The great debate
I am starting to write up quilt instructions for some of the quilts I designed last year. My question is:
Do I:
(a) Write up the instructions as if I were going to sell them standalone or part of a kit?
(b) Write up the instructions as if I were writing an article to sell to a quilting magazine?
Regarding (b) - I don't have good, professional-quality photographs of the quilts in question which some magazines seem to want. And a couple of the quilts have never been made in quite the way I'm going to write about them, and all but one has been delivered to their recipients (and unavailable for photography, in any case) - is that going to reduce the chances of selling the article to zero? I doubt that I'll make enough from the sale of the article to justify making another quilt of the same type -- if I can sell the quilt afterwards, that 's another matter entirely.
Regarding (a) - once the instructions are written up, I can choose to sell them or make them available for free. However, if I put them on my website for free, I won't be able to sell an article to a magazine.
I guess I'll have to decide what my long-term goals are. One of them has always been becoming a writer under my own name (instead of the work for hire anonymity of my day job). Certainly, being a technical writer by day gives me an excellent background for writing instructions. I know from my mother's experience that writing for magazines is one way to hone one's skills for writing books.
I am interested in your opinions about which way I should go with this.
I am thinking about writing up instructions for "After Escher" and its "companion" quilt, "Leap Frog" which are both built upon the traditional Snail's Trails block. I would have both quilts in the magazine article if I were to write a magazine article; if I were to write them as "instructions for sale," I would produce them as two separate sets of instructions. At least I own the After Escher quilt, and can bring it somewhere for photography, if needed. I haven't made the Leap Frog quilt, but I might as a "back up" baby quilt for the future.
Do I:
(a) Write up the instructions as if I were going to sell them standalone or part of a kit?
(b) Write up the instructions as if I were writing an article to sell to a quilting magazine?
Regarding (b) - I don't have good, professional-quality photographs of the quilts in question which some magazines seem to want. And a couple of the quilts have never been made in quite the way I'm going to write about them, and all but one has been delivered to their recipients (and unavailable for photography, in any case) - is that going to reduce the chances of selling the article to zero? I doubt that I'll make enough from the sale of the article to justify making another quilt of the same type -- if I can sell the quilt afterwards, that 's another matter entirely.
Regarding (a) - once the instructions are written up, I can choose to sell them or make them available for free. However, if I put them on my website for free, I won't be able to sell an article to a magazine.
I guess I'll have to decide what my long-term goals are. One of them has always been becoming a writer under my own name (instead of the work for hire anonymity of my day job). Certainly, being a technical writer by day gives me an excellent background for writing instructions. I know from my mother's experience that writing for magazines is one way to hone one's skills for writing books.
I am interested in your opinions about which way I should go with this.
I am thinking about writing up instructions for "After Escher" and its "companion" quilt, "Leap Frog" which are both built upon the traditional Snail's Trails block. I would have both quilts in the magazine article if I were to write a magazine article; if I were to write them as "instructions for sale," I would produce them as two separate sets of instructions. At least I own the After Escher quilt, and can bring it somewhere for photography, if needed. I haven't made the Leap Frog quilt, but I might as a "back up" baby quilt for the future.
