marciacp

I designed and marketed my patterns a few years ago. If you just want to get this particular pattern out there, and are not really looking to make it a business, then selling it through Craftsy, Ebay, etc. might be the way to go. Or you can contact some magazines to see if they are interested in publishing your pattern. However, if you go the magazine route, you are basically giving them to rights to your pattern for a specified length of time. Usually, after the time they require is over, it goes back to you and you can market it yourself. But, if one of them decides to publish your pattern, it is very good exposure and gets your name out there. They usually pay you a set amount for the right to put your pattern in their magazine.

Another thought is do you plan on self-publishing, or will you take it to publisher to see if they are interested in publishing and marketing your pattern? If you self publish, you can print the pattern yourself, or have someone print it for you. If you have someone print it for you, there is usually a minimum amount of patterns that you have to have printed. In the beginning, I took my patterns to local quilt shops, and if I was traveling, I looked up quilt shops in the area and took my patterns to them. A number of quilt shops bought my patterns and sold them in their shops. Also, the editor of QUILT Magazine saw one of my quilts displayed at a local quilt shop and ended up putting in on the cover of her magazine. That got me a lot of exposure, especially for that particular pattern.

I agree completely that you need to have the pattern tested by independent pattern testers before you put it out there. No matter how many times you read, re-read, and triple read it, you can't catch all the mistakes, because you are so familiar with it. There is a yahoo group call Quilt Pattern Testers where you can get one or two people to make it and send you corrections, or problems they find with the instructions, graphic, etc.

I was fortunate to be able to get with a major fabric manufacturer who let me design using their fabric lines. They took the quilts I designed to Market, which allowed me to get connected to distributors. That got my patterns into quilt shops across the country far better than I could have done on my own.
Best Wishes in your endeavor.
Marcia