Go read this and then come back.
It’s no secret that I like self publishing my designs, admittedly I like having the control that self publishing gives me, but it can also be interesting to collaborate and there’s undoubtedly a thrill in seeing my work beautifully photographed alonside the creations of designers I admire. But, if I’m going to put the work into designing something for a publication it has to be worth it from a business point of view. In other words, the direct compensation for the design + the hopefully increased publicity have to be equal to or greater than what I could make from self publishing the design. I’m trying to make a living as a designer, and it’s actually going really well (thank you so much for all of your support!). It’s pretty clear though that that is directly related to the fact that I’ve forced myself to turn down some pretty appealing opportunities because the ‘omg x wants to publish me’ feeling does not pay the bills.
Of course magazines don’t have bottomless pits from which to pay designers and that’s ok. A flat fee payed to a designer for including a design in a single issue of a magazine will never equal what that design could make being sold as an indivual pattern in the long run. Thing is it doesn’t have to. If the original flat fee only covers the right to publish the design in a single issue of a magazine (a period of exculsivity is of course absolutely reasonable – it’s to everyone’s advantage if the designs are new to the readers) then the difference can be made up over the long run. That could mean that the rights revert to the designer who can then self publish the design. Or it could mean that the magazine pays the designer again fairly whenever the design is re-published – by paying another flat fee if it’s inculded in a best of anthology or paying a fair percentage of individual pattern sales to the designer. Or, of course, both. The key thing is that if designers are going to pay their bills they’re not going to do so by signing away all the rights to their designs for the flat fees magazines can pay.
Things are changing in the knit publishing world. There are magazines that do care about their designers. Last year Interweave showed a wonderful willigness to listen to designers when they changed the royalty paid to designers from individual online pattern sales from 10% to a sliding scale. Yarn Forward’s contracts revert the rights to the designer after an exclusivity period and I belief they’re planning on launching an online pattern store and paying fair royalties for that. I’m not sure of the exact details, but I have heard from the editor of the new British magazine The Knitter that they’re willling to negotiate with designers over these issues. Twist Collective was expressly started with the goal of attracting great designers and their best work by offering them a great deal – designers receive a very fair royalty from indivdual pattern sales and the right to re-publish it themselves after an exculsivity period. My personal experience with Twist Collective is that the whole team are fantastic to work with, as I said above I like the control of self publishing, and their respect for designers means that the designer is involved in the whole process, rather than having no involvement between sending off the pattern and seeing the final issue.
Those magazines didn’t create deals that were good for designers because they had to, but because they wanted to, they recognised that it might eventually even be in their own best interests. It’s only 2 issues old but it was clear to me from Kate Gilbert’s very first email to me explaining what they were attempting to do, that Twist Collective was going to attract some wonderful work. Which makes it great for you even if you’re not a designer. I think it’s starting to happen already, but those publications which don’t offer attractive deals to designers simply won’t be able to fill their pages with the designs that knitters want. I say it’s starting to happen because I’ve noticed a shift, established designers are increasingly self publishing and choosing to publish with magazines that offer them respect. But, of course what’s happening now isn’t that other magazines are empty, but that their editors are increasingly looking for new designers to fill their pages. In many ways that is a good thing, there are lots of talented new designers out there who deserve to have their work recognised. Annie’s right though, if there’s a constant supply of new designers so delighted to get published (and believe me I know how that feels, I fight against it all the time) that they’re willing to give up their rights or put aside their legitimate concerns then nothing’s going to change. And in the long run that’s going to be bad for all designers, and for the magazines we love.
Much as I love self publishing, and it’s getting easier to do, I don’t want to see magazines disappear. I think they’re great, and not just for the patterns, the magazines are an important part of the knitting world. Personally I like self publishing, but not every designer does. Not every designer wants to (or can afford) to buy expensive graphic design software and the hardware to run it well (you do not want to know how much I’ve forked out to Apple and Adobe in the last year). Not every designer wants to put the work into laying out patterns, taking photographs, supporting download issues. Not every designer wants to maintain a blog and website and enough of an online presence to ensure that knitters see her designs. I like doing all those things and even I don’t want to exclusively self publish. Publishing a design with a magazine can be a great experience, and of course for those who do self publish it can be good publicity. But we need to recognise that it is not, and should not be worth doing just for the excitement of getting published.
Annie’s post was very timely for me, personally. A few months ago I put aside my general ‘never sign your rights away’ rule in order to be included in a feature about bloggers in Knit 1. For various reasons I’m not exactly sorry I did that, in that situation I realised it was worth giving up the rights to a design that I liked but didn’t envision being wildly popular in exchange for the exposure of the interview. I still think the publicity was worth it, but it’s easy to get from that reasoning to arguing that it’s always worth it, and I think that that’s a problem. Today I got an email offering me the chance to submit a design to Vogue Knitting. I love Vogue Knitting, getting a design published in there would be a huge deal. But I asked whether they were willing to negotiate the rights issue, and when informed that they weren’t I turned down the offer. That wasn’t easy to do, I still find it easy to convince myself that it would be worth it in some way, but it felt wrong as a matter of principle. And literally minutes later I read Annie’s post and I knew I was going to write about this. It doesn’t matter to SoHo (publisher of Vogue Knitting, Knit 1 and Knit Simple) whether I don’t want to design something for them, although clearly they’d like it. It doesn’t matter because they can find someone else. Things are only going to change when that starts to become a problem. And that’s why I’m writing this. I’d love to see one of my designs in Vogue Knitting, but I’d already decided it wasn’t going to happen unless they were willing to negotiate the terms of their contracts. Consequently, like Annie, I have nothing to lose. If writing this means that eventually they do change but don’t want to work with me, well that’s fine, I’ll still consider it a gain if it means that other designers are fairly paid for their work. But speaking up about this does feel scary, and it may seem to many designers that there is something to lose in doing so. The only way things are going to change for everyone is if we stand together.
