Kat with a K

Call for Submissions: Yarn Life Magazine

I'm happy to announce the creation of Yarn Life, the new knitting and fiber arts lifestyle online magazine. We all know that there's more to this knitting thing than just patterns and technical tips. It's a lifestyle. Yarn Life will focus on fiber news and reviews, essays and articles and even some fiction, and plenty of fun stuff like quizzes, contests, and puzzles. (And, yes, a pattern or two.) Yarn Life will appear quarterly, with the first issue premiering on September 1. The theme of the first issue is "Fall is for Fiber." Each and every article doesn't have to be related to the theme, but please keep it in mind. Submissions for this issue are due on July 16, but please let me know what you're working on as soon as possible, so I don't panic that no one wants to submit anything. And anything below is subject to change before we actually debut, based on how things develop.

Note: Yarn Life is and will always be free to readers. (We need that money to spend on fiber, after all.) As a result, we can't pay contributors, at least for now. I hope you'll consider contributing anyway. We will, of course, give you a byline, biographical blurb, and link to your blog or site. As we grow, we'll consider accepting relevant, discreet advertising as a way to pay for site hosting and upkeep and compensate our writers.

Columns

One of the main things we need is a bunch of regular columnists. This is a commitment. You'll be expected to submit a column for each issue so as not to disappoint your devoted readers. (Exceptions, of course, will be made in cases of family emergencies or other major life issues.) I'm looking for people to write the following columns:

Knitting Astrology - I'm thinking traditional Zodiac stuff, but if you have something else interesting you do, let me know.
Living with Animals - someone who raises something fibery. Sheep, alpacas, bunnies, whatever.
Tales from the Yarn Store - written by a yarn store owner
_____ Life - the magazine will be fairly knitting-centric, so I'd like to have a few columns on other fiber arts. Crochet Life, Spinning Life, Weaving Life...
Life with a Knitter - yes, this one will be by a NON-knitter! I'm looking for a spouse/partner/significant other of an obsessed knitter to write about his or her experiences.
Advice Column

And I'm certainly open to other ideas if you have them. If you're interested in a columnist position, please send me a writing sample (or link to your blog) and the column topic in which you are interested.

Reader Submissions

The following sections will be open to reader submissions, but obviously we need some content for the first issue, so I thought I'd give you the list:

Letters to the Editor
Questions for the Advice Column
Wild Yarns - crazy fiber stories, about a paragraph long. Check out Cosmo's Confessions section for an idea of what I mean.
Knitting with Friends - pictures and short profile of local knitting groups
My First... - a reader writes about his/her first socks, sweater, cables, fleece, design, whatever.
Photography Contest - each issue, we'll announce the theme for the next issue. (It's "Fall is for Fiber" this time.) Send your best photographic representation of the theme. The winner will be featured on the cover, and as many other entries as possible will be incorporated into the issue.

Main Content

Articles and Personal Essays - the "meat" of the magazine. Topics are pretty open: let me know your idea and I'll tell you if I think it's something we can use.
Fiction - one fiber-related short story per issue
Reviews - books, patterns, Web sites and blogs, yarn, needles, shops, whatever. Send them along.
Patterns - yes, we will have a few patterns. At this point, I'm thinking that each issue will have a simple (but interesting) knitting pattern, a more complex knitting pattern, and one or two non-knitting patterns of some sort.

Staff

I need some help with the behind-the-scenes aspects as well. If you're interested in any of the following areas, let me know.

Graphics
Layout
Sample knitting
Staff writers (for assigned reviews, news blurbs, and the like)
Editorial assistance

If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, or if you're ready to submit an idea or a piece of writing, e-mail me at yarnlife@gmail.com. (Remember, July 16 is the deadline for this issue; earlier is, of course, better.) E-mails saying "Hey, I want to be involved but I'm not sure how yet. Just keep me updated." are welcome too. Please feel free to link to or forward this information to anyone you think may be interested.

Thanks for your time!
Katherine Welsh
yarnlife@gmail.com