On Getting Published
but why? where? what?
First: thank you
for the incredible number of new subscribers discovering me through your recommendations. This might be a good time for me to introduce myself again and give everyone permission to unfollow if this content isn’t useful or entertaining.When AOL Instant Messenger and MySpace were a thing, and I considered myself a gritty New York City member of the literati, my name was @publisinister. I thought this was quite clever at the time and, even now, am pleased to see the only Google result for this portmanteau is me.
I spent a brief (accidental) moment in my early career as a publicist for a romance imprint at a major book publishing house between more intentional roles in editorial departments. The ill-fated job required me to write jacket copy for books I impertinently didn’t have time to read. I’ve left this period of time off my resume.
Eventually and thankfully, I landed a formative role under the editor of Inc., a magazine about private and fast-growing companies. I spent my days speaking with entrepreneurs about calculated risks they took and the hard decisions they made. I also fielded many (many) pitches from publicists who didn’t understand the tone of the magazine and from businesspeople who believed their common story was interesting enough to print.
Fast forward to now: I have been representing media advertising sales for businesses in the residential design industry for the past decade. This means I am asked, with astounding regularity, how to get published (often by the same people who don’t want to buy pages because they think print is dead lol).
Recently, I came across this efficient guide to Getting Published. Half of the tips are specific to interior design pros, but otherwise I agree that all of the advice is solid. The contacts at the bottom are a bit suss, though, both that A Design Partnership are doxxing these people and that it might not be current info. (So please just use their email format as a helping hand to reach a different writer at that company.)
What’s not addressed here is: why do you want editorial coverage? Where do you want editorial coverage? Is there a difference between what you choose to pitch and what you use for your social channels, your email blasts, your print advertising campaigns, and your Rizzoli book that you’ll sign at your showroom party during Legends?
The answers depend, obviously, on your brand and your goals. There’s not enough time for me to write or for you to read all of my thoughts here, but of course you can always schedule time with me to talk. I can’t answer your whys. I do believe in manifesting, however, and sometimes you need someone to ask you the right questions to find those answers inside you.
This is a long winded way of saying that I now work with West Coast based residential design accounts for Modern Luxury, an omnichannel media company with 65+ brands serving 24 markets in the U.S. In 2025, we’ve launched an all new Modern Luxury Interiors, a national magazine with 9 regional markets. Click here for the West Coast edition of Volume 1 and Volume 2.
If you are a designer, architect, builder, or landscape architect: You’re invited to submit your best residential projects to the Design 9 Awards, Modern Luxury Interiors’ competition celebrating design excellence across the country. Winning projects will be featured in Volume 4 of Modern Luxury Interiors and online at modernluxury.com.
Winners are celebrated at awards ceremonies across the country, and you can contact me for sponsorship options. Guests will enjoy craft cocktails, a curated menu, and unique brand activations, all while honoring the creativity and excellence that define the Design 9.
To guarantee inclusion in Modern Luxury Interiors sooner, buy space in Volume 3:
Materials Due: August 15
Delivery: September 4
Volume 3 includes the Kitchen & Bath Resource Guide, and you can be in it or strategically aligned with it.
As mentioned above, Modern Luxury also publishes regional titles such as Angeleno. September is The Style Issue: The ultimate luxury Fall Fashion spotlight, plus the most influential Women of Style in each market.
Materials Due: August 15
Delivery: September 4
SPECIAL SECTION: Dynamic Women ← This is a profile piece that can tell your story in 50k copies of Angeleno reaching households 2.9x more likely to have HHI of over $500k.
