Friday, February 1, 2013

JEF CABLOG: COVER and FEATURED IN PRACTIQUE DES ARTS ISSUE 108


Written by Wrachelle Calderon-Cablog

About a month ago, Jef received an unexpected  email from  someone who works for a major French magazine for art enthusiasts and informed us of their editor's interest to feature Jef’s work and even have one of his works in the cover of their next issue in January 2013. We were completely blown away with this news.  Aside from a feature, to be on the cover of the magazine seemed too good to be true. We read the e-mail all over again and noticed that aside from not including any contact details, neither phone/fax nor a link to their website, they asked us to immediately send high resolution photos of Jef’s work as their deadline for the next issue is fast approaching.  At the back our minds was, “Is this really true or just one of the Spams/Scams we often receive in our inbox?” What if this is a SCAM and these high resolution photos get to the wrong hands and maybe reproduce them for profit? We suddenly felt the urge to verify the authenticity of the said e-mail. In this case, we had to be vigilant so I started to Google and search for some clues and information which would give us more light to this French art magazine. When I visited their site, aside from the pictures of artworks, the articles and tabs were all in French so it was really difficult to make sense of its contents. Good thing google translate came in handy so I was able to make sense of some of the contents of the site. I found that it was indeed an art magazine.  Second, I started to verify if the person who contacted us really worked for the magazine. I thought, “Where else can you find professionals?” Again, the internet came in handy .  So having seen his profile at Linkedin, I was able to atleast verify  that he is indeed working for the said magazine. I also searched for some reviews and even searched if there are scams related to the said magazine. I haven’t found any negative articles so that was a good sign.

Having been featured in a US-based art magazine back in 2010, Jef and I already have an idea  of  the requirements normally requested for a feature/publication. We then asked the person who contacted us  how their editor came across Jef’s  work,  asked if he can tell us more of what their magazine is about and  the theme of the issue wherein Jef will be featured on, asked for a Release form/ Royalty Waiver Form,-basically allowing  the magazine to publish Jef’s work, a checklist of the requirements and interview questions.  A day or two have passed and no reply. On the fifth day, we received another message from the same person along with file attachments we requested. We then immediately sent the requirements along with a scanned copy of the Royalty Waiver Form after a day or two. We then received a confirmation that they have already received all the requirements and are working on the article to be submitted to their editor before their deadline of publication at the beginning of January 2013.

On the 25th of January, we checked their website and , as scheduled, the magazine was formally out on circulation. Jef and I realized that sometimes you also need to have faith in people and to take some risks to be able to take advantage of the opportunities the internet has to offer. But of course, always be skeptic and when in doubt, always take extra effort to research and know more about the person/organization/company who contacted you. 

Jef and I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the Editor and staff of Practique des Arts Magazine for the 6-page feature and for all the opportunities that may come after this feature. We hope that one day we can visit France and thank you all personally. Merci beaucoup!


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