With 2017 looming ahead of us, we’ve been talking about the goals we want to meet and one of our major goals every year is getting our couples published in blogs and magazines. It’s honestly the raddest feeling in the world, walking into a grocery store, picking up a magazine, and seeing a photo we took inside!

One of the easiest ways to get published is by using the ultra easy to use, super rad publication platform: Two Bright Lights.

If you haven’t heard of Two Bright Lights, we are about to rock. your. WORLD, friends!

Two Bright Lights is a major part of our workflow for every engagement session and wedding. We’ve been with them for a few years now, and we love using their platform for submitting for publication because it’s super simple, fast and many of our favorite publishers are all in one spot.

Things to Do Before you Submit on Two Bright Lights

• Write a story about the session or the wedding – and be sure to include as much details as you possibly can. Why did the couple wear what they did? Is there a story behind the ring? What was so special about the theme of their wedding? Basically: tell what makes this session or wedding special, interesting and inspirational for other brides to be looking at. Something we do is copy and paste the blog we already wrote into the blog story!
• Compile a list of all the vendors, so you can give them credit!
• Choose up to 150 of your favorite images to be reviewed for publication. The more details, the better! We personally like to submit anywhere from 50-75 detail photos for weddings, because publishers are looking for ways to inspire future brides with photos you took.
• Check the Requests tab – there are hundreds of requests for specific types of photos, sessions, styles, etc.

How to Create an Album on Two Bright Lights

To make it super easy for you, I’ve taken screenshots of an actual submission I sent off this morning, step by step. 

Step 1: Log In

It’ll take you to this screen. The top is a scrolling header that says when popular publications have deadlines, featured publishers, etc. To start the process of submitting, go to “Albums” in the upper left corner.

Step 2: Create an Album

Step 3: Designate what kind of album you’re submitting.

The options are wedding, engagement, family, parties and lifestyle. The only bummer about Two Bright Lights is that there’s nowhere really to submit boudoir sessions – but I think that’s primarily because there’s actually nowhere really to submit boudoir sessions at all. 🙁 Someone needs to start a boudoir blog for publication!!!

Step 4: Begin Telling the Story

Provide information about your couple, the date, where it took place. Be sure to include a title and an album story! It says optional next to album story, but don’t leave this part blank!! This is your opportunity to let editors know why this shoot deserves to be published – what makes it unique, pin-worthy, share-worthy, etc. Like I mentioned before, we will actually just copy and paste the blog we already wrote into this section … although sometimes we add extra details, as necessary.

Step 5: Give Vendors Credit

This is one of the most important steps here – be sure to give credit to every single vendor who participated in the session or wedding. Jewelry, shoes, clothing, makeup, hair, styling, floral, rentals, venue, catering, invitations – the list goes on and on. Give credit to EVERYONE, even the major designers who have no idea who you are. Why? Because potential couples are going to see these photos and wonder “where did that bride get her dress?” and “those invitations are exactly what I’m looking for, where can I get them??” … help them out!

Step 6: Tag Your Album

Apply the appropriate tags your submission – if it’s a destination, outdoor, bohemian engagement session that takes place in the winter with a multicultural couple … let editors know that! If it’s a barn wedding shot on film in the spring – editors want to know that, too!

Step 7: Time to Add your Photos! Click “Add Images” to select your favorites.

Step 8: Select where your photos are stored … and pay attention to the image requirements!

We upload straight from our PC, and we upload the full-resolution images that are NOT watermarked or resized – the same images that we use to give our clients! You don’t need to do anything special to your images to submit them. Don’t BlogStomp them, don’t resize them, don’t watermark them!

Step 9: Select 150 Favorite Images

You’re able to include up to 150 images in your submissions – don’t skimp!! Include enough photos to really tell the story of the day and be sure to include lots of detail photos – the rings, the attire, invitations, the set up for ceremony and reception, the flowers, the hair styles, etc. Remember: editors are looking for ways to inspire future brides, so every photo you submit should be inspirational in one way or another – even the portraits!

Step 10: Once it’s all finished uploading, click “Move On.”

Step 11: Choose a Great Cover Photo

This will be the first photo an editor sees – so make it stand out and really “say something” about the session or wedding!

Step 12: Adjust the Cover Photo, as needed

Step 13: You’re all ready to submit!!

Click the “Submissions Tab” in the upper left corner in the main toolbar, right next to Albums.

So now you’ve created your album and uploaded your 150 favorite images for publication, and customized it with tags and everything …

Now it’s time for the fun part:

How to Submit on Two Bright Lights

Step 14: Click “Create Submission”

Step 15: Select the Album you want to submit

Step 16: Review and Add Details as Necessary

Step 17: Create Your Submission

This is the part where most people get confused – where to submit to!

First: Decide Exclusive vs Non-Exclusive

Exclusive means you’re only submitting to one blog or magazine – these are usually ‘higher end’ blogs with bigger reach, like Beyond the Wanderlust, Aisle Perfect, The Knot Magazine, etc.

Non-Exclusive means you’re submitting to multiple blogs – and we recommend selecting no more than 5. Editors can see everywhere you submit to, and even the non-exclusive blogs still want to feel special!

If you’re not sure which editors use Two Bright Lights – check out their List of Publishers!

Be sure that you’ve also checked out the Requests tab (the third option over in the main toolbar) to see if any of the editors are looking for something you’ve got!

And that’s it!

It actually took longer to write this blog than it does to submit … As long as you have your list of vendors ready to go and your images picked out – it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to submit a session or wedding to Two Bright Lights.

BONUS TIP

We will often use the same 150 or so images that we use from our blog for publication! When we are in Lightroom, we select our favorites and export them separately into a special “Favorites” album … that way all our favorites from the wedding is set aside and ready for us to blog and submit!

If you have questions or want to know more about Two Bright Lights – post a comment below! If we don’t know the answers, our friends Tessa or Meghan (the editors over at Two Bright Lights) will be happy to answer them for you!!!

For only $14.95 a month – we have seen a MAJOR return on investment! Try it out for a month and see how it helps you grow your business!!

>>> SIGN UP HERE <<<

Save this info for later!!

Feel free to PIN this image to save this info for later!