This is about writing patterns. When you create a pattern, and put it down in writing, you are automatically granted the copyright to that piece of work. You can pay the government money to make sure you have your rights covered in case someone steals your work and puts their name on it. It happens. But, you are granted those rights for free by your government. You pay the government to make sure there is no question that you are the legal owner of that copright. Not paying, leaves you trusting people not to rip you off. Think of it as insurance, and decide for yourself if its worth the money. OK?
Now then, if you sell your pattern to a publisher such as a magazine or website, generally you sell the rights along with that. That means you cannot go and sell that pattern to any one else. You no longer own the rights to do that, you see. You sold them along with the pattern. If you don't want that to be the case, then make sure its in the contract exactly how you want it. But most likely, they will buy all rights along with the pattern. Period. But, they give you a fair price in exchange for that. If you don't agree, you can refuse to sign the contract and the pattern along with the rights remains yours and yours alone.
When you see that you are going to be making lots of patterns, you can make someone the beneficiary of all your copyrighted works upon your death. Lets face it, we all go sooner or later. You may as well give these rights to someone you know so that they can make money on your labors of love when you are no longer able to be here on earth. Put it in your Will who gets the copyrights. If the person that gets them knows anything at all about how to sell your patterns after you are gone, then they can make money for years off them. If they don't know how, and don't learn how, then its like throwing money out the window. Make sure you will them to the right person and your legacy will live on and they will be glad you chose them as the heir to your copyrights.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
How do I do that?
To sell your patterns, you can offer them to magazines. Pick one you like, and think your pattern will fit in with the rest of what they tend to include in their magazine. Go to their site online, and read how to submit your work for publication. Follow their instructions to the letter. And then sit back and wait. Expect a few rejections before you make it as a big time pattern writer. Quite a few, in fact. But, it can be done. So don't give up yet.
Another option, is to find a craft site that gives away free patterns. Some of them will pay you for your patterns. Read the guidelines for publication, and follow them to the letter. Again, be prepared for rejections. The best writers in the world get them. Some even wall paper their office with the reject letters. They are that common.
But listen to the reason they rejected your piece, and learn from it. You know you're not a failure as a human being, and you know you're good at writing patterns because some other people told you so before you decided you wanted to get paid for it. Remind yourself as often as you need to and get over it already.
There is another option. You can sell your patterns to individuals. Yep. And you can sell them over and over and over again. As often as someone is willing to pay you the price you ask. Pick a place like Etsy.com to list your patterns. Can you do a pdf? If not, you might want to learn how. It's amazingly easy once you know how to do it. One click of a button and poof! it's in pdf format and ready to be attached to an email to send out to your customer.
Take some digital pictures of the finished item, write up a description so they know what they are buying, decide if you will allow the buyer to sell the item they crochet from your pattern, decide how much you want to charge for the pattern, you have a paypal account by now...right?, remember you prefer paypal and put that in your description, let them know you'll send the pattern by email within 24 hours of payment being made and make sure you do exactly what you promised, say thank you each and every time--they could have gave that money to someone else, you know.
That's about it. A lot to think about. The money is out there to be made if you want it bad enough. Just do it. When you start thinking its a lot of work for too little money, remember when you crocheted for free and gave it all away? That should make you appreciate every dollar you make crocheting. After all, it could be a whole lot worse. How many people do you know that took the initiative to actually persue their dream of making money from home? You're a winner in my book just because you took the steps to achieve your goal--whatever your goal was.
Keep learning, and pat yourself on the back every now and then. You can do it! I believe! LOL
Have a great one!
"7 days without crochet makes one weak"
Another option, is to find a craft site that gives away free patterns. Some of them will pay you for your patterns. Read the guidelines for publication, and follow them to the letter. Again, be prepared for rejections. The best writers in the world get them. Some even wall paper their office with the reject letters. They are that common.
But listen to the reason they rejected your piece, and learn from it. You know you're not a failure as a human being, and you know you're good at writing patterns because some other people told you so before you decided you wanted to get paid for it. Remind yourself as often as you need to and get over it already.
