what your book idea is.
• A good agent will also help you refine your proposal, work through your ideas with you, pitch your proposal to various publishers, broker and negotiate a deal, look through your contract and get you a better deal. If you don’t know anything about publishing or contracts then really — an agent is your best friend.

*A writer’s platform is how well you’re known and how big an audience you have, this could be how many blog readers, twitter followers, etsy sales you have, or it could be how many articles you have had published in print or online magazines or websites (all those free tutorials you wrote as guest blog posts on bigger websites count towards your writer’s platform). These days having a writing platform is essential to getting published.

If you don’t have an agent though — all is not lost — you can still write and publish a craft book — it will just require you to do all the legwork yourself.

[Edited to ad: An agent will take a cut of your payment - there is no up front fee - their payment is usually in the form of a percentage of royalties]

Lots of ideas for a book — but you need to narrow it down

So you want to write a craft book, you have a lot of ideas but first you need to do some research and find out which of your ideas is likely to sell: Research the craft blogs, the book stores, etsy and find the gap in the market — find your niche.

• Once you have an idea or two this is where you can discuss it with your agent, or best friend — brain storm the selling points and then write it all down. F+W Publications (North Light imprint) are unique in that they accept half formed ideas and are prepared to work with you to develop your idea.
• Now research your publisher and send out a query letter*. Check their guidelines and contact the correct person, make sure to write a formal letter without any spelling mistakes — eek! Check it twice, get a friend to edit it for you – this is your first impression. You can send out multiple query letters to several publishers that you think would be interested. On the Lark Crafts website, they state that they like to receive a query letter before you send in a proposal and if they are interested to know more they will request a full detailed proposal.

*A query letter is a brief of your proposal: you should explain your idea in detail, the main theme, the audience, the techniques you will cover, what projects will be included. You will also need to include your resume, your skills, your ‘platform’. What is your expertise, give examples of your writing and any previous publications. Include relevant posts from your blog or links online to your work as well.

Now visualise your book: You don’t need to write it yet, but you do need to narrow down a few things:

• The title and the concept are important to give you and the publisher a first impression of what this book will be about — and who it is aimed at. This is the ‘hook’.*
• A chapter breakdown will help you organise the book, and give the publisher an idea about what to expect. This is where you give your book its bones — how will your organise the book — difficulty levels, themes, materials — how many projects, how difficult are they, how many variations will you make.
• Project samples: get making, make a few projects and see how they fit, photograph the instructions, write out instructions, what level of instruction are you going for — how skilled are the readers of this book — will you be providing photographic steps or will you rely on illustrations?

*A hook is a catchy phrase, an attention getting sentence intended to instantly grab the readers attention and reel them in. This hook can be a personal anecdote, an interesting fact, an amusing quote or a challenging question.

Tomorrow I will discuss writing your proposal, give some publishers resources and tell you what happens next! Feel free to ask questions in the comments and I will answer either in the comments or in tomorrows post.Similar Posts:

• How to get your craft book published: Part 2 |
• How to get your craft book published: Part 3 |
• 3 tips on how to build an audience for your craft blog |
• book: The Knitgrrl Guide To Professional Knitwear Design |
• 3 tips for better writing on your craft blog |

Since starting up my own kids e-mag, I have become aware of the whole e-magazine world. I knew of many of these e-mags before – but suddenly everyone is doing one! Many of them are free to you the reader, and the publishers can do this because they are funded by advertising. Other mags (like mine) have a minimal price tag attached with no advertising.

Here are a whole slew of e-mags from all over – mostly design, fashion, craft related – you know – gorgeous visual stuff!

Craft / how-to / diy e-mags

1. Fat quarterly - ($8) is a quarterly quilt magazine.
2. Knit circus - articles and knitting patterns.
3. Toffee mag – ($2.99) DIY craft and lifestyle.
4. Rhythm of the home – eco and family craft.
5. Nuno magazine - ($3.95) gorgeous style and craft and diy projects.
6. Craft sanity - ($5) – knitting and craft projects.
7. Inspired ideas - The crafty life.
8. Knitty.com - Knitting patterns.
9. Twist collective – Knitting patterns and articles.
10. Bustle and sew magazine - ($4.50) Cute sewing patterns

For kids

1. Alphabet glue - ($4) – Making books and reading inspiration. (ad free).
2. Action Pack - ($5) – Craft, cooking, science and diy project for kids to make independently (ad free).
3. Wonderwonderland - (€5) – Partly interactive online kids mag for little kids and parents to explore together. (ad free).

