Rachel-Elise
Posts: 1,302
Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv, Israel
I've never, ever even heard of this, but haven't submitted to soooo many places... is this something that you encountered? If so, which magazine was it?
Mike Mahoney
Posts: 14
Saint John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
I encountered it with InstituteMag on a pictorial I submitted .. their cost is about $300US. But that cost may well vary according to how well known the photographer & others associated with the shoot are.
This was my first fashion pictorial submission so I was totally unaware of any costs being involved. I have had some of my non-fashion (travel, sports) photos published and usually received a few dollars for it. So I was very surprised to see a fee.
It happens when your interest to publish this piece is bigger than the magazine's interest to buy it...
Stuff from PR agencies is provided free of charge. Because companies want to get into the magazines with their stuff. So it was just a matter of time until the first publishing house got the idea to charge for publishing PR material.
Those who are able to fill their pages with PR material for which they can collect cash do not need to pay you for your submission.
A few are trying it on these days and if they're guaranteeing publication in return then I see it as a bad sign that the mag is valuing revenue over quality of content.
It's one thing to be 'picky' about which free images you publish - that should hopefully at least provide a strong editorial voice and lead to good quality within the parameters set. However, asking people to pay to be published is no better than selling space to the highest bidder and quality will inevitably suffer.
As for the mags who ask you to pay just to submit with no promise of publication, I guess it's a way of setting themselves apart from the thousands of other magazines which accept submissions but I'm sorry, even if it were Italian Vogue I'm not prepared to pay just for the 'privilege' of having somebody look at my work.
Mike Mahoney wrote: I encountered it with InstituteMag on a pictorial I submitted .. their cost is about $300US. But that cost may well vary according to how well known the photographer & others associated with the shoot are.
This was my first fashion pictorial submission so I was totally unaware of any costs being involved. I have had some of my non-fashion (travel, sports) photos published and usually received a few dollars for it. So I was very surprised to see a fee.
Institute are pulling this all the time, without rhyme or reason. For me it was like 75€ for a whole series, at which point I said they have good design but absurd policy. I unliked their page, turn off notifications, and hope to not see much in the way of their online magazine.
In any case never pay for online, if print, you might want to.
I just got back from looking at all the glossy magazines. Many were >10€ and far beyond. Many are non paid submission. Some looked really good. Others no.
I strongly recommend photographers at least on this policy to stick together and not support any venue doing so.
I've seen a blog charge a submission fee. The thing is, it has some really good work in it. Makes me wonder if those people are actually paying because if so, that's kinda disturbing.
Just another variation on "vanity" publishing. You can be an published author, play-write, movie screenwriter, exhibited artist, try out for pro teams, get a patent, and yes, a published fashion photographer. If you have the money to support the project, there are plenty of people who will make your dream come true.
So we're supposed to have the concept, do the makeup, assemble the wardrobe, do the hair, secure the location, shoot the images, edit the images, *and* pay for the privilege of allowing them to use our work to sell magazines and make money? That's crazy. lol
Herman Surkis
Posts: 6,219
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Neil Snape wrote: Institute are pulling this all the time, without rhyme or reason. For me it was like 75€ for a whole series, at which point I said they have good design but absurd policy. I unliked their page, turn off notifications, and hope to not see much in the way of their online magazine.
In any case never pay for online, if print, you might want to.
I just got back from looking at all the glossy magazines. Many were >10€ and far beyond. Many are non paid submission. Some looked really good. Others no.
I strongly recommend photographers at least on this policy to stick together and not support any venue doing so.
There's been 'pay to play' as a dubious practice for many many years, for vendors in the more corrupt business sectors (like government). So I'm not surprised that the magazine industry might try it. The only way to fight this kind of thing is 'just say no' - but there will always be those that have plenty of money and see it as actually a business benefit, that lowers the competition.
But corruption by any other name...
Abi Hill
Posts: 431
Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
Slightly Off-Topic but I know Supermodels Unlimited (or SU) magazine actually charges models to appear - lots of girls on the Pageant circuit here have paid about £400 to appear in a magazine that's actually not all that 'known' here.
Is SU quite well known stateside? If it is and they have designs on conquering America I could maybe see why they did it, but for £400 i'd rather pay a bloody good photographer to get some amazing shots of me for my portfolio to use to submit to agencies there. Or put it to the flight money to attend open calls.
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