There is another option. You can sell your patterns to individuals. Yep. And you can sell them over and over and over again. As often as someone is willing to pay you the price you ask. Pick a place like Etsy.com to list your patterns. Can you do a pdf? If not, you might want to learn how. It's amazingly easy once you know how to do it. One click of a button and poof! it's in pdf format and ready to be attached to an email to send out to your customer.
Take some digital pictures of the finished item, write up a description so they know what they are buying, decide if you will allow the buyer to sell the item they crochet from your pattern, decide how much you want to charge for the pattern, you have a paypal account by now...right?, remember you prefer paypal and put that in your description, let them know you'll send the pattern by email within 24 hours of payment being made and make sure you do exactly what you promised, say thank you each and every time--they could have gave that money to someone else, you know.
That's about it. A lot to think about. The money is out there to be made if you want it bad enough. Just do it. When you start thinking its a lot of work for too little money, remember when you crocheted for free and gave it all away? That should make you appreciate every dollar you make crocheting. After all, it could be a whole lot worse. How many people do you know that took the initiative to actually persue their dream of making money from home? You're a winner in my book just because you took the steps to achieve your goal--whatever your goal was.
Keep learning, and pat yourself on the back every now and then. You can do it! I believe! LOL
Have a great one!
"7 days without crochet makes one weak"
We aren't done making crochet money yet
Once you've made a lot of crochet items from somebody else's pattern, you start to make changes to the pattern so that it becomes your version instead of the writer's. That's great!
You can begin to write down how you did that, to come up with your version of the pattern in print form. When you write crochet patterns long enough, you begin to get the feel of how its done. But to begin with, you will find yourself writing your patterns using the same words you found written by someone else. But you made changes to their pattern, so you didn't exactly commit a crime. But you still can't legally sell that pattern until you can write down how its done without copying someone else's work. You have to change a minimum of 40% in order for it to be anywhere near legal to do that and offer it up for sale. And it can't look like a knock off of the finished item, either. This is important!
When you can come up with your very own pattern based on the techniques you've learned crocheting, and put it down in your very own words, and you know it is yours and yours alone, then and only then can you put your pattern out there for the world to see.
Put your first patterns up on the internet for free in a public place, such as crochetme.com. You won't get any money for it, but you might get a lot of praise and that's what you want. People will tell you if you made a mistake. Go ahead and fix that mistake. Don't waste time getting your feeling hurt or worse--getting all mad about it.
When you are good enough at the free patterns that people start asking you if it's really your pattern....THAT'S when you are ready to start selling your patterns.
You can begin to write down how you did that, to come up with your version of the pattern in print form. When you write crochet patterns long enough, you begin to get the feel of how its done. But to begin with, you will find yourself writing your patterns using the same words you found written by someone else. But you made changes to their pattern, so you didn't exactly commit a crime. But you still can't legally sell that pattern until you can write down how its done without copying someone else's work. You have to change a minimum of 40% in order for it to be anywhere near legal to do that and offer it up for sale. And it can't look like a knock off of the finished item, either. This is important!
When you can come up with your very own pattern based on the techniques you've learned crocheting, and put it down in your very own words, and you know it is yours and yours alone, then and only then can you put your pattern out there for the world to see.
Put your first patterns up on the internet for free in a public place, such as crochetme.com. You won't get any money for it, but you might get a lot of praise and that's what you want. People will tell you if you made a mistake. Go ahead and fix that mistake. Don't waste time getting your feeling hurt or worse--getting all mad about it.
When you are good enough at the free patterns that people start asking you if it's really your pattern....THAT'S when you are ready to start selling your patterns.
Making more money with crochet
Can you read a crochet pattern? Can you follow the pattern and does your finished item look anything like the one in the picture? Can you pronounce those French words correctly?
Motif is pronounced mo-teef. Not motive. Mo-teef. The 'o' is long.
Picot is pronounced pee-ko. Not pie-cot. Say it with me, pee-ko. Again, the 'o' is long.