Cooking / lifestyle e-mags

1. Sweet Paul Magazine – a bit of cooking and a bit of entertaining.
2. MAEVE Magazine - Intelligent, street smart lifestyle mag with a bit of diy and cooking thrown in.
3. 79 ideas – craft, cooking and lifestyle.
4. Delish Magazine – craft, cooking and life issues for the modern woman.

Design / interiors / fashion e-mags

1. Matchbook mag – lifestyle, fashion and all things glam for the about town girl.
2. Est - Australian design magazine.
3. Fryd Design - gorgeous Scandinavian interiors, design and little diy inspiration. (English version too).
4. Lonny Mag – fashion and style.
5. Viva la moda - fashion and diy.
6. Neet magazine - Eco fashion and style for groovy young thangs.
7. Joie - Style and fashion mag – with a bit of diy thrown in.
8. Styled - Gorgeous design.
9. Covet Garden - non-styled real life interiors.
10. Adore magazine - Australian based home and interior design mag.
11. Rue mag - design and lifestyle

Parenting and kids style mags

1. Papier Mache - Australian style and fashion mag – dreamy magical kids styling.
2. Small magazine - Gorgeous children’s photography and styling, a tiny bit of diy inspiration too.
3. La petite - life and design for parents with children – more about parenting than about children.
4. Babiekins - Kids fashion.
5. lmnop - babies and kids design and fashion.
6. Modern handmade child - diy and patterns to make accessories and clothing for children.
7. Tiny and little magazine - for parents wanting to cook and create with their little kids
8. Connect2Mums - parenting and motherhood magazine for Australian and New Zealand mothers

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Today I am happy to welcome Fabric Designer Lizzy House to Whipup.

I have designed fabric professionally now for 4 years, and since then, things have changed. When I started approaching manufacturers I was the only kid at the show. 21 years old with a bow in my hair; I was still in school, I’m not married, I have no children, I was an anomaly to the industry in 2006. Quite a few things have changed since then. The market has become much more saturated with “young” designers, giving peeps involved in this Modern Sewing movement a greater opportunity to find fabric that interests them. In my opinion all of these are great things. The one twist, that I’d like to discuss today, is about becoming a designer in this changing climate. Whether it be because of the industry, the scarcity of cotton, or the bumbling economy, manufacturers are taking on fewer new designers.

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for you, if designing fabric is something that you want to do. What it means, is that you have to come to the table fully prepared.

Here are a few specifics to help you get on your way:

1. Your work has to be unique and original. Manufacturers are looking for new. It can’t be your impression of someone else’s work. It needs to be fresh and from your perspective. Take a look at what is out there and see if there is something that you can twist to fill a hole in what’s already available.

2. You need to keep a blog that other people follow. Manufacturers are now looking for people with a built in following. As tacky as that might sound, it makes perfect sense. When they are investing time and serious dollars into you, they need to know that you are a safe bet. So work on building up your internet street cred.

3. Beyond having a blog, your work needs to be out there. Whether you are licensing your artwork, printing and selling with SpoonFlower, or selling it in your etsy shop. Manufacturers need to be able to get an idea of who you are, and you want a sales team to be able to get behind you, just by googling you.

4. Back everything up with confidence and passion. If you believe in your work, it becomes easier for other people to believe in it.

These four things are a good start to helping you get your foot in the door in the Textile World in the Quilting Industry. But what about other fields? Say you are looking to publish a book. A publisher is essentially in the same exact position as a fabric manufacturer. They are just printing books instead of fabric. So you can apply these four points to any end of the craft industry for better success.

If you are looking to find out more about the textile industry you can check out my ebook How to Enter the World of Textile Design for the Quilting Industry.