{ 99 comments… read them below or add one }
Ysolda, thank you for commenting on this issue as well and taking a lead with Annie and other more established designers in this movement.
Ysolda,
I’m someone who checked out all the knitting magazines a few years ago and passed on subscribing to any of them. I have no interest in Vogue or IK, I think their styling is kind of silly (especially Vogue), their mode of delivery outdated, and their content (other than patterns) weak. They’re also hard to find at airports (the one place where I tend to grab a magazine).
Now that we have Ravelry & places like Twist, there is no reason to ever purchase a knitting magazine again, unless the cover just happens to suck me in.
Just wanted to confirm that your instincts are right — self-publishing is where it’s at, and it’s what many knitters want.
Thanks for your good work.
Thanks for the insight on how the knitting designing/publishing industry works. And kudos for having the courage to turn down an offer like that!
I’ve been following your blog (silently) for quite some time and purchased one or two of your patterns. I just wanted to say that I’ve enjoyed them and hope that you continue to create beautiful designs (and get fairly compensated for them!).
This was a very timely post for me. I’d been considering a subscription to Vogue Knitting because the designs are so lovely.
As a knit pattern consumerI will stand the designers in spirit. I will not subscribe to any SoHo publication until such time as they negotiate fair deals with the designers who work so hard to create the beautiful designs I love.
You’re right, keep on going the good work!
I think VK are being extremely short-sight if they haven’t picked up on what’s been happening in the industry. To be honest, though, I’m not surprised – just look at the way they continue to publish such a limited range of sizes in their issues. It’s why I’ve let my subscription lapse – I was finding their sizing ridiculous and often insulting – particularly when they marked garments as being plus size when actually the garment was just meant to have huge amounts of ease. The Bubble sweater in the anniversary issue was a prime example.
IK don’t necessarily go as large as you do or other plus-size friendly designers such as Joan McGowan Michael but they do actually make some effort in that direction.
I went and read the other article, it made me both sad and angry. 10%? That is just a bad business practice, just pure greed. I support independently published designs. For instance, Anne Hanson (and you). I admire both the artistic ability to design and the business sense you all have to self-publish. I understand the publicity of a large magazine, but rights should revert after a reasonable time. Please keep up the great work!
hooray for soapboxes!
you tell ‘em, girl!
i’ve been following annie’s stance on this issue since last year, and am so happy to see your post today. it’s amazing what people can do when they band together. keep fighting the good fight; we’re right there with you.
i’m happy to buy direct! i’ve purchased from you as well as other designers (and drooled over twist collective designs but just haven’t purchased yet!). i like knowing that my money is helping someone make a living at what they love doing.
A thoughtfully written entry. And interesting for me too. As an indie dyer I find that retailers want to buy my yarn to sell on to their customers, yet the wholesale price they wish to pay makes a mockery of the time and care I’ve taken over the dyeing. It happens in many fields in the knitting world (think of all those knitters handknitting garments which go on to sell for a fortune and yet the knitters get paid peanuts), and we must resist it.
I believe it was Vogue Knitting who famously changed the pattern for the EPS sweater when EZ submitted it in the 1950′s. She was so pissed, she started self publishing.
Wow, I had no idea. As a knitter and big time consumer of those magazines I never would have stopped to think about what the designers were getting out of it. Thank you for drawing my attention to this, and from now on I’m going to try to be more aware of my impact as a consumer. (No more VK for me. That’s alright though, the rights of designers are way more important! Plus I like IK better anyway! ;))
~Emma
great post, very interesting to read! i think that a lot of us in the “crafty” world (designers, dyers, spinners etc) have a strong tendency to undersell ourselves & our talents. we need to realise that the work we do takes great skill, and price ourselves accordingly. i love supporting independent designers & dyers, and i love knowing that all the profit is going straight to the people who put the work into creating what i’ve bought.
Thank you so much for writing this post, it’s so wonderfully written.
I’ve been following this issue here and there (silently). I just recently started the venture from selling handknits to writing up the patterns for sale and I’ve been very curious about all of this. Thanks for providing some insight!
I’ve always been about fair rights, and I’m glad I know a little more about this now. I ran into a similar problem with selling handknits to certain stores and am glad I’ve learned the downside to bigger companies in the pattern distribution world before it was too late.
Thanks for going public about this Ysolda I can appreciate that it would feel scary to do. You are an enormous inspiration to so many self-publishing designers, old and new. So know that your sacrifice does not go unnoticed!
I feel great knowing that when I buy from self-publishing designers that I am investing in their ability to continue to design and not in lining the pockets of some share holders somewhere. Love what you do.
Thank you. I think every creative field has this come to Jesus moment at some point, whether it’s knitwear designers, portrait artists, musicians, animators…you name it, if it’s considered something “fun” that “talented” people do, then it’s likely undercompensated. I know of long established illustrators who still can’t afford health insurance, even though their drawings are seen in hundreds of print magazines. And that won’t change unless people band together.
I’m new to design, even newer to publishing, but as I progress, I’ll keep this in mind. Thank you.
Brava to you and to Annie for putting yourselves out there. I think that we’re only beginning to see the changes that the internet will bring to the knit publishing world.