And of course, you know that crochet is pronounced kro-shay. Not crotch-it.
Seriously, when you pronounce the words correctly you come across as a professional instead of a dork. And people will pay you more for crocheted items if you speak the language correctly.
It also helps to be able to read crochet correctly. If you don't already know how, then by all means learn how. It's in the magazine you bought, or the book, they include a list of what it all means.
Read and follow the directions. Pay attention to gauge, hook size, stitch count, and yarn. Beware of yarn substitutions until you've had enough experience to make them. You'll make a lot of mistakes in learning how to substitute any of these. But eventually, you'll get it, if you don't give up.
Motif is pronounced mo-teef. Not motive. Mo-teef. The 'o' is long.
Picot is pronounced pee-ko. Not pie-cot. Say it with me, pee-ko. Again, the 'o' is long.
And of course, you know that crochet is pronounced kro-shay. Not crotch-it.
Seriously, when you pronounce the words correctly you come across as a professional instead of a dork. And people will pay you more for crocheted items if you speak the language correctly.
It also helps to be able to read crochet correctly. If you don't already know how, then by all means learn how. It's in the magazine you bought, or the book, they include a list of what it all means.
Read and follow the directions. Pay attention to gauge, hook size, stitch count, and yarn. Beware of yarn substitutions until you've had enough experience to make them. You'll make a lot of mistakes in learning how to substitute any of these. But eventually, you'll get it, if you don't give up.
Making money with crochet
So, you want to make money with crochet? There are several ways you can do that, some easier than others. You can sell your finished items to family and friends. You might sell your crochet items to people you know at work, at church, to people you meet in the doctor's office waiting room.
You could set up a booth at the flea market, sell it online at places like ebay, or etsy. You might sell it to people you meet on myspace or other social networks. Sell it by email. Use paypal or some other such service to protect both you and the buyer. It's worth the small fee, I promise you.
You may find that doing all the above is taking too much of your time and taking a toll on your body. Crochet is repetitive movements and that can give you a reason to be sitting in the waiting room of your doctor's office.
But don't give up now! You've come too far to quit now.
You could set up a booth at the flea market, sell it online at places like ebay, or etsy. You might sell it to people you meet on myspace or other social networks. Sell it by email. Use paypal or some other such service to protect both you and the buyer. It's worth the small fee, I promise you.
You may find that doing all the above is taking too much of your time and taking a toll on your body. Crochet is repetitive movements and that can give you a reason to be sitting in the waiting room of your doctor's office.
But don't give up now! You've come too far to quit now.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
A pattern is merely a guide....
I found a pattern I liked in a magazine, but for some strange reason I wanted to use yarn instead of thread. Perhaps because I had lots of yarn in that color, but no way did I have enough thread of any color to complete it. Hmmm, will it work out? Well, so far the gauge is way off. That's okay, I am using the schematics to attempt to make it work.
So far, so good. I had to put it down a few times and walk away. I resisted the urge to throw it away several times. The good news is it is starting to take shape and actually look like a sweater; which is what it was supposed to be anyway.
I'll keep you posted as to how well it turns out.
Friday, May 15, 2009
My mannequin or maniken
I bought this mannequin. The one in the picture. But it looks nothing like a man. It more acurately represents a female body. That's why I bought her. To show off the clothes I make and sell.
So, let me introduce her properly. Her name is Mindi, and she is a heriken. ha ha ha I like that. A lot better than mannequin or maniken. I mean, come on, does she look like a man to you? LOL
Which way to go
Indecision on my part ended up with these in more than one version, as far as the backside goes. Yep. I made them up as thongs (woo-hoo!) in addition to some minimal coverage on the back-which gives you maybe 5 inches coverage at the widest part. Seems I like options and choices, and figured there must be like minded others out there.
I even made my mother blush when I showed her what I was crocheting now. Shame on me, huh? LOL
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Not a croc...
It's a high top tennie for babies. I love it! LOL Wish they had these when mine were little. But that's okay, I am a grandma. And I do love to crochet.
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