And if you are hoping to become a published author, you can check out this really helpful post from acquisitions editor for Stash Books Susanne Woods on the Sew Mama Sew blog, and a thoughtful podcast about ins and outs of publishing at CraftyPod. Similar Posts:

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Printed Pattern: Printing by Hand from Potato Prints to Silkscreen by Rebecca Drury. A & C Black Publishers Ltd (2010)

Mother and daughter team, Yvonne and Rebecca Drury, produce their own wallpaper range, inspired by midcentury design, they first draw their designs by hand and touch them up with Illustrator, before they are printed on low-impact paper with non-toxic dyes. They have simplified their process for the home print-maker, and take the reader through step-by-step showing how to create the design through to various printing techniques and running repeats.

This book is beautifully laid out, photographed and written, with inspiring simple designs, interesting ideas and fun techniques. Print onto ribbon with your own hand-made rubber stamps, print a border design on your pants with a lino-print, make your own wall-paper with vintage wood-block prints, or screen-print your own fabric to create unique upholstery covers for your couch!

With some beautiful templates in the back of the book, this book is not only a great resource of printing techniques, but a lovely design source as well!

[PS. this book is not yet available in the US, however you can purchase it online from Amazon UK, and in Australian it is distributed through Allen and Unwin You can get more a glimpse inside this book here. The authors Yvonne and Rebecca Drury are a mother and daughter team you can find out more from their website MissPrint. ]Similar Posts:

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The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design, by Shannon Okey, Cooperative Press (June 2010), is a gem of a book (dare I say essential resource – aka – bible?) for all designers – knitwear, crochet and even sewing designers – so much of this information is common sense, learned through years of experience. This no-nonsense practical advice is an amazing resource for all designers who want to be published.

Shannon’s guidelines to being a professional …
✔ be professional in emails, phone calls and all forms of communication.
✔ deadlines are not negotiable.
✔ negotiate in good faith.
✔ Your peers can offer advice, but you are responsible for your own business.
✔ business is business. it is not personal.
✔ Follow through when you commit.

A whole chapter on social media (facebook, twitter, blogs + ravelry), is very useful – its a whole new world out there. “Can you afford NOT to be on Ravelry? As a designer, I cannot think of a more targeted place for you to find potential business, whether it’s by selling pattern downloads, or advertising your work.” and this “Knitters and crafters in general are sociable people. We like to create communities, be they online discussion lists or in-person knit nights. Twitter lets knitters ‘talk’ to their favorite designers, yarn stores and brands.” and about facebook “I put Facebook in the category of “can’t hurt, might help,”” Another chapter on the business side of things – tax and organisation but most interesting in this section is finding additional revenue streams that you might have overlooked (teaching, testing patterns, writing for magazines etc), and how mixing up your revenue streams is a also a great way to increase your exposure and act as a marketing tool. “Five dollars here and there may not seem like much for a pattern that took 50 hours to create, but it adds up quickly! However, there are other methods for earning money as a designer that can both augment your pattern design business and create additional revenue streams that will build up over time into a regular, somewhat predictable source of income.”

Useful information on lawyers, copyright, agents and contracts is essential reading. “I hope you’ll never encounter a situation where a lawyer is needed rather than recommended, but it’s best to be prepared in case you encounter a tricky copyright issue or even something pleasant, such as a contract to design for a magazine or book!”

Then onto the knitty gritty of actually how to write patterns, establishing a format, learning how to create charts, which design software is best, how to create technical illustrations, and sourcing tech editors and test knitters. “One of the most important things to do when you first begin to write patterns is to establish a stylesheet for yourself. In fact, it’s one of the criteria on which you are judged when applying for membership in the Association of Knitwear Designers!.” Selling is always something that designers struggle with – wholesale v’s retail prices, learn about digital editions, and using paypal. “Before you can start creating patterns to sell, you need to know about your potential market(s) and other factors that will influence how you produce your pattern line. “