Well done! I, for one, would much rather pass on my money directly to the designer who has earned it, than give it to a corporate structure which treats talent so poorly (pun intended).
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. I agree with an above poster, it seems as though Vogue is a bit tone-deaf with offering 10%.
You do beautiful work. I love your blog.
Do not feel scared. You are brave. The same thing is happening in so many fields. I’ve been offered bad deals to publish my music because they assumed that “prestige factor” would be enough compensation for me. Tempting, but in the end, as you say, the more artists relent to such offers, the less value their work is perceived to have.
Wow, THAT hit home. I am just getting started designing, and yes, I get very excited when I get an offer to get my work published. It occurs to me that I have a pattern that I have sold to a book publisher, and I CAN’T REMEMBER if I retained the rights to the pattern. I am hanging my head in shame right now.
I will never be able to self-publish; I can’t even sustain regular blog entries. I also only design “for fun”; I have a job that is more than full-time, and I will never be able to replace that income with knit design. This is my passion though, and I hate the fact that if I choose to be published in Vogue I will literally be hurting designers far more talented than I, who need these contracts to change.
I’m glad that you wrote this; it will really make me think carefully about signing a contract that isn’t perhaps fair to other designers who need the income a fair contract could bring.
Thank you for writing about this issue as well. I am not a designer, but I am a knitter who tries to be mindful of where I buy my patterns and which publications I choose to support (or not). I would much rather spend my $7 (or whatever) to purchase a sweater pattern from an independent designer than spend the same amount of money for an issue of a magazine from a publisher who does not treat those designers fairly. Please keep speaking up about this issue for those of us who want to make good decisions. :)
Thank you for taking a stand for the value of your work. I hope SoHo is listening. Because I believe in supporting knitwear designers, I don’t want to buy magazines that exploit designers, and so I won’t buy SoHo until they change their ways.
Thank you for writing about this, and for pointing to Annie’s post! It’s very difficult to turn down publicity, even if you sign your soul away in the process. But I’m hoping that perhaps the new wave of designers are on the tech-savvy side and won’t be afraid to tackle the challenges of self-publishing and maintaining an online presence.
I think it’s also important to consider the designer’s background – while I absolutely agree with you and Annie, I do not make a living as a designer. So, I do not find the prospect of signing over all my rights horrible (don’t hate me). I understand that this hurts other designers by perpetuating the acceptance of poor treatment. But folks like me (once in a blue moon designers) can’t fill the pages of magazines, fortunately.
I do hope these posts get the attention of Vogue Knitting and other publishers. The fact remains – we have choices, now more than ever. The situation feels dynamic to me, like nothing is written in stone.
Way to go Ysolda! I know it was a hard decision, but will pave the way for future designers that deserve proper compensation for their work. Kudos to you!
I think its great that you’re standing up for intellectual property rights as a designer. As someone who is both a knitter and a law student interested in intellectual property I think its fascinating to hear about about your ordeal and the interaction of these two areas. Best of luck!
I’m really glad that you’re brave enough to stand up and write this post. Good for you. I think that your readers and fans of your designs will stick with you, I know that I will. I haven’t bought many knitting magazines, I’m just now starting to get more adventurous in the designs that I attempt. Ravelry has been great and I think that most serious knitters that are techno-savy are joining. When people see the designs on Ravelry they will purchase them there. I think that us knitters will be loyal to the ladies, the actual HUMANS, that come up with the designs instead of to the powers that be at big mags like Vogue.
Thanks for this post! It draws attention to a really important issue––one that I think is more common in the publishing world in general than we’d like to think. I’m so glad popular designers like you and Annie (and others) are taking a stand: it will be visible, at least to the online knitting community (the very people the mags are trying to attract, eh?).
Like you, I love the magazine format, though I also love the convenience and collaboration and variety of the online forms. However, since I began knitting (six or seven years ago) I have noticed a dramatic change in the designs magazines are offering. We all celebrated when Eunny Jang took over IK, didn’t we?, because we thought it was great that a young, fresh, meticulous designer was going to shake things up. But I think that with the flight of established designers the timelessness and “go-to”-ness of magazines has begun to wane. I’m no longer desperate to devour the new issue of IK: I look at the preview online and usually decide that one or two of the designs are worth a second glance. Obviously there are many other explanatory variables here (e.g., I’m not a beginner anymore), but it often happens that I stumble across a great pattern on Ravelry or a blog that was published in a 2001 issue of IK. That makes me more likely to seek out an old issue, buy the pattern online, or look into that designer’s other work. It just doesn’t happen as much with the newer issues.
Luckily, though, there are myriad fantastic alternatives!
P.S. Grumperina’s comment above is interesting. It suggests a detrimental cycle: designers do not think they can make a living through designing because the compensation is bad > designers accept bad (worse?) deals because they have other jobs anyway > contract-writers needn’t write better ones because they have plenty of designers signing > status quo. Obviously occasional designers have different priorities when it comes to these contracts, but I think it presents a particularly difficult problem.
You and Annie are very brave and I understand the very real fear of being black listed. But fear not! Your loyal fans are siding with you and your fellow designers. We want you to be able to live and design and be treated fairly. I choose magazines based on the great designs and informative articles…. so publish were ever gets you the best deal and I will follow you there.
Good for you, after all, a girl needs to make a living! I’m tired of the arts not being valued so highly as other pursuits, and I think it’s essential for people to hold out and strive for fair compensation. Good luck.
Wow. I’m a hobby knitter and an avid follower of yours and I had no idea this was going on. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention. I used to buy both Knit 1 (I specifically bought the last issue because you were in it!) and Vogue Knitting but no longer!
