With Kelly Ryan Kegans, editor of Mpls.St. Paul Home & Design
Q. How do I get my home or product featured in a magazine?
First, it’s helpful to know your goal for having the home or product featured and who the audience is of the magazine you have in mind. At Mpls.St.Paul Home & Design, we are on the hunt for local inspirational and aspirational homes; people, places, and products that reflect how people are living (or can live) their best lives in the Twin Cities. Think about how your project or product speaks to readers, then reach out to the editorial staff with a brief email to pitch your story idea. Include a few visuals (or a link to images) and a short write-up of your idea that highlights what it is and why you think it’s a timely fit for the publication. Editors love exclusive stories, so be sure to let them know if you are able to offer that.
Q. What makes a story pitch stand out to you as an editor?
Whether it’s for the Home & Design or regional or national publications, editors want to know what’s in it for their readers. We like to pull back the curtain about how a home comes to life: What were the goals of the resident or homeowner? What challenges did the design team have to overcome? What excited you, as the design pro, about the project in the first place? How is the story unique or different? Are there takeaways you can tick off in your pitch to the editor? Were there uber cool materials used to bring the dream to life? And since we are in the business of visuals, always include images along with your story pitch.
Q. Besides pitches, how do editors find the homes and products they feature?
Editors for all shelter magazines scour Instagram on the regular for story leads and ideas. (Often editors will check out a business, designer, or subject first on Instagram and then their website.) Locally, we also regularly attend home and garden tours and retail openings, and we have long-term relationships with industry pros — from builders, architects, and designers to photographers, stylists, shop owners, and area tastemakers — who often share new projects or people to check out.
Q. How important is it to have good imagery when pitching?
For story pitches, iPhone photos work great as scouting shots to give an editor the general idea and the scope of a story. Prior to publication, most publications require professional photography. At H&D magazine, we feature a hybrid of both supplied images (which we pay photographers to license for publication), and we commission our own photoshoots, working with national-level professional photographers and stylists.
Q. How far in advance should I be pitching to an editor?
Magazines produce stories seasonally as much as possible, so that could mean photographing a story a year prior to publication if possible (for example, we photographed locations this summer to be featured in summer 2024). Publications typically go into production — meaning assigning stories to writers, scheduling last-minute photography, and designing stories — about six weeks prior to the publication date.
