Getting Published ■ 151 Figure 10.1 Image before tweaking Levels sliders. Figure 10.2 Image after tweaking Levels sliders. If the photo is going to be displayed small, then your quality can be low (and thus your file size can be small). If you’re going to display it large, then you’ll want your quality high. Making Your Photos Magazine Ready In the “Resizing Your Photos for Different Uses” section in Chapter 1, there is a description of how to resize photos. In the “Selling Photos to Regional Magazines” section in Chapter 8, the requirements for magazine submissions are listed. Arizona Highways requires a 12×18-inch digital photo with 300 ppi resolution. That’s one big photo. Most magazines don’t require the resolutions to be that great. In order to meet that image resolution requirement, you’d need a camera on the order of the new Canon 21 MP EOS 5D Mark II. For a great megapixel/print dimension chart, check out http://design215.com/toolbox/megapixels.php. No matter what the resolution of your photos is, you’d best be sure that when you view the photos you are going to be submitting at 100-percent resolution on your computer screen (in Photoshop, type 100 into the lower-left corner of the window in which your picture is displayed), they are sharp in every detail. If not, don’t bother sending them, because magazines won’t accept them. Okay, so what if you don’t have a 21-MP camera for taking photos fit for Arizona Highways? You can try other magazines, such as Dog Fancy (if you take pictures of dogs), most of which require a minimum of 300 dpi for a 5×7 photo. To check how big your images are, you need to open an image (one taken with your camera set at its highest resolution, which would be the Raw setting on most dSLRs) and navigate to Image > Image Size. A dialog box will come up (see Figure 10.3). Uncheck the box next to where it says Resample Image. When Resample Image isn’t checked, you can change the values of Width, Height, or Resolution, and Photoshop/Elements will proportion the photo accordingly without changing the file size. Now, delete the value that’s for Resolution and type in 300. I find that for my 12.8-MP Canon 5D, the values that come up are 11.52 inches for the width and 7.68 inches for the height. I also find out that this size of image has a file size of 22.8 MB. Sadly, my image doesn’t have enough resolution to submit to Arizona Highways. But it is big enough (greater than 5×7 at 300 dpi) for other magazines. 152 ■ Getting Published Writing a How-To Photo Book With the popularity of digital photography increasing daily, more people than ever are purchas- ing digital cameras. Many of those people would like to learn how to use all of the options and settings these cameras offer. To meet the needs of digital camera owners who have an interest in going beyond auto mode, publishers have to put out a certain number of how-to photography books a year that teach people how to do so. To write a how-to photography book, such as the one shown in Figure 10.4, you not only have to be an adept writer, you also have to have an eclectic collection of images. These days, how-to photography books not only teach readers how to use their cameras, but they also give readers a rich collection of sample images for them to learn the different skills needed to be a good photographer. Getting Published ■ 153 Figure 10.3 The largest resolution a 12.8-MP camera will shoot at is 7.68×11.52 inches at 300 dpi. Probably two of the most important things publishers look for in a potential author are the ideas he has for a photography how-to book and the platform (public life) upon which he works. Publishers want novel ideas and good photographs to go with them. They also want a potential author to have the ability to reach the readers for whom a book is targeted. This platform should include that the author has a good presence on the Internet (blogs, websites, Twitter, Facebook) and that he is able to reach potential book buyers on the ground (through seminars, classes, and/or published articles). So how does one go about beginning the process of pitching a book to a publisher? The first thing you should do if you have a good idea for any type of photography book is to get an agent. There are some agents who specifically handle photography books. Some handle only coffee table books, others handle only how-to books, and there are some who handle both. There are some agencies that deal specifically with technology books—a category that includes digital photography. Off the top of my head, there are two literary agencies that have gotten book deals for authors of books about digital photography. They are watersidesyndication.com and fresh-books.com. Many large publishing companies—Wiley, for example—only accept submissions from agents. That means it’s best to get an agent if you want to get a book deal. Agents don’t usually cost anything (if they do, I’d be suspicious). They make their money from the money their client makes—15 percent of it, usually. These two agencies accept query letters by e-mail for initial contact. (Watersidesyndication.com has a Query an Agent form, which you fill out online.) In your communication, you can introduce yourself and describe your idea. If any of the agents likes your idea, they’ll probably have you write a proposal. Most proposals include a description of the audience, competing or related books, marketing, a description of the book, an outline or TOC (table of contents), and an author bio. 154 ■ Getting Published Figure 10.4 If you’re a good writer and you have a diverse collection of images, you can try your hand at writing a how-to photography book. Entering a Photography Competition There are a couple of big-name magazines that sponsor photography competitions in which part of the prize (aside from money and/or travel) is getting your photos published on their pages. Popular Photography Photo Contest Enter at www.popphotocontest.com America’s biggest photo magazine has a big contest. The winning images are published both in the magazine and on the website. The categories include action/sports, candid/humor, nature, architecture, people, and travel/places. American PHOTO Enter at www.iotycontest.com The annual American PHOTO Images of the Year Competition is another biggie. The winning images are published in an issue of American PHOTO magazine and at popphoto.com. The categories for entries are photojournalism/documentary, commercial work: advertising/editorial, personal work, student work, portraiture, nature, and extreme. National Wildlife Enter at www.nwf.org/photozone/enterphotocontest.cfm National Wildlife, the magazine of the National Wildlife Federation, sponsors a photo contest for wildlife photographers. Winners of the contest are published in one of their issues. There are seven categories in three different divisions (Pro, Amateur, and Youth). The categories are global warming, wildlife, mammals, birds, other wildlife, backyard habitats, connecting people and nature, landscapes, and plant life. Smithsonian Magazine Enter at http://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com Every year, Smithsonian magazine sponsors a contest. There are five categories in which you can enter: natural world, Americana, altered images, travel, and people. Ten finalists from each category are chosen. The finalists’ photos get published on the Smithsonian website. Getting Published ■ 155 . letters by e-mail for initial contact. (Watersidesyndication.com has a Query an Agent form, which you fill out online.) In your communication, you can introduce yourself and describe your idea. If. There are some agents who specifically handle photography books. Some handle only coffee table books, others handle only how-to books, and there are some who handle both. There are some agencies. publishers look for in a potential author are the ideas he has for a photography how-to book and the platform (public life) upon which he works. Publishers want novel ideas and good photographs to