Seems like VK has not changed their ways since the tampered with Elizabeth Zimmerman’s sweater pattern, which led to her opening Schoolhouse Press. I will never buy a VK again, and will now only buy directly from designers or publications like Twist. You are taking a couragous stand and I fully support you.
I wanted to let you know that the article in knit.1 led me to your blog and to purchase your “whimsical little knits” collection, and I doubt that I’m the only one. You were right about the exposure being worth it that time. I can see how it would be hard to bring this stuff up though. As hard as it is, what are our lives and our work worth if we can’t stand up for what we believe is right? I admire your strength and resolve. I love your work, and admired it in Twist and Ravelry before the knit.1 article led me to your blog. Thanks for all your hard work on behalf of knitters.
I buy VK and other magazines just to have some knitting eye candy when I’m not near a computer, but I rarely knit anything out of them. If I really want to knit something I’ll look online. I’d rather pay for an individual pattern I really want than spend my precious free time knitting something I feel lukewarm about. I don’t think I’m on my own here.
At the end of the day your patterns speak for themselves. They’re more wearable and enjoyable to knit than most of the stuff in the magazines. I don’t think you’ll lose anything in the long term by sticking to your guns. If the new magazines keep getting better very soon VK are going to find themselves in trouble.
I think I have bought a grand total of 2 knitting magazines, and made one pattern from each of them (one of them had a major error in it, too). Don’t get me wrong, I love magazines. But buying patterns in digital form is more convenient and it often means you get sent updated versions of the pattern when errors are discovered.
I think as more and more young people take up knitting pattern buying is moving away from the magazines and onto the Internet. Ravelry has probably speeded up this process no end. Hopefully the magazines will recognise this trend and realise that they have to compete to stay in the game.
I just posted a long-winded comment on Annie’s website (you said go there first :)).
I’m not a designer, but I stand in total solidarity with designers on this issue. I think what we all do as knitters (and crocheters) is art, but designers are unique for their creative abilities and I don’t think this contribution is valued enough in a tangible way (i.e. fair compensation).
To me this is the same as fair trade. In the same way I don’t buy non fair trade coffee, I will also refuse to support knitting and crochet publications that don’t fairly compensate the designers.
It seems like in some ways we are starting to enter a “golden age” of knitting (what with the connectivity of the internet and especially Ravelry). I’m glad to see that this particular art is something that can produce a livable wage, but if it is not supported adequately, the creative potential will remain unrealized.
As somebody else who designs for a living, I’ve also turned down opportunities to be published in print because it’s just not worth my while – the monetary compensation (or lack of) and the rights issue, along with the amount of work and restrictive deadlines tell me that it’s not something I want to be part of.
I recently accepted an offer, and I had to think long and hard about the exposure vs money/rights issue, and in the end decided in this instance, it might just be worthwhile. But that was a rarity.
I do hope the publishing houses listen to our collective voices – mine alone doesn’t mean much, so I will echo standing together! As much as the lure of being published with X, Y or Z is tempting, it’s not worth selling our souls for.
I love your work and really hope that Vogue listen to all the designers who are standing up for what they deserve.
It is also down to ‘us’ they buyers of these magazines to also back designers and stop buying. Fair deals may not affect us directly right now but indirectly we are guilty of allowing the practise to continue by not making our views obvious with a refusal to purchase.
I for one will not be buying Vogue or the other magazines from the same publisher until they offer fair contracts for all designers.
I think self-publishing is a great thing in giving designers the choice, and taking away the magazines’ monopoly. Like you say, at the end of the day it’s for the designer to weigh up whether selling the rights of a pattern to a magazine is going to work out better in the long run than investing the considerable time and expense of self-publishing – considering the added value of magazine expposure.
I have experience of rights issues of music and artworks, and believe me I’m grateful I’m creating knitting patterns and not one of those! The music industry is absolutly not set up in favour of the artist.
I agree on many fronts. But I also think a few points are being missed.
I am well versed in the IK contract and designers have a multitude of options to choose from when electing to participate in the online program — one being “not at all”. ALL designs get paid an up-front fee (sliding depending on the project size, level of complication, etc.) and any online sales after that are in addition to this flat fee. This, too, (I am assuming? Please tell me if I am wrong) is the same way Vogue works. (And I agree, Vogue should acknowledge the industry standard. But it is not that designers *only* get 10% of online sales — they have already been paid for their design according to a fee that has been accepted and unchallenged for years).
One would have to sell over 9,000 individual patterns per year to make a semi-decent living here in the United States. *Very* few people have the following and combined knitting, aesthetic and software ability to achieve this. Otherwise, it is next to impossible to make a living off of being solely a designer unless other outlets are reached. For many new fledgling designers, it is a wonderful opportunity to be involved with a magazine to get the publicity they need to move forward, either to establish a well followed online presence, negotiate a book deal, etc.
Also, I know for many of us it is impossible to believe, but there are still millions of knitters out there that do not have access to the internet or do not feel comfortable using it as a pattern source. While working at a LYS, we had a daily clientele that *would not* use the internet and preferred a hard copy, magazine or book. Many still do not know about Knitty, Ravelry or Twist Collective. They are still out there and will continue be around for at least 25 more years (or more!)
I am happy that there is a dialogue. I am happy there are outlets for all knitter depending on their needs. I am impressed by designers like you who are making it work — and constantly putting out quality designs. I agree that there needs to be an evolution and change, but I also think there are two sides to the coin.
Glad you said it all. Thanks!!
