Are you interested in submitting your jewelry designs to magazines? One of the best ways to learn about a magazine is to read a copy. In fact, when I was very new to magazine publishing, that's how I figured out where to send my work. I went to my local bookstore, flipped through all the jewelry and beading magazines, and submitted to the one I felt most in tune with. My work wasn't identical to what was in the pages, but I could easily see it fitting right in.
You can typically tell when jewelry designers skip this step. They send complex beadweaving designs to a jewelry magazine that features simple stringing techniques. They send a gothic-inspired spider necklace to a magazine looking for traditional pearl wedding jewelry. Or they ignore the magazine's guidelines completely, thinking that "If the editors like it, they'll publish it anyway." That might have been true in the early days, but getting published is very competitive now. Why not give yourself the best chance at a "yes" from an editor?
This is true even if you've been submitting to various magazines for a long time. Yes, you can submit blindly (and sometimes you don't have a choice if the magazine is new or hard to get), but just know that the odds are stacked against you.
Here's one magazine to flip through and see if it's something you want to consider for submission.
Bead Chat Magazine
Bead Chat Magazine is an online magazine published by the Bead Chat community, an online group with more than 5,000 members. It doesn't pay for submissions (as far as I can tell), but it does offer advertising space in exchange for articles and has lots of live links to Etsy shops. If you're a bead maker or supplier, this could be a way to get some new business, as I suspect many jewelry designers might browse the magazine looking for new beads and related materials for their addiction hobby.
I looked through the March/April 2014 issue pictured here. The jewelry photos were bright and appealing. It looks like strong photography would help your jewelry get published here. Most print magazines do their own professional photography, but for this magazine, it's up to you to provide a strong image.
The content included lots of interviews, an article on making a photo collage with PicMonkey, a tutorial on making rustic wrapped briolettes, and several other features. There were also links to how-to videos, which is definitely something you won't find in a print magazine.
Bead Chat Magazine needs photos of handmade jewelry submissions for its upcoming issue. The themes are Indian summer, beauty, and rustic. They also have a specific color palette to use for your designs. Article or tutorial ideas are welcome. Submissions are due July 15, 2014. Send large, high quality, in-focus images to beadchatmagazine@gmail.com or join the Facebook group for more information and the full guidelines.
Good luck!