Tools for Getting Published

Two Bright Lights, a photo sharing service for wedding professionals, released reports today showing the average response time of all their editorial partners.  These reports are tools that can help you make better decisions in your wedding marketing. A snapshot of what the report looks like is below and you can download the report on wedding blogs here and the report on print publications here (the reports are available to all, not just members).

Some things to keep in mind if part of your marketing strategy includes getting published: You'll notice that the response time from print editors is more than double that of blog editors. Magazines often work several months in advance of publication, so their lead and production times are almost always on a different schedule than those of blogs, which can publish immediately.

Both blogs and magazines receive a ton of submissions, and sorting through and getting to them all takes time. I know two magazine editors who go through more than 40,000 submitted photos each month. Abby Larson, editor of the Style Me Pretty blog, mentioned in her talk at Engage!10 that they receive between 300-400 submissions each week. Editors are busy, and getting published is not always a quick process.

Some blogs and magazines map out their editorial calendar in advance; others do not. This means that some editors will be looking for specific criteria at a specific time, while others will be looking for what fits the overall aesthetic and readership of their blog or magazine. If you don't get selected, it doesn't mean your work isn't publication quality (although it might, and it's important to be honest with yourself here), it may just mean that it's not a great fit for that specific blog or magazine at that specific time.

If you still feel that the response time is too long for your liking, Two Bright Lights will allow you to withdraw a submission (meaning the editor can no longer access it), and resubmit it elsewhere. It is one of the perks of the service: you get more control of the exclusivity and where your work is published.