5 Myths of Architecture Publishing

When it comes to getting your architecture published, we know it can be a bit overwhelming, but we’re here to reassure you by dispelling 5 common myths…

1. It’s who you know

This is one we hear a lot. It’s this idea that the well-known architects have ‘special relationships’ with the top editors, who will always publish their work over yours. There’s two main things wrong with this logic:

Firstly, if this was true, you would only ever read stories about a handful of architects. But websites and magazines publish thousands of projects a year, and these top tier practices can’t fill every spot. The architects you read about the most have taken the time to prepare content for editors and have simply started talking to them. Do relationships grow from this interaction? Of course, but there’s nothing precluding you from connecting too. Every relationship starts with ‘Hello’.

Secondly, writers and editors are looking for fresh content. While some publications have a particular aesthetic or architectural bent, there are so many others looking for new and interesting work – your work.

2. It takes too much time

It simply doesn’t have to. If you’ve got your images together, you can spend less than an hour putting together some text and creating a beautiful press kit (did someone say BowerKit?). You can then connect with journalists and share your work in a matter of minutes. Read more about how much time you should spend here.

3. I need to learn to write

The most important thing to remember is that journalists are the ones who do the writing. All you need to do is highlight the unique and interesting parts of your project. You can do this very simply by following our Brief, Challenges, Solutions method. By giving the Who, What, When, Where and Why of your project, you’ve done all you need to do. Journalists will ask you for anything else they need for their story.

4. I won’t get published

This is the big one: the fear that you will send your project to a journalist and hear nothing back. The truth is, if you send to only one or two journalists (your favourite magazines, perhaps) it is possible you won’t hear back, and you probably won’t get published. But it most likely has nothing to do with you or the publishability of your project.

Magazine editors are busy people and have limited spots to fill. If you widen your net and contact at least 10-20 journalists from a range of digital and print publications matching your project, not only are you more likely to get a response, you’re almost guaranteed to get published.

5. It’s just too scary

This is something architects and designers rarely say out loud, but the internal monologue can be deafening. We’re not going to tell you it isn’t daunting sharing your work with journalists – and by extension, the whole world! We’ve been in your shoes, and we too have been scared when putting ourselves out there – it’s totally natural.

But it’s only really confronting the first time you do it. Once you find out how easy it is and how nice your community of journalists is, it won’t ever be that scary again.

More importantly, if you’re scared, it’s probably because you really care about your work, and if you really care it means you’re bound to find some journalists who care too.

So go forth, get started, and forget all these myths. The only thing standing between you and getting published is clicking Send (or Send BowerKit to be precise). If you have other questions you’d like to ask us, or just want us to help you get started, send us an email here.