Pitching to Publications for Interior Design Projects: Four Stellar Resources
There’s truly nothing like the feeling of opening a magazine and seeing your work grace those tangible pages. Or finding a space of your recent project inside a digital article alongside your fellow industry leaders.
Seeing my own work in Veranda, Town and Country, and Architectural Digest only makes me crave more media placements! It’s rewarding.
To help aid you in your publication quest, I’ve compiled a brief yet super-charged list of helpful resources. They’ll help fast track you in understanding the PR world and help you craft pitches that will grab the attention of editors whose email inboxes are a never ending firehose of opportunity.
There are a LOT of PR resources out there, but these are my top 4 to help getting you started and inspired.
Psst…If you know prior to a photo session that you plan to pitch the project, let you photographer know. It’s help for me to know submission guidelines—essential to a successful pitch—and help you in the pitching process.
All Things Amy Flurry
Amy Flurry is the godmother of everything press related, so pay attention to what she puts out in the wild. My faves:
Recipe for Press (Designer Edition)
If you don’t yet own this book, stop reading right now and add it to you Amazon cart. It’s a fast, easy read that provides a baseline for understanding the world of PR. She also gives a pitch template at the end of the book that will boost your confidence level when crafting and sending out a pitch.The Reccipe for Press Media List. It’s a live, continuously updated document that gives you the emails of the editors in charge of reviewing pitches. At any given time, you’ll have access the exact person you need to send your pitch to.
Veranda Magazine’s Guide to the Perfect Pitch
A while back, I found this guide sent in a newsletter emailed out by Veranda Editor-in-Chief Steele Marcoux. This is of course what Veranda wants to see when they review a pitch, but pay attention as many if these elements could be used in all of your pitches.
Alex Abramian’s Guide to Styling a Room for Publication
How helpful is this guide for styling your spaces to be photographed?! If your plan is to pitch a project for publication, then your plan should also be to hire a professional stylist for that photo session. Whether you’re DIYing this role or hiring out, Alex’s guide will help immensely. My favorite tips she offers in the guide: steer clear of orchids and incorporate pets into the photography.
Psst…did you know many publications offer access to their editorial calendars? For example, here’s the calendar for House Beautiful—scroll to the bottom of the page. So helpful to know when would be the right time to pitch!
Sarah Alba’s Instagram Feed: @albaworks
Just go take a peek at the black squares of advice on her feed. These tips are FAST and so helpful coming from a PR professional like Sarah. I like when these did-bits pop up in my feed—almost every time I either have an ah-hah moment or I’m reminded of something important I hadn’t considered in a while.
Hope this gives you a great jumpstart to your PR and publication journey!
Hi! I’m Sarah. I photograph residential spaces for the talent interior designers of Dallas, Texas. With the images I create, my designer clients build stunning portfolios and get published. I’d love to chat about working together.