We know submitting your creative ideas and designs to a magazine can be daunting. Any time we put ourselves out there it can feel overwhelming. This handy approach will remove some of the overwhelming process and give you a clear path to submitting your creative ideas.
Often, magazines will have some outline of what they expect from you for a great proposal and that makes it easy because you instantly know what is expected. Usually, it will be a combination of some of these elements, but we recommend that you include everything on this list in your write-up. More information will set you apart and make you look prepared and professional and that’s never a bad thing.
While you can always add to what you are submitting, never skip something a magazine has made a point to require. This will likely result in automatically taking yourself out of the running.
By following our helpful guide and checklist, you can focus on the creative and not be overwhelmed by the process.
You can create the proposal in whatever software you are comfortable with, but unless otherwise stated by the magazine, should always be submitted in pdf format. You can print out the below check-list and use it every time you’re ready to submit a new design!
building a great proposal: checklist for magazine submissions
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Be sure to have your name and contact information clearly showing on each page of the submission. We suggest adding it to the footer so it is formatted for each new page. Make sure to be consistent and use the name you are submitting your design under, whether that be a personal or business name.
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Basic information about the pattern’s structure and design, how it fits within the prompt, theme or mood board, and the materials you recommend. While some magazines will allow you to use the same yarn you’ve used for any swatches or the yarn you’ve requested for the design, others will have arrangements with yarn companies advertising within their pages that require them to use certain materials. Be prepared to have your yarn base switched, but acknowledge the qualities you’d prefer for your design in this section. For example, if you need a round, bouncy, mostly-wool yarn for cables, make that clear in your proposal.
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Drawings, schematics, or images that show your intention for fit, texture, and style. Not everyone is a great artist who is a great designer, and that’s okay, but you need to include some indication of what you are making.
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A swatch and color suggestion. If you need to make the swatch in a different color or alternative color so that it shows your textures properly, that’s definitely okay, but include notes about other colors you’d like to see or suggest for the pattern.
bonus tips…
Make sure to note any preferences the magazine has about submission length. Some will ask you to include your submission on only a single-page PDF, in which case you need to be careful about how you present your information and how much you include.
If you are submitting in a single-page PDF, use the layout to your advantage to tell a story of your design.
To really stand out from the crowd, we recommend using platforms like Canva or Adobe to create a template for your submission process. Copy the above prompts into your template and in a few easy clicks you’ll be ready every time a new submission opportunity comes!