Thank you so much for sharing this with us Ysolda. I had absolutely no idea that designers got such a rubbish deal!
I have purchased knitting magazines (and to be honest, they’re losing their appeal) but as a consumer I’m not sure I’ll be doing so anymore.
Designers as talented as you deserve recognition, and you should do all you can to get that recognition. I think you and Annie are right to stand up for what you believe in. You’ll have a lot of support, from me and countless others.
Well put. As a hopeful designer myself, I can only learn from those already in the industry. I certainly appreciate your honesty and courage to write something like this. Thank you.
Well said Ysolda. I think most knitters would agree that they would rather support knitwear designers directly because they know how much work goes into it and how valuable their designs are. I actually looked into what it would take to get published in a knitting magazine and it did not take me very long to figure out that it was pretty much a joke. I also wish that knitters who sell their creations would charge what they deserve to make and not way less than they even spent to make it. It makes business really hard for me and even more unfair on themselves.
xoxo
http://www.sushipie.squarespace.com
a well-written post-but incredibly frustrating read. 10%!? while i appreciate & understand kate’s p.o.v., the idea that inflation (if nothing else) has increased costs, should have vogue (& their ilk) bumping up the percentage. i only buy vogue when i see a name i recognize, but no more. i would like to find yarn forward, but no luck in my part of the u.s. & a subscription is 68.50 *u.k.* (ow). but at least there is ravelry & twist :)
I first heard about this issue from Annie’s conversation with Brenda Dayne in an episode of Cast On. (I looked it up – it’s Episode 60.) I haven’t bought a VK since.
On top of sizing and styling issues, the VK designer pay scale is insult to injury. It shows an arrogance I just can’t support.
I’ll continue to buy patterns directly from designers’ blogs, and from Twist. The internet has enough inspiring projects to keep me busy for the foreseeable future – I won’t miss Vogue.
Hello Ys,
Definitely an extremely pertinant, applicable and timely post – thank you. I think it’s most important to encourage close reading of contracts and standing up for rights. Hopefully these posts of yours and Annie’s will encourage a more general knowlege of these issues.
I have heard from this issue and find the flat rate paid for designs is ridiculous. I am a supporter of self-publishing. I believe your instict’s right (and your patterns great, by the by..)
Thanks for this exhaustive post. I’d rather not support VK knowing of their attitude.
You are so right and have expressed this better than I’ve ever read anywhere. The lure of established magazine publication is the cache and the publicity. But if the price that a designer has to pay in giving away rights to an original design in perpetuity, how is that fair or in right action? I’m thankful for the internet, where its possible to find wonderful independent designers such as you!
What an interesting post, Ysolda! Just in terms of accessibility, I would far rather buy a pattern directly from a designer than through a magazine. However, I do resent magazines that do not make their patterns accessible online. Now I’ll know to think about why patterns may not be accessible. Thanks for the insightful post.
Dear Ys,
I was reading about this in Twist Collective, nothing new for me. I’m not a VK costumer, I prefer more “alternative” things, personal blogs, Knitty (with the links at the designer’s pages!), Ravelry … all this for me is very enriching. I can tell you that, we, knitters, are very proud of you!
It’s unsurprising, though disappointing, to hear about the state of things. The man is always trying to get it over on the little people, after all. I have only bought a few knitting magazines, and find while I love some of the designs, the way their patterns are written up are almost impossible to follow. I have bought many of your patterns and find them a breeze, but I’ve had many problems with the Knit 1 write-up of the Rapunzel Stockings (and found a few errors–but when I emailed the magazine, they said it could take 3-4 weeks to respond to these kinds of emails). I would always rather purchase a self-published pattern than a magazine, and do so very pleased in knowing that I am supporting the designer as a result. Rest assured that you have very many people who stand in the corner of independent designers and will help out in any way we can.
Hello Ysolda,
I had no idea what was going on at the backstage but when Twist Collective was launched, from what I can read, I felt that this must’ve been something exciting happening! I must say as a knitter, I love your pattern and your work and please keep going with your excellent work and looking forward to read your blog as usual!
I, too, first came to your website after seeing the article in knit.1. I keep adding your patterns to my Ravelry queue because of your talent, and today I will finally get around to deciding which one to purchase and cast on first. Thank you for bringing light to this issue, and keep up the good work!
I only just started reading your blog, but not because of knit 1. I think your patterns are beautiful, and from what I’ve heard from my knitting friends, they’re also very well written.
I must say I commend you for standing up for yourself and saying, “At the end of the day, I need to make money.” I have always found that it’s good to stick to your guns and instincts, and I think you’ll find this too.
Hi Ysolda! I think it’s great that you’re bringing this up on your blog (as I was about Annie’s writing about it on hers). Since the rise of the internet as a commercial enterprise this has been a major problem for content producers vs. distributors – cf. the recent writers’ guild strike. Do you suppose there’s any chance that you and other prominent designers could form some sort of collective bargaining agreement?
thank you for your thoughts on this issue; these are all the same reasons that i don’t pursue traditional publishing opportunities. this is the 21st century, i’m supporting my household, and i just can’t afford to work for very low pay.
when readers tell me i should be in magazines or that i should publish a book, i thank them sincerely for the compliment and explain the sad reality of that scenario; most people are shocked to discover how little designers are paid for publishing (one designer i read wryly joked that the time working on her book was the lowest paid year of her life).
what’s really interesting is that editors often try to persuade us to contribute to books and magazines with the rationalization that they, too, are getting next to nothing for their efforts. i find that incredibly sad, but even more, an incredibly unprofessional and inappropriate line of argument for a business to put forth. “someone” after all, is making money in publishing; making a play for lower rates through sympathy to ensure a corporation maintains a profit is just the best way to get me angry about it!
i’d rather be told that a company “won’t” pay than be told they “can’t” pay.
self-publishing has been the only possible or practical avenue for me to work as a designer.
