Publishing Your Beadwork Designs

If you are looking to publish your beading or jewellery designs, you have several options. The most obvious is publishing in a magazine. This is relatively easy in that you will be creating a single design for publication, you may receive a small payment and you get to see your work in print in a short space of time. If this is an idea that appeals to your publishing aspirations, then read the article about working with magazines.

If your publishing aspirations are a little higher, then you might be thinking about writing a book. Nowadays you have two viable options: work with an established publishing company, or self publish. Publishing a book is undoubtedly much more of a challenge: it will require a much greater investment in both time and creativity. You will need an idea that justifies a whole book – maybe something themed around a type of bead, or a style of jewelry. It sounds simple, but when you think about it, how are you going to create the 20+ designs that you will need to fill a book? Maybe you are overflowing with ideas and this is no problem, in which case read the articles about working with publishers and self publishing.

As I write this, I have had numerous designs published in magazines around the world and I currently work as an editor for one of those magazines. I have written and published eight books and am working on two more. In publishing these books I have worked with two professional publishing companies and also self published through two different means. I thought I would share my personal experiences with you in these pages. They are designed as a good starting point for anyone interested in publishing their designs,  but do go on and carry out your own research as well.

Before you go on to reading the other articles in this section of My World of Beads, I need to dispel two myths about publishing your work. The first myth is that it will earn you a lot of money: unfortunately it won’t. The second myth is that the publisher will make you or your work famous: sadly this is also not true! I will go on to look at both of these aspects as they relate to the different publishing options you have, but if you are looking for a quick route to fame and fortune, I’m sorry to have to tell you that you are still better off buying a lottery ticket!