Online magazine publishing long-form journalism about skilled craftspeople preserving and advancing traditional trades, artisanal work, and making culture.

The Craftsmanship Initiative is dedicated to reclaiming craftsmanship’s principles of excellence, beauty, and durability as a pathway to a more sustainable world. The flagship venture of the initiative, which operates as a non-profit, is Craftsmanship Magazine, a multimedia publication that focuses on master artisans and innovators whose work informs our quest.

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Craftsmanship

While we always welcome in-depth features from experienced journalists (more on this below), the best way for new writers to break in is with a short piece. Some are extremely brief, ranging from under 500 words up to 750 words, and published on our <b>Substack</b> along with 1-5 relevant images. For these, we look for commentaries and essays that argue a specific point focused on a particular tool, object, or endeavor related to the principles of craftsmanship.<div><br></div><div>Slightly longer features appear in a section we've called <b>Field Notes.</b> These can be related to themes we're exploring at the time; just as often, we include unrelated stories about unique artisans, craftsmanship events, and other topics. Again, fine art is not our primary focus, but we will consider the occasional pitch on a fine art topic, if it also illuminates a fresh angle and/or larger theme related to our core mission and values.</div><div><br></div><div>As part of the package, writers of short articles are expected to provide or help source images, assist our editors with writing photo captions, and collect social media handles (for sources, subjects, and other interested parties) to help us promote the story.</div><div><br></div><div><b>LENGTH: </b>The sweet spot for a Field Notes piece is around 1,200 words, although we will occasionally approve up to 1,500 words for stories that require more space and depth than a standard brief, but aren’t quite feature-length.</div><div><br></div><div><b>IMAGES:</b> We like to run at least 7 to 10 images per piece, depending on the subject. Ideally, we prefer to have at least 15 to 20 good images to choose from.</div>

Short Articles

<b>Feature articles</b> are usually assigned and scheduled far in advance, due to the deeper level of reporting and the time investment required for both contributors and ourselves. We pride ourselves in working very closely with writers to develop features to their highest narrative potential—with abundant consultation with the writer and unusually close editing—through several drafts, if necessary. Despite all of this planning, scheduled articles sometimes fall through, so if you have a smart idea for a timely feature and the chops to deliver it quickly, we'd love to hear about it.<div><br></div><div>Proposals for a feature article need to contain most or all of the following ingredients to be accepted:</div><div><br></div><div><ul><li>a complex craft or innovation that has not already been widely written about, or that presents a significant new angle to an old subject;</li><li>an intriguing main character;</li><li>a strong, focused, and meaningful argument suitable to some in-depth reporting (rather than a general feature about someone who is skilled, or an interesting subject, but with no clear point);</li><li>the building blocks for a layered narrative, with an arc that yields surprises, hopefully some drama, and by the end, a sense of discovery;</li><li>links to strong examples of the contributor's published writing, ideally of a scope and style that is similar to the proposed article.</li></ul></div><div><br></div><div>As part of the package, feature writers are expected to assist with writing photo captions and collecting social media handles (for sources, subjects, and other interested parties) to help us promote the story. Depending on the assignment, photography may be negotiated separately (see below).</div><div><br></div><div><b>LENGTH: </b>Features typically run from 2,500 to 4,000 words, and command substantially higher fees than our shorter articles. Occasionally, we will assign an even longer piece when the story is complex and significant enough to call for deeper reporting; and the contributor's experience warrants it.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Images</b></div><div><span style="color: rgb(20 20 20/var(--tw-text-opacity,1));">Good, professional images are a critical part of all our stories, especially for our long features, which usually include 15 to 25 photos apiece. We have a modest photography budget with which to pay professional photographers, negotiated separately. Often, good images can be obtained from other sources. We encourage feature writers to include their plans for sourcing images in their pitch. (And if you plan to take your own photos, please provide a link to your photography portfolio.)</span><br></div>

Craftsmanship

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