It’s ok to be scared, it’s a feeling telling you that what you have done here & how you are living by your principles IS brave. I am simply an aspiring designer, and know next to nothing about all the aspects of the publishing world. I DO know my heart skipped a beat when I read the portion about the Vogue request, by I smiled when I saw you had declined. This was the most informative and insightful piece of writing I’ve read (on any topic) for a very long time (and I read a lot). Very well done, Ysolda and Annie
What an interesting discussion. I found Grumperina’s (admirably frank) remarks troubling — knitting design is certainly not everyone’s profession, but still, its remuneration should still be based on the nature of the work, not the personal circumstances of the designer. The only way to achieve that is through designer solidarity, whether design for them is a profession or a hobby or a something inbetween. A principal reason why it is so difficult for knitting design to *be* professionalised (viz Kate G’s point) is precisely because designers do not (unlike, like, say, actors) have an effective mechanism to achieve that solidarity — and so continue to be remunerated in irregular, fractured, and exploitative ways. But Grumperina is right, the situation seems very fluid – the greater community and sense of connection between both knitters and designers has already heralded a sea-change, and perhaps now the magazines we admire and enjoy might find (like Twist and Yarn Forward) ways of responding to this shift in a manner that speaks to that community rather than (as VK) alienating it.
“I still think the publicity was worth it, but it’s easy to get from that reasoning to arguing that it’s always worth it, and I think that that’s a problem.”
True, and the line is fluid for different people in different situations. If only I knew where my line is!
A good decision and I think as the internet becomes more vocal, maybe the magazines will have to listen a bit more. I mean, magazines are great, but knitters are becoming more educated and are realising how things work between designers and publishers and knitters want to reward designers! Plus, the additional flexibility in purchasing self-published patterns is a bonus for knitters. There is a way forward for magazines, but it will mean a change from their end.
Ysolda, I do love independents minds. I prefer independent knitting minds! You made a good decision. With Ravelry and your own website we can always find your work.
I think knitters should boycott VK until they stop their slave wages payments- or we could start a letter writing campaign. In fact, I will write a letter today to VK about this issue and let them know I am not buying until they change their payment plan to designers – and I will tell them I will tell very knitter about this, too.
Just to echo many of the previous comments, I had no idea that this was the case for designers today. I read Annie’s post too and I think you are both being incredibly brave in bringing this to our attention. I’ve bought many knitting magazines and I would otherwise never have known that this was common practice amongst them. Thank goodness that it is now in the public domain and hopefully this will cause these companies to rethink their policies etc especially if they see their sales going down. I’ve visited your website for quite a time now, love your designs and have bought some patterns, recently started to leave comments, and between you and Ravelry a whole new knitting world has opened up for me. Let’s hope it’s only a matter of time before we see a change for the better. Bravo to you.
It’s so exciting how many people have commented on this! Looks like there’s a real, solid chance of change.
When the people unite — change happens!
Thank you for a very insightful, well written entry! I am both a knitter and a scrapbook designer and I’ll definitely be thinking twice before I get sucked into the “I just wanna be published” mentality, at the expense of personal worth.
As a professional musician with more than a passing interest in knitting I had previously wondered what percentages designers got and what rights they had to their hard work after its commercial use. Sadly I’m not surprised at the content of your post – there are some uncanny parallells!
Your instincts are absolutely right. I can honestly say I’ve never bought a knitting magazine mostly because they look incredibly dull, and will continue to buy from the designer as directly as possible.
Thanks for posting this, and thanks for linking to Annie’s post. As others have said, it was extremely eye-opening. As a design consumer, and not really a designer myself, I don’t think this would ever have occurred to me. It really does seem that with the increase in effective self-publishing made possible by the internet, knitting-related print media are in some danger. Not that I think knitting books and magazines ever will or should vanish entirely, but it’s becoming far less necessary and less lucrative of a venture. Alienating one’s base of designers, and by extension one’s base of consumers, is just driving the nail into the coffin. It’s bad business.
I don’t buy much in the way of patterns-on-paper as it is, but I’m now going to deliberately boycott SoHo publications until they change their practices, in addition to researching the practices of other publishing companies. I’ll also spread the word on my blog and to my friends as well. It’s just something that doesn’t occur to people who aren’t actively trying to publish patterns, so thank you for bringing it out into the open!
I know a lot of authors and musicians as well who get a pretty raw deal for their work. We need to start valuing the creative intellects at work as much as we seem to value the intellectual property itself.
Two quotes of good advice I got that cover all industries: 1) Trust your gut instinct 2)The company always has its best interests in mind(which may or may not best your best interest.
I’ve been knitting for a couple of years and I found your patterns from Knitty and love them all. I,like so many others have stated, prefer to support designers by buying the patterns directly from the designers.
It takes courage to stay true to yourself, so “be the change you want to see in the world”.
I think it’s quite criminal what they are doing-I know that they are funding things and have bills and whatnot on their end, but the designers are the talent that allows it all to happen. You all should be getting way more money and respect than you do.
Good for you!!! This needed to be said. Work deserves pay. Fair pay. No matter what type of work you do.
Good for you and Annie standing up and speaking openly about this! It isn’t fair. You are one of my favorite designers and I would never support an organization that would take advantage of your talent without giving you your fair share.
