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Submission Guidelines
WHO WE ARE
Sew Beautiful is a bimonthly magazine that celebrates the art of sewing by hand and by machine. Technique articles, designs, projects, and pictorials promote and inspire fine sewing at its best. Regular features include fashions for children and women, embroidery by hand and machine, smocking, garment construction, columns from industry experts, antique techniques/reproductions, and a myriad of ideas to spark creativity. Sew Beautiful is an exciting, colorful magazine produced by experts in several fields for beginning, intermediate, and expert sewers. Each issue contains at least one full size pattern.
OUR FOCUS
We look for articles that teach a new technique; inspire the reader to take on a new project; inform readers about current trends in sewing, patterns, and design; demonstrate a great way to use a new product; or show a new way to use traditional techniques of centuries past.
Our primary focus is sewing for children, especially heirloom. However, we also have a strong interest in the following areas: "non-heirloom" sewing, women's fashions, embroidery (including traditional needleart and machine embroidery), soft dolls, doll dressing, and elegant projects for home decorating. Sew Beautiful does not normally cover "crafts" such as cross stitch, crochet, knitting, macrame, etc.
SUBMITTING YOUR ARTICLE
Submissions Procedure
Please MAIL your submissions to Sew Beautiful, 149 Old Big Cove Rd., Brownsboro, AL 35741.
Submissions should include the following information:
1. A brief outline of what you would like to share with our readers (i.e., the focus of the article. We have to have more than just a pretty dress; the article must teach or inspire the reader in some way.)
2. Snapshots of your project. Professional photography is NOT required to submit an article idea. Polariods are acceptable at this stage. You may want to take some "close-up" shots of any special details. Snapshots are necessary for our filing/planning system; we receive so many submissions that it would be impossible to remember them all without a visual record.
3. A complete mailing address and phone number so that we can reach you. You should receive a letter acknowledging receipt of your submission shortly after we receive it.
4. DO NOT send garments with your submissions. The initial screening procedure is via photograph/written material. Send garments only if we request that you do so.
5. Please DO NOT phone in your submissions.
Please address your Embroidery Submissions to Claudia Newton; all other submissions should be addressed to Kathy Barnard.
Sew Beautiful editors evaluate submissions twice per year. The March, May, and July issues are scheduled in February of the previous year (2007 issues are planned in 2006). The September, November, and January issues are planned in July of the previous year. This allows 2 - 4 months for photography and 6 months for text. We contact you only if your submission can be used or held for a future issue. At this time, we will help you take steps to process your article. We no longer send rejection notices.
ARTICLE ACCEPTANCE
At the time your article is assigned, you will be sent a form letter and writer's guidelines detailing what is expected of you for that particular assignment, the date the assignment is due, sample articles demonstrating our format, general information, etc.
PUBLICATION POLICY
We do everything in our power to print articles as they are scheduled, but unforeseen circumstances or problems can arise. Therefore, we do not guarantee publication of any article.
PAYMENT FOR ARTICLES
Payment ranges from $50 - $400 depending upon the complexity of the article and the accuracy and completeness of information (complexity, clarity, completeness of instructions, fabric sources, verifiable pattern names and numbers, floss colors, etc.). Payment for articles is normally rendered the week after an article is published, unless alternate arrangements are made. Sew Beautiful may decrease payment for an article if the article is late, information is missing, or if the article is of poor quality. (Obviously, some editing and rewording will be required for all articles; however, if our small staff has to spend more time rewriting your article and gathering information than you did, then your payment will probably be decreased.)
COPY DEADLINES
ISSUE-DUE DATE
January-May 1
March-July 1
May -Sept. 1
July-Nov. 1
September-Jan. 1
November-March 1
It is possible to obtain a deadline extension. If you think that your article is going to be late, call the editorial office to discuss an extension.
CONTRACT
Sew Beautiful requires that a contract be signed before any article is published. This contract guarantees that Sew Beautiful/Martha Pullen Company has exclusive onetime usage rights for your article. Patterns and designs become the sole property of Sew Beautiful/Martha Pullen Company until published in Sew Beautiful magazine. After publication, rights revert back to the writer. The contract also declares that the project is your original work and that you own all rights to it. This contract also states that articles submitted to and scheduled by Sew Beautiful will not appear in another publication until after the article is published in Sew Beautiful. The contract also gives us the right to edit the article as we see fit.
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