This week was all about two things: clean up from the packing party and begin installing the second floor. We are using reclaimed 2”-thick barn flooring that Luke brought up with the frame. This stuff has lovely patina that fits in just perfectly with the rest of the shop. Despite its beauty, we pretty quickly realized that there were weaknesses throughout the boards that we didn’t trust to hold our weight. To overcome this, we decided to lay this material as subfloor (and, therefore, first floor ceiling) and then bridge the wild variations of the worn top surface with tongue and groove OSB before laying new wide pine top floor. This will enable us to use the original boards untouched...
Issue Four is now sent out in the world. This past Friday and Saturday, a bunch of our friends drove up from all over Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York to help with the special wrapping and packaging. Leading up to the big event, Mike and I did massive construction clean-up, we set up our shipping materials, and I spent at least a day and half printing postage. There are always a lot of pieces to this event. Because Friday morning started out around 25° F, I woke up at 4:30 to fire up the propane heaters. This much-needed calm before the storm enabled me to get in one last vacuuming and set out all the food. By the time...
The Issue Four pre-ordering window is now closed. Phew. (It’s always a relief when the wrapping quantity is a fixed number!) Today, Mike and I are making last minute preparations before our packing party crew arrives tomorrow! You’ll be seeing your copy of Issue Four soon, readers! If you missed your chance to pre-order, you may still order Issue Four but please note that it will no longer come with the brown paper wrapping and wax-sealed trade card. Bummed? We suggest you purchase a yearly subscription (and select “auto-renewing”) so that you never have to miss another pre-order. Thank you for your support again, everyone! We’ve really got our work cut out for us this time around! Good thing...
Today is the last day to pre-order M&T Issue Four. Starting tomorrow morning, any order for Issue Four will not get the pre-order free U.S. shipping discount and will not come wrapped in brown paper with a wax-sealed trade card.
Also, please note that M&T subscriptions always start with the next-to-be-released issue. This means that after this pre-order window closes tomorrow, all new subscription purchases begin with Issue Five (due out October 2018). If you want the wrapped copy of Issue Four, it’s now or never.
You can
purchase a subscription here
or a copy of
Issue Four alone here.
As the Issue Four packing party is less than a week away, Mike and I have begun tidying up around the new shop in anticipation of our guests. We’ve constructed three massive worktables from pine boards, built and hung a temporary board-and-batten front door, installed the arched transom window on the second story gable overlooking the pond, and now we’re replacing the cloudy plastic over the rough window openings with clear vinyl (it’s nice to be able to see through the windows finally). Although the door is temporary, it is a simplified version of our final design. This board-and-insulation sandwich is hanging on the antique strap hinges I’ve been saving for the shop’s front door. Mike even made an...
Just got this photo from the printer… Issue Four is hot off the presses! Today they’re loaded in cartons and will begin making their way from Wisconsin to our storage facility in Maine. We’ve arranged for them to arrive next week several days before the big packing party on Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th where we (with a handful of readers’ help) will wrap them in brown paper, affix the wax-sealed trade cards, and mail them out. Because we’re shipping these out next week, you only have one week left to pre-order. To get a wrapped copy of Issue Four, you can purchase a yearly subscription or order Issue Four individually. After next Wednesday, March 21st, the pre-order...
* This is another entry in our “Advice for Aspiring Writers” Series. “People tend to look at successful writers … and think that they sit down at their desk every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and how much talent they have… But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts.” – Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird If you want to become a better writer you must write relentlessly. Although this is not...
* This is another entry in our “Advice for Aspiring Writers” Series. "Uncle Ed" at Thanksgiving. Courtesy of awkwardfamilyphotos.com Everyone on this planet shares some similar experience or knowledge, to an extent. There are things that we all have in common, despite wildly different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. But in everyday conversation, whether with someone from another part of the globe or Uncle Ed at the family Thanksgiving get-together, we can quickly begin locating the boundaries of our shared experience. There’s a reason why many casual conversations start with an awkward comment about the weather – everyone has something to say about it. However, not everyone shares your personal take on iOS vs. Android, your raw-vegan-paleo-ketonic-grain-free dietary philosophy, or your stance...
We recorded a new podcast episode this morning which can be listened to above. Because Mike and I just finished Issue Four, we dedicated this episode to discussing what it’s like to produce the magazine, what’s featured in this new issue, and what to expect in the coming weeks.
You can subscribe to our Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or Soundcloud.
Notable links from this podcast:
Our new “Cutting Edge Technology” T-shirt
"5 Tips for Writing Well"
Issue Four
Issue Three
During each issue’s editorial process, Mike, Jim, Megan, and I go round and round discussing better ways to articulate the ideas in our and our authors’ heads. We love word craft and always feel a sense of accomplishment when we polish each piece to clearly reflect the author’s voice and vision. Our authors come from many backgrounds and experiences. Many have been professional writers for years while others are just emerging onto the woodworking writer scene. Many of our newer authors develop their skills through blogging (as I did). There are a ton of great woodworking blogs out there (many of which you can find linked on our sidebar) but not everyone is as comfortable putting words onto paper or...
