Getting noticed by publications is always a difficult proposition for independent jewelry designers and manufacturers.

With this in mind the Jeweler’s Resource Bureau’s “hot sheet” was created to help these designers promote their new products to the press “with minimal effort and maximum impact,” says Cindy Edelstein, president of the Pelham Manor, N.Y.-based marketing consultancy dedicated to the designer jewelry sector.

Using internet technology, hot sheet can be sent to editors at more than 100 trade and consumer publications and organizations as an e-zine (electronic newsletter). Embedded in the e-zine will be clickable links for editors to download high-resolution images of the featured items.

Edelstein says the hot sheet provides editors with timely news from a single source with professionally written copy and photographs ready for publication. For designers and manufacturers, it’s a simple, easy, and affordable way to contact editors throughout the country.

“Hot sheet is not intended to take the place of a publicist but is designed to help those designers who lack the resources to promote their own designs properly,” Edelstein says. “Editors are so busy and the marketplace is so crowded that they couldn’t possibly have the time to discover every new item on their own. With hot sheet we’re connecting designers with editors in a way that benefits all.”

At first, the ezine will be sent out bimonthly, synchronized with trade show and editorial calendars, she said. As demand increases the hot sheet will increase in frequency. A related, password-accessible Web site will archive back issues and give editors a place to find featured images and collateral information throughout the year. A searchable database of designers with their images will be added to the site in 2004. The site will serve as the preeminent source for resourcing designers and their wares with more than 1000 designers and design-centric manufacturers listed in the site’s database.

“Even though our hot sheet is intended for editors, we’re happy to help retailers source new trends, too,” adds Edelstein. Retailers can subscribe for hot sheet on the www.jewelryhotsheet.com Web site.

JCK