This year marks my 24th anniversary of writing for Fine Woodworking and my 17th year of being a Contributing Editor to the magazine. I started with a finishing article that appeared in issue 123 (March/April 1997). Aime' Fraser, my first editor, made the trip to my shop in August of 1996 to do the photo shoot for the article. I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers but Aime' made the whole process smooth and easy.
A couple of years before Aime's visit I attended a woodworking show in Des Moines Iowa. The show had a list of presenters that was beyond belief: Sam Maloof, Tage Frid, Richard Raffan, Kelly Mehler, and many other well known woodworkers. Unfortunately the show was a financial flop for the promoter, but for me it was a door to my future.
At the show was a booth set up by Fine Woodworking. I worshiped the magazine and was thrilled to meet some of the editors. I struck up a conversation with Charley Robinson and in the ensuing chat he asked if I would be interested in submitting an article proposal, he was interested in my finishing techniques. I told him I wasn't a writer and his reply was that I didn't need to be, they would handle the editing, all I needed to do was provide them with the technique.
It took me a year to work up the courage to submit a proposal, but I finally sent it off via snail mail and after a few weeks with no reply forgot about it. Much to my surprise a letter arrived some months later telling me my proposal had been accepted and that I needed to send them a manuscript. We had just purchased our first desktop computer and I dug deep into my tool fund and purchased a plain-paper FAX machine (remember those?) just to show I was serious about the whole venture. After several weeks of work we got the 'script refined and a date set up for the photo shoot. Very exciting stuff for a guy in nowhere Minnesota!
During Aime's visit she noticed that I was a gear-head as well as a woodworker and started quizzing me about machinery. She told me they were always looking for folks who could write about tools and suggested I make a proposal for a tool review. I had been researching jig saws, mine was dying, and I thought it might be of interest to the magazine so I submitted another proposal. This one was accepted much quicker than the first and I was off and running.
A couple of years before Aime's visit I attended a woodworking show in Des Moines Iowa. The show had a list of presenters that was beyond belief: Sam Maloof, Tage Frid, Richard Raffan, Kelly Mehler, and many other well known woodworkers. Unfortunately the show was a financial flop for the promoter, but for me it was a door to my future.
At the show was a booth set up by Fine Woodworking. I worshiped the magazine and was thrilled to meet some of the editors. I struck up a conversation with Charley Robinson and in the ensuing chat he asked if I would be interested in submitting an article proposal, he was interested in my finishing techniques. I told him I wasn't a writer and his reply was that I didn't need to be, they would handle the editing, all I needed to do was provide them with the technique.
It took me a year to work up the courage to submit a proposal, but I finally sent it off via snail mail and after a few weeks with no reply forgot about it. Much to my surprise a letter arrived some months later telling me my proposal had been accepted and that I needed to send them a manuscript. We had just purchased our first desktop computer and I dug deep into my tool fund and purchased a plain-paper FAX machine (remember those?) just to show I was serious about the whole venture. After several weeks of work we got the 'script refined and a date set up for the photo shoot. Very exciting stuff for a guy in nowhere Minnesota!
During Aime's visit she noticed that I was a gear-head as well as a woodworker and started quizzing me about machinery. She told me they were always looking for folks who could write about tools and suggested I make a proposal for a tool review. I had been researching jig saws, mine was dying, and I thought it might be of interest to the magazine so I submitted another proposal. This one was accepted much quicker than the first and I was off and running.