Tweet
Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself trying to figure out the best way to organize my pattern writing and sales. I was wondering you all like?
Do you prefer paper or pdf?
Single pattern, small book, larger book, mystery KAL?
What about the idea of a pattern subscription (like a yarn club) where you sign up for a set period (say 3 or 6 months) and get a new pattern every month/6 weeks at a discount with an extra surprise along the way?
Or maybe a a club in conjunction with an indi dyer with yarn and pattern together for a 3 or 6 month period?
I’d love to hear your ideas, there are so many ways of doing this that the possibilities can be overwhelming. Plus there is no point trying a different route if no one is interested in it!
Let me know your thoughts….
Maybe you should set up a survey on Survey Monkey?
I like to see the original versions of all your designs as works in progress but I settle for only seeing a few. :)
I like PDFs for the immediacy, but I usually print them out and work from a hard copy. I like patterns in pretty much all forms — singles, collections, and books. I would hesitate to do a pattern subscription, though, because I can particular and wouldn’t want to end up with a pattern, yarn, or color that I didn’t like. For the same reason, I’m not big on mystery KALs, although I did sign up for Stephen West’s recent one.
I love PDFs on Ravelry. I really like it because once you buy one, it is always stored in your library and you can download it again, without having to search all over your computer for the file. But, if I love the designer, than a book is great, too!
good idea, sue! for what it’s worth, I much prefer pdf’s. I make copious notes as I knit and I always want a clean copy of a patterns. and having them stored in my ravelry library means I can access them anytime/anywhere. I’m finding that I prefer smaller collections (3-5 patterns), maybe with the patterns available individually and slightly discounted as a bundle. love seeing your WIPs, but would welcome a surprise every so often. I knit a lot, but I like to have a few projects going – I’d be hard pressed to keep up with a monthly or 6-week subscription.
I love PDF because I can carry the pattern on my iPad (save a little paper).
Also prefer single patterns as more often not I will only consider one or two patterns from a book. It’s not that I don’t like them but there are so many patterns out there and only one of me :-) and I live in the sub-tropics.
I like .pdfs – singles and ebooks, I love pattern clubs – it’s fun to get a new pattern each month and try to find something in my stash to use. it’s like a treasure hunt! If you want to offer with yarn – have a non yarn option.
I love pdfs for the ease of downloading and printing. But I also love books and have an extensive library of knitting books. I also love single patterns as well as collections. I love it all. With respect to a club, I like doing yarn and pattern clubs. If you are thinking about doing a larger thing like a sweater club (which I think there is a need for), I would definitely sign up for something that gets released maybe every 3 months (so I can finish my sock or shawl from other clubs!).
I prefer pdf, and I’d rather buy single patterns than a collection. I am a member of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts club, and I love it. I really like getting yarn along with a pattern (even if I end up using the yarn for something else).
I prefer patterns in pdf form. When I want to begin the project, I print them out. I like to be able to access the pattens immediately which is great with digital downloads. I like collections also, but collections that you can purchase the individual patterns if there’s only certain that I like in the collection. A pattern club would be interesting :-)
I’m going to join the chorus…I like pdfs..single or ebooks. Like others commented, I tend to write notes on them ;) I love the idea of a pattern club/subscription and in partnership with a yarn company is a great way to check out a new yarn. I also like the mystery KAL….I’ve only done a few, but have loved them!
I love PDFs because I can store them and print them out whenever I need them, although I do tend to keep a file box of printed patterns with my notes on them for future reference should I again knit the same thing.
I don’t often buy knitting pattern books (and have never purchased an online “collection” of patterns) as I usually only want to make one of the patterns and feel I can get more bang for my buck purchasing only the single patterns that I like. The books I have purchased are usually all variations on one kind of thing, i.e. all socks or all hats, rather than a little bit of everything. I can just go to my sock books when I am looking for a new sock pattern and am likely to find something agreeable.
I like the idea of a yarn/pattern club, as long as it follows a theme (i.e. Socks, Hats, Warm Winter Knits, something like that). It’s nice to have surprises, but I would also want to know it would be something I would be inclined to knit before subscribing, rather than “waste” my money on weird patterns I wouldn’t normally try.
I also like PDFs, probably the best. However, I have a large collection of books and nothing is better than getting them out and leafing through them; refreshing my memory of techniques and tips from the author(s).
I prefer pdfs. And I would love a mytery KAL and a club with new patterns every three or six months. I don’t like the patterns in combination with yarns, because I want to make my own choice of colour.
Loooooooove your new book!
Gaby from Germany