I've managed to make it to the front cover of a magazine again! It's the second time I've been on the front of Woodcarving magazine!
My articles make up the first 21 pages of this issue.
To start with there's the guest editor welcome page, always a fun one to write and I like to try to tie it in to the children if I can, my way of showing them off a little bit.
The second bit is the article about my carved harvest basket. I ended up selling this and I was surprised when it sold within 24 hours of listing it (probably means I under priced it).
Then there is an interview with Barn The Spoon, respected spoon carver, which I organised. It's a shame I didn't get to do this in person, but it's fun none the less.
My final article is one that I had published in Furniture and Cabinet maker a few years aback about my carved workbench and how I went about carving the strapwork on it.
But please don't go thinking this makes me a lot of money. I wish it did but the magazine work is more a labour of love. For the cover, the guest editor letter, the interview and two articles I got paid £400, probably barely making minimum wage with the effort and time I put in. This is the reason I often sell each and every project I feature in an article, to try to make the time pay anyway I can.
I really wish freelance writing like this paid better, it does increase my authority in the fields I work though, so there is that, and it's exposure for what I do, but compared to what I can make in the same time as a carpenter it's not great. It is flexible work though and helps my workload fit around the children.
This set of articles takes me to just under 90 articles I've written published.
Anyone else been on a magazine cover or in an article?
So are you their pin up lad, the biggest problem with things you make yourself is how to price, if you use the true value, time plus materials plus design, you would be vastly overpriced.
ReplyDeleteYeah Pricing stuff is always hard. I don't get to set the price with the magazines, or even how fast they pay my invoices. I get paid as they get published, so normally about 4 or 5 months after I've written it.
DeleteOh my goodness, you're getting more famous by the minute - I can now say 'I knew him before he became famous'! Lovely photo, your wife is a good photographer, I hope she got the credit for that too. Page 3 next, haha!
ReplyDeleteHaha, as far from famous as is humanly possible. I seem to have a good social media following, a small number but those that do are very loyal! I'm lucky in that way.
DeleteWow, guest editor! That's fantastic. At least they paid you something! My inquiries from magazines to write articles always include, "we can't pay you, but you'll get lots of exposure." I did do some trades with Goat Rancher to trade the articles for advertising for my books. So that was something.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've done a few for free early on but try to avoid it. I put so much effort into each that I really need to be paid for my time. You should be as well! You're a great writer.
Deleteway to go kev! that is a nice photo of you too!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Scrubbing down rather than up.
DeleteWell done, Kev! It's the glory, not the money, right? ;0D
ReplyDeleteYeah, it must be! The glory feels good this month to be fair.
DeleteWow, you are famous! Seriously, you should be very proud of yourself and the exposure you're getting. Not much financial payback at the moment, but who knows where it all might lead? The fact that you give so much consideration to your children (making your work schedule work around them or including them in your published articles) is part of the sacrifice (but so extremely important in so many ways) a truly good parent makes. As always, congratulations and admiration sent to you, Kev.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I always wonder if something else might come from it.
DeleteThank you for your kind words.
Famous people. I know famous people.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job, Kev!
haha, Who?
DeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteI haven't made a magazine article but once upon a time, I was in a PBS (Public Broadcasting System) documentary about a bicycle ride in which my parents were a part. They were farmers and left their farm in the hands of my brother and I while they were bicycling and the producers thought it would be interesting to record one of their phone conversations with me as I told my father what we had done this past week. I was unaware that I was being taped and told my father that I discovered that we had forgotten to plant several acres of soybeans on one of our farms. The overlaid a visual image of me driving a tractor that they had taken prior to the bicycle ride. So for a handful of years afterwards, people recognized me as the boy who forgot to plant those soybeans.
Haha! I love that. And I was also a teenager left to look after the farm on my own. Frist year we had a sheep have an eye pecked out by a crow and I had to deal with it being told on the phone by a local shepherd what to do! Didn't make the local news those! Lol!
DeleteCongrats! Nice that people recognize your talent. I did have some of my photography published in a couple of magazines, but the pay was minimal. Didn't seem worth the effort, so I didn't continue to pursue it, therefore I understand your feelings on this.
ReplyDeleteYeah, On the other hand it's good when things go quiet, but then it's rare that it works like that!
DeleteP.S. I was having issues with apple jelly not setting up from a batch I made a couple days ago. I was googling a solution and ran across your video on the subject from over a year ago. Small world!
ReplyDeleteHa! I've got so many videos out there now, all to make £18 a month!! Lol. One day one might make me some money.
Delete