You asked. . .

I'm on my way out the door again. This is the last class for J, and I have to admit I am relieved. We are going to try something a little bit different for our next round of classes, I think that will be good for both of us.

I wanted to answer some questions left in the comments section for me. I'll go with the most recent first. Deb (sparkling scrapbooks) asked about publication tips:

1. The secret to getting published is. . . nothing. If there is a secret, I don't know it. Sorry. But the following is my reasoning, my process, I've been published 20 times, so take it for what it's worth (not much, ha!).

2. I don't create pages for page calls. I think that is a sure fire way to get burned out. I create the pages that I want to create for me and my family and then submit them if a call comes up that the pages would fit for. If I make a page that I think has potential, and there is no call, I submit to general submissions. The editors know where their holes are in the magazine and will snag your layout out of general submissions if it fits what they are looking for. Case in point, this layout picked up by Memory Makers:

I submitted it in general submissions, but they wanted it for their calendar page call. I would have never thought to submit this to the calendar call, it just wasn't what I was thinking I guess.

3. Submit often. I pick a nap time each week to look over calls and submit. If it doesn't get done during that nap time, there is always next week, or I miss the call. Whatever. That leads me to the next point. . .

4. Submit and then get amnesia. Seriously, I think checking to see if the calls are over and if they "didn't pick you," that's the second great way to get burned out. You can't change it or influence it in anyway. So I submit and forget unless I get the email telling me to send in my work. I don't really want to know how many times my work is "rejected." Who does? I'm sure it's been rejected more than it's been accepted. But there are things beyond having a great page at work here. You can have the best orange page ever, but if they are dead set on publishing a purple page with a brand new must try technique, it's not going to happen.

5. Being different helps. If you have a different colors on  layout than the traditional red/green for Christmas or orange/black for Halloween I think that helps. Multiphoto layouts are still popular. Having a title, journaling, pictures and embellishments are the essential elements I think. I know there have been pages picked up without that formula, but it's rare.

6. Do what you say you will. If they need your page by a certain date, you have to do that. If you need to send paperwork or pictures of a technique or whatever you agreed to do, you need to do that. People notice if you don't, and I feel like they have plenty of work to choose from now and in the future. So be a person of your word. Some great advice I received from a garden girl once was this: "great work gets you in the door, being responsible keeps you in the door."

If you have a question, please ask. I'll answer I promise. Happy Thursday!