I think it’s awesome that so many folks are speaking up about this and continue to hold that line. I do try to keep this in mind when I am spending my design dollars. Do I buy direct from someone who has gone to all that effort and will reap the most money from that vs. a publication where I know it was likely a flat fee? You bet your ass I’m going to buy direct if I can. Knowing that IK has been working towards a fairer model of compensation has won me back a bit, but I won’t buy another issue of Vogue if I can help it.
Hi Ysolda – couldnt agree more, and I’ve emailed VK to let them know what I think. I’ve also blogged about it too. Good for you. Maybe we should invent a fair trade marque for knit publishers, so that those of us who buy knit designs (whether on-line or in print) can be reassured about the way in which designers are treated.
Good for you standing up for your rights!
I don’t normally buy Vogue knitting but if it contained one of your designs I would – and I am sure lots of other knitters would too. Your stance is a powerful message to the publishers out there.
Good for you!
Paying designers badly is not only a disservice to the designer, but it’s a disservice to knitters everywhere. If designers are able to make a decent living off their wage, then they will grow and develop, bringing original patterns and innovative ideas. But if they’re paid little enough that money worries stifle their creativity, then everybody loses out – and this includes the magazines, even if VK doesn’t realise that yet.
I’m not a designer, and I don’t know a single thing about how Vogue Knitting works – whether their renumeration to designers is the result of an out-of-date business model, or short-sightedness, or what (although I’m pretty sure there’s not an evil mastermind at VK HQ, chuckling with glee at the thought of cheating knit designers). But putting aside questions of fairness, it just can’t be good business practice for VK. They couldn’t maintain standards and reputation by recruiting new designers all the time.
All my respect and support goes to designers who are standing together to say “Respect and value my work.”
Thank you so much for writing about this, Ysolda.
May it encourage designers not to sign they rights away for an insulting 10%.
Designers work hard. Designers have incredibly beautiful creative minds. And because of them knitters have beautiful projects to work on.
I am sure your article and Annie’s article are the start of change.
Well written, lady…
I’m sure you know I am completely behind you and Annie both on this issue. Thanks for posting about it, and may the knitting Goddess bless us both in our efforts to pay the bills with designing knitting patterns.
There’s a similar struggle going on in the visual art/design world. A common occurrence is that people looking for artwork or graphic design, but don’t believe in paying a fair wage for it, will hold design contests. This is where the “prize” is publication or acceptance of one’s work, along with (sometimes, not always) a pittance—usually a couple hundred bucks. Most young or new artists don’t realize that this “prize,” if monetary in nature, is often pennies on the dollar to what the fair price for the work would be in professional circles. The clients that hold these contests insist they’re fair, that they’re a chance for new designers to show their talent. And there are always plenty of entries—the ploy seems to work just fine.
So I find myself constantly writing letters, leaving comments on websites, sending emails, etc., informing these clients that these practices are unethical, and that they basically state that art and design have no value. And if art has no value, then artists have no value. Sure, I probably shoot myself in the foot every time I complain publicly, but taking a stand is the only way to end unfair labor practices.
Nobody would dream of going to a farmer’s market and announcing to all the stall owners that they should each submit a box of vegetables, and whichever one is the tastiest will be paid for! So keep fighting the good fight, Ysolda. As an artist, full-time freelance designer, and knitter myself, I support you. We’re all in this together.
Thanks again, Ysolda — as you know, I’ve written on this already…
http://www.knitgrrl.com/?p=818
and at the very likely risk of being blacklisted for speaking my mind. But I’ve already built my name in this industry — it’s my responsibility to *say something* on behalf of everyone else who is going to come after me. We can hope that by raising the profile of this issue some good will come of it.
By the way, as Ysolda noted, not ALL knitting mags are doing this, the one I edit (Yarn Forward) certainly isn’t!
Mags aren’t the only problem, either. This is why we (a group of self-publishing designers) started Stitch Cooperative to get our patterns directly into the yarn stores so we wouldn’t be paying a distributor more than we pay ourselves. The internet has changed everything, and will continue to do so.
I want to thank all of you who have spoken up on our (designers’) behalf in particular. Many voices = something will change. xo!
Thank you, Ysolda. This type of discussion is invaluable to “dabblers” like myself who wonder if maybe, someday, we might be able to make the leap. Armed with information about our options and with the support of this awesome community, there’s a chance.
Ysolda — you’re doing the right thing. I totally agree! Keep up the good work — there are so many of us who adore your designs. Happy Knitting!
I can’t add anything that you, Annie, Shannon and others haven’t already said more eloquently, I just wanted to chime in with my support.
I have written a letter to Vogue telling them that I agree with you and Annie and that I won’t be buying their magazines (either individual issues, subscriptions, or online patterns) until/unless they change their stance.
I know that me saying that won’t make a difference. Vogue has to think there’s something in it for them to change…but I hope that your post and Annie’s post and the hundreds of comments to both posts will help them realise that they really don’t want this thing to become an issue.
Anyway, I already have the issue of Knit.1 with your stockings in them so I’m happy.
I just want to add that you’re definitely one of my favourite designers and I love being able to support your work by buying from you directly and I’m much happier to do that than to fatten the pockets of big companies like Soho Publishing.
Good luck in your crusade! :)
P.S.- When are you coming back down to London? ;)
I just bought one of your patterns last week, Ysolda after seeing it on Ravelry.
