I'm happy to be adding magazine editing/writing back into my work mix.
I was introduced to the Cabinet Makers Association through my work with a longtime client, Dark Horse Woodworks, and the CMA invited me to take over managing editor/writing duties for its quarterly magazine, PROfiles.
Before and after
I grew up appreciating wood-working, building and craftsmanship. Slowly but surely, my dad built an ambitious addition to our house in his spare time at night and on the weekends, and he built furniture, too. Given that my longtime client (and high school classmate), my next-door neighbor and my nephew are professionals in the wood-working field in one way or another (furniture designers/builders or cabinetmakers), I find it especially interesting to write about and for this trade group.
To put the proverbial icing on the cake, I found that a former graphic designer I worked with for many years in a corporate in-house design group also has her own business now, and she agreed to take on the redesign and layout work for the magazine.
The first “new” PROfiles issue came out this summer just ahead of a major CMA member event at a big industry trade show, and the word from my CMA clients is that “everyone loved it.”
In short, the new version has more content – including a news roundup and more features – and a cleaner design.
The cover story features James Fox, who says he spent a lot of time and money on higher education before figuring out that cabinet-making was the one thing that he never lost interest in; though we're programmed to think that bigger is better, Fox has made a point of staying small. He has remained a solo practitioner because it allows him the flexibility to shut down and travel regularly; this summer, he spent six weeks in Europe.
Writing about the craftsmanship and entrepreneurial success of these cabinetmakers is truly a pleasure.
Print allure
I wrote and edited for magazines for about 14 years, and that work was among the most creative and satisfying of my career.
For the most part, the magazines I worked on were not the glossy ones most of us have on our coffee tables; they were wonkier publications put out by great nonprofit organizations. They delved into topics such as consumer advocacy and sustainable environmental practices, and one focused on political, economic and social changes in post-Soviet-bloc countries (this job brought me the opportunity to live in Prague).
What I learned from those experiences is that when you are working as a magazine editor, you have to put aside your own ideas of what an ideal magazine looks like; for me, it was probably LIFE magazine, which I loved from childhood on, in large part because of my love of great photojournalism. A magazine has to speak to its readers, and you have to be careful to put your personal inclinations aside and shape it for your audience. My hope for the CMA's PROfiles magazine is that members with shops of all sizes and types will enjoy what they see and find something useful and/or inspirational in each issue.
I loved each and every one of the magazines I worked on, and leafing through the new CMA issue reminded me of the joy of creating a tangible, printed piece of work. The Internet and all of its shiny, beckoning links is a wild and wondrous and dangerous place for someone like me, who can get drawn down the rabbit hole quickly.
There’s an old-fashioned allure to a single, finite issue of a magazine.
Have any writing/storytelling work you’d like to delegate? I’d love to collaborate.
Read the story of my particularly fun, logistically challenging job as managing editor of the official magazine about the making of The Lord of the Rings movies. (It involved many time zones and at least one post-midnight conversation with a well-known actor.)