Becoming a participating designer

What we can do for you

• Our event gives independent knitting and crochet designers an audience of eager crafters interested in buying and making your patterns!
  
  
• Our searchable database of designers and patterns will include information about you, all your single patterns which are purchasable online on an off-Ravelry channel, and any eBooks which you want to make eligible for the event discount.
  • If you're worried about how time-consuming/difficult it'll be to provide detailed information about your products for our database, no worries! We grab data from the Ravelry API.
  • If your product information is not fully available from the Ravelry API, we'll work with you to make your data entry happen. And if filling out a spreadsheet is not your thing, we have volunteers who can help.
  
  
• You can interact with our community directly in a friendly environment on a variety of online channels.
  
  
• You can sign up to participate in interactive events with the making audience, like Ask Me Anythings (AMAs) or video panels.
  
  
• You can use our "new releases" features to promote any new patterns or collections released after the event starts.
  • New releases features open up on December 6, after the event's discount period ends:
    • There will be an online form you can use to submit your new releases to the event; they'll be added to your 2024 designer page and pattern search on this website (marked with a special "new" icon); and on our 2024 master spreadsheet
    • If you're on our Discord server, you can post about your new patterns to the #new-releases channel
    • You should also feel free to post about it on social media using the #FastenOffYAL event hashtag
  • "New releases" can also include existing patterns and/or collections which have gone through an inclusivity upgrade, like adding more sizes or including low vision features
  
  
• Recipients of your donated prize patterns may expand your "fan base" by talking about your patterns.
  
  
• Our website has a new-pattern promotion feature, if you have any new pattern releases during the event (this new releases feature begins after the discount period ends).
  
  
• If you're looking for pattern testers, our Discord server, with well over 600 members, will have a channel during the event where you can post about your upcoming test knits.

Do you qualify to sign up as a participating designer?

• Do you offer for-pay patterns via a non-Ravelry sales channel?
• Can you apply a custom code for a specific discount rate to products on that sales channel?
• Are a reasonable number of your self-published patterns available for purchase on that sales channel? ("Reasonable number" is defined as either 25% of all your self-published paid patterns, or 10 patterns, whichever is smaller.)

There is no minimum number of total self-published patterns required to be a participating designer.

Please note, though, that your patterns should be of professional quality, tested and/or tech edited to make them as error-free as possible. Inclusive patterns are particularly encouraged (accessible to crafters with low vision, screen reader compatible, graded to a full range of sizes, etc.)

There are zero restrictions on whether designers are participating in any other designer events at the same time.

Also please see participating designer responsibilities.

What participating designers must do

• You need to sign up as a participating designer.
  
  
• You'll need to set up the event's discount code FO2024 for 25% off on a certain number of your patterns:
  • Discount code to be valid during the event's discount period: 9pmET November 22, 2022 to 11:59pmET December 5, 2023 - note that because we don't have a way to ensure time zone consistency, and because not all sales platforms allow merchants to set exact expiry times on code windows, we are asking designers who can't set exact expiry dates for codes to end their discounts a day later than the listed end date; i.e., coupon codes should be set to expire on December 6, 2023
  • Minimum number of discounted patterns is 25% of your total number of self-published paid patterns (rounded up to the nearest whole number) or 10, whichever is smaller
  • On top of this, you can also make eBooks eligible for the event discount, if you want
  • No maximum number of discounted products
  • If you want to set up the event discount code for your patterns on multiple sales channels, feel free
  
  
• Provide five free virtual patterns (winner's choice from among all your self-published single patterns) to be used as prizes and in giveaways. You can choose to either arrange with winners directly for prize delivery (we'll send a notification to you and the winner), or provide us with prize codes and the website where they can be redeemed so winners can self-serve.
  
  
• You'll work with event organizers to ensure that information about you and your self-published pattern products available on non-Ravelry sales channels are in our database
  • You'll let us know which of these products will be eligible for the event discount code
  • The vast majority of data entry will be done automatically by pulling data from Ravelry's API; if this is problematic for you, the event organizers can work with you to complete the process
  • We ask that designers who request volunteers to help them with data entry provide patterns to them (volunteer's choice) as a thank-you; the rate is one pattern per group of up to 25 products input, e.g. 45 products = 2 patterns
  
  
• Respond promptly (i.e. within approximately 2 business days) and professionally to customer messages (especially issues with using the discount code on your patterns) and prize winners
  • Organizers do not provide discount support and will direct participants to reach out to you instead
  • If you have a dedicated channel for customer contact which you provide for publication in your designer profile on the event website, you're not expetced to respond to messages outside that channel
  
  
• Ensure all information you provide for the event is accurate
  
  
• Moderate your own social spaces
  
  
• Follow the code of conduct 

How to maximize your participation and grow your audience

Of course, you don't have to do any of these things if you don't have the capacity, but fuller participation in the yarnalong generally leads to being "discovered" by more makers, and increased audience growth, for both yourself and the yarnalong.

• Participate in event discussion forms
• Join the yarnalong by making a project from a participating designer's pattern, and share the project on social media
• Post about the event on social media
• Talk up your fellow participating designers on social media
• Sign up for interactive events with the making audience - Ask Me Anythings (AMAs) and/or live designer videos
• Promote the event to your existing audience (e.g. via mailing list and/or blog)
• Participate as an audience member in interactive designer events - AMAs and/or designer video panels
• Mention the yarnalong in any virtual or in-person stitch nights you attend
• Participate in event games
• Leverage the event to announce your new releases (see "What we can do for you" for how you can do that)

How to sign up

For 2024, the designer sign-up period will run from Friday, October 25 to Thursday, November 7.

Keep watching this space - once the sign-up period opens, we'll be linking to the sign-up form!