I find that I increasingly prefer the online, self-published model for buying knitting patterns. Why should I hunt down an entire magazine or a book when I know that I only want one pattern? I far prefer to just buy what I want, especially if the designer is getting a much fairer deal. Unless there’s a pattern that I absolutely MUST knit, then a knitting magazine needs to have a LOT of ‘added value’ in terms of articles, interviews and new information for me to be interested in buying it.
As an artist, the way the internet is changing the creative professions has been very much on my mind lately. I am fascinated by how out of date many of the business models of the traditional ‘gatekeepers’ such as publishers, galleries, record companies and distributors are. I think we’re going to see a lot more change in the creative industries and I hope that part of it will be an increased recognition that creative people are professionals who deserve to be paid.
Thanks for speaking up about this. I hope that VK sits up and takes notice. I’m not a subscriber and have never bought a copy but I would almost certainly have been tempted by their online patterns. I pledge not to buy any of the later until the situation improves drastically.
What a well-written, thoughtful and thought-provoking post. I sincerely wish you and other knitwear designers in your position every success in changing this culture of undervaluing your hard work and talents. I love being able to purchase individual designs online as pdfs but I also like to flick through a real magazine so it would be great if more of the conventional magazines could learn from the innovative business practices that have grown thanks to the web. Good luck!
I would have never know all that goes on ‘behind the scenes’… thanks for educating me. I will happily purchase directly from the designers in the future…
Besides, no need for me to recycle the mags afterward.
Great post!!
The one thing I hardly see mentioned (and forgive me if someone already has brought this up in the comments I haven’t read them all) is pattern support.
Not that long ago the publishers were the ones answering most pattern questions. If they couldn’t answer it they would seek the answer from the designer, but would still be the one the knitter was in communication with – not the designer. Now most people can easily find the designer since many have blogs and Ravelry makes it so easy to find us as well. This means people are addressing their questions straight to the designer rather than going through the publisher, which saves lots of man hours for the publisher and pushes those hours back off on the designers. Since most of us also self-publish we can’t tell people to contact the publisher or we’ll be roasted over an open fire for not having good customer service.
When I accept a certain flat fee for a pattern I do so figuring in the likely readership of the publication and the level of experience and how much hand holding I may have to do for a given pattern. When they reprint and market it to another audience my workload suddenly increases, but I get no additional payment. Also, I may not have access to the format that person is working from so I cannot fully address questions because I have no means to double check if there was an error introduced when it was reformatted etc.
Anyway, just another reason that little or no reimbursement for additional publishing is not fair to the designers.
Brava!
Well done for speaking up, Ysolda. I agree with what you and Annie have said. If magazines want to make more profit from designers’ work by finding more avenues for selling them, then they should give them the appropriate remuneration.
I find myself buying printed magazines less and less these days, because I find that independent designers like yourself are consistently producing fresher and more charming designs, in my point of view anyway.
In a lot of ways, I actually like to buy individual patterns directly from designers, especially as pdf downloads.
1. If I am not going to use it now, it takes up virtually no space, as it is stored on the computer which is already there!
2. I love to be able to print it out, use it roughly, write on it, fold it etc, then trash it when I am done, but I can print it again if I loose it, or want to make it again. (I know I can copy the magazine pages, but that is cumbersome.)
3. It is SO much easier to find the pattern that you want in your computer files, rather than searching multiple magazines.
4. This should be first! I like that the individual designer gets all of the profit.
Thanks for a great post.
You have to do what you feel is right for you and really the Vogue contracts sound like they have designers over a barrel…
*Love* your pics of Scotland. Must visit one day.
Ysolda, you SO did the right thing. I buy Vogue Knitting if I feel like it’s worth the investment (at least 3 sweaters that I feel I would definitely make), but lately, I’ve been feeling a bit annoyed, largely because I notice that certain designers are getting 3-4 lack-luster designs published per issue. This seems ludicrous to me. Are there so few knitting designers out there that VK has to publish the same designers over and over? I think it’s an issue of self respect. A lot of what VK has to offer has an air of just being cranked out to fill pages, regardless of whether anyone would ever wear it. And that’s what I mean. VK has the chance to cut a deal with a fresh, young, up & coming designer like yourself, but instead they are sticking with their house stable of designers who that can clank together a few sweaters every 3 months with the help of sample knitters and a technical editor. What you are doing is something so completely differnent. VK is going to go the way of dinosaurs if they don’t start doing something differently. Good luck! Don’t doubt yourself, you did the right thing!
I think it’s a bit like the iTunes model – people are used to just buying a single track if they know that’s the only one they like from the album and the same goes for books and magazines in creative fields like knitting and crochet. Why would I spend £13 on a book or £4/£5 for the sake of one pattern? If there are a few patterns I know I’m definitely going to make then that’s fair enough.
Magazines face a lot of competition from online resources. As self-publishing is now so much easier for designers, they no longer have the same power they used to. A few years ago you would probably have had little choice but to accept their offer in order to put your work out there. Now you have many other options and the magazines need to realise that they can’t get away with paying a pittance to designers any longer.
To be honest, if I want to knit something Ravelry will be my first stop, knitting magazines would probably be the last.
Well said, and I am totally in agreement on this – to the point where I was mulling over subscribing to VK…I shan’t bother now. If their attitude is so unreasonable, I can’t imagine the magazine will be able to maintain it’s quality for very long. I’ll stick to IK, Twist and Ravelry, and self-published designs in future. I’m unlikely to ever come up with anything worthy of publishing, but if a miracle happens I’ll be in the queue to get it on Ravelry! Thank you for bringing this matter up, sadly it doesn’t just affect knit designers, but designers and artists of all kinds. Maybe we knitters can start another revolution :-)