But what every designer wants is a publishing contract – getting an agent, creating a platform, writing a proposal and lots more. “Unlike the fiction market, the knit-writ- ing sphere is a lot smaller and more open to newcomers. You aren’t always going to end up in a ju- nior sub-editor’s slush pile…in fact, you might end up speaking directly to your future editor at a trade show or other event long before you write your first proposal. But if you have a difficult time with proposals, or find yourself so busy you can’t keep up, having a great agent on your side is an invaluable asset.” Here is some good advice “Publishers are more and more focused on platform and unwilling to take a risk on someone ‘unknown,’ so advances are lower and it’s harder to secure contracts. Understanding the marketplace and working with your agent to create as compelling a proposal as possible is key. Also, the publisher may ask you to jump through some hoops before signing you up. Even if you’ve sold scores of designs to magazines etc, they may still ask you to send them some actual garments, and/or some of the pat- terns. If you really want the book deal, you should do it.””

Along with interviews and plenty of anecdotes, real examples, and lots of links to looks up – I have to put this book in the must have category – if you are a knitwear designer – or want to be – then this book is must for you! Seriously!Similar Posts:

• How to get your craft book published: Part 1 |
• Guide to fabric design online |
• How to get your craft book published: Part 2 |
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Two wonderful books have recently come my way that I just had to share with you. Are you a freelancer, a home business craft-preneur, a sole trader diyer or trying to make it as an artist? Well you need these two books.

Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business by Joy Deangdeelert Cho + Meg Mateo Ilasco. Chronicle Books; 1 edition (July 28, 2010).

The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line by Kari Chapin. Storey Publishing, LLC (February 27, 2010).

Creative inc is an interesting informative read for those in the illustration freelance business – whether just starting up or at a stage where you are thinking of expanding and growing – this book is a practical and down to earth handbook for those in this industry. Very useful chapter on getting an agent is worth getting the book just for this alone. Most of the business nitty gritty is pretty universal although the tax stuff is for a US audience – I still think that those in other countries will benefit from reading this book too. With interviews from those working in this industry – there are some real insights into what its really like to be a freelancer.

The Handmade marketplace – apart from being a super cute book filled with wonderful illustrations – this book is also super informative and helpful. Crammed full of advice from selling your wares online to how to take photos and market your products to branding, blogging and building community. Also filled with snippets of ‘true stories’ from real life bloggers and creative types – this book is a must have.Similar Posts:

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don’t cha just love a downloadable design from some fellow groovy blogger. Something you would never have thought of, or didn’t have time to do. Like jam labels, and school lunch box love notes, and party thank you notes and list templates – and and and… the list goes on – enjoy … do you have any to add?

Labels
kitchen decal labels
jam or favor labels
canning labels
food expiration labels
jar labels
lots of jam and canning labels here
birthday cake toppers
color coded labels
martha stewart 50 printables
property of… labels
plant markers
paint can swatch labels

Notes / cards / tags / stationary / party kits / invitations
Sweet little notes
bus-driver gift tag
lunch box notes
vintage cute cards
bunting thank you card
striped birthday favor box
The prettiest thank you / gift tags
sewn with love label
canning party invitation
treat bag
cupcake wrapper
back to school party
party cake topper
mothers day gift cards
sweet gift tags
mushroom stationary
seed pack tags
airmail stationary
random acts of kindness card
baby announcement cards

Lists / charts / planner
menu and to-do list to help you get organised for event planning
printable to-do list
youngster yardstick for girls
chore chart
menu planner
lets get fit cards
cook book markers
to do list
children’s vital details cards
meal planner

color-in / games / decoration / book plate / bookmark / toys
I love this paper city - all ready to color in
mark my words bookmark
bunting
castle peeps book plates
icecream safari booklet
paper dolls
ready to color-in piggy bank
ready to color-in puppet theatre
summer fruit punch bookmarks
the cutest bookmarks
rainbow party kit
alphabet bunting
little packets
pink paper fawn
activity sheets
little houses
thread bobbins
sewing cards
paper doll
strawberries
kids printable address book
printable stickers
greek alphabet blocks

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Michelle sent in the link to a pattern worksheet she has devised: I have a free measurement worksheet available for download on my blog. There is a lot of info on the internet for taking your measurements, but I couldn’t find a worksheet you could fill in with the info, so I made one.

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