Partnering with Photographers and Illustrators
Remember what you learned in Chapter 12, about photographs often making a bigger impact on the page than your words? You can use this tactic to your advantage, too, when it comes time to expand your magazine-writing business.
Do some magazines select photographs first and then hire a writer to do a story that goes with them?
Yes, absolutely. For this reason, if your work is often used in conjunction with a certain photographer's work in one magazine, then the two of you can team up to pitch word-and-picture packages to additional magazines.
How Photographers Are Paid
Most photographers sign the equivalent of first North American serial rights agreements when it comes to letting magazines use their pictures. After the photos appear in print, the ownership and usage rights revert back to the photographer. This means that like you, the photographer who signs a first North American serial rights contract can repurpose and resell his photographs as many times as possible.
Smart magazine photographers know that most magazine editors want words to go along with photographs, so they look for writers they can work with to sell article-photo packages. Especially for magazines that are photo-heavy, these kinds of query letters are a blessing for editors to receive. You're basically placing an entire section of the magazine into the editor's lap, with no further reporting or photography oversight needed.
Sending a Joint Query
You can send joint photo-article queries a couple of different ways. If you know an editor at a certain magazine and can speak to her informally, then a good idea is to send an e-mail with a few terrific photos attached. Your note to the editor might read something like this: “This photographer shot some of the most beautiful photos I've seen of these soy-based snack bars that I wrote about for another magazine. I recently learned a few new things about the snack bars that would make for a terrific feature article, and I thought you might like to take a look at the kinds of photography that might run with it.”
Don't get into logistics in your query letter about who will be paid how much for repurposed word-and-photo packages. Simply present your story idea, get the editor to go for it, and negotiate your fee separately from the photographer's. Most magazines have separate art and copy budgets, so you and the photographer will each earn more if you negotiate with separate art and copy editors.
On the other hand, if you are sending a query to a magazine for which neither you nor the photographer has ever worked, you will likely have to use snail mail. (Most editors will not open e-mail attachments, especially large photograph files, for fear of viruses.) You can embed a few key photographs into the body of your query letter, or simply attach printouts of the photographer's contact sheets — small photo thumbnail samples — for the editor to peruse after reading your query letter.
One last note about working with photographers and illustrators: Don't forget to query magazines that are heavy on visuals but light on copy. You might be surprised at how much money you can earn by writing a really in-depth caption to go with a great shot that a photographer friend has available to re-sell.
