We’ve waited a while to make this announcement, but now that Issue Three is completely sold out of our store, we’re letting you know about our upcoming book release: a hardbound republication of Issues 1-3. We will include every single page of those three issues in the book, but this is not a simple reprint. This book – titled The First Three Issues – includes behind-the-scenes photographs and stories as well as additional essays from M&T editors Michael Updegraff, Jim McConnell, and me about M&T’s distinctive vision and role in the woodworking community. On top of that, Christopher Schwarz of Lost Art Press (does he even need an introduction?) has written a wonderful foreword. Chris was the first person I consulted...
During a quick inventory of M&T back issues in our storage unit, I recently discovered that we’re about to hit a significant milestone in the life of this magazine – one that had me reflecting a bit about “the old days.” Issue One is where it all began. In February 2016, Joshua, his wife and kids, a few of their friends, and I were shipping the inaugural issue of M&T out of their living room. We’d set up a big plank on sawhorses in the center of the room, and the dining room table added a few precious square feet of workspace. The kitchen counter was fully occupied, too. For several days, a rotating crew of volunteers wrapped the magazine...
Beginning with Issue Three, we will only be doing the brown paper and wax-sealed trade cards for subscriptions and pre-orders. After this issue’s pre-order window has closed, the magazine will be mailed naked in a rigid mailer. If this special wrapping is important to you, please know that the only way to get this is to purchase a yearly subscription or pre-order the issue. Although I never would have anticipated this, these trade cards have become collectibles. Many readers have emailed us pictures of the cards proudly displayed in their shops. Since every new issue will feature a new trade card designed just for that issue, I can picture folks 10 years from now boasting that they have every single...
It has been a delight to see social media filled with snapshots of readers’ wrapped copies of M&T Issue Two. Although I thought this extra effort would be appreciated by at least a few of our readers, I didn’t expect to see this much enthusiasm for the wrapping alone. The trade cards attached to the wrapping are based off of 18th and 19th century cards tradesmen used for advertising to their communities. They usually featured drawings of furniture or tools and had verbose descriptions of the superiority of their wares or services. The text we use on our M&T cards is pulled straight out of these advertisements and cards. We’ve borrowed their sentences and applied them to our publication (complete with...
Even though I’ve done my best to convey what M&T is on the web, when people first hold a copy of Issue One in their hands they say, “Oh, wow. Now I get it. This is amazing!” The overall heft, the tactile quality of the paper, and the photography all seem to grab folks right out of the gate. In order to help convey that experience to those that haven’t seen a copy in person, I’ve put together this short video for a close-up look at Issue One. If you know someone who would be interested, please pass this video along. Thanks!!!
Music credit: Steuart Pincombe and Rebecca Landell Reed
Courtesy: Oldwolf Workshop I have been following some of the buzz going around about M&T since its release. Although there are a few folks that were hoping the magazine would have been something other than what it is, I would have to say that 95% of what I’ve seen people saying is very positive. For that I am very grateful. There are also some official reviews that have been published. These are good for folks that have never heard of it and need an introduction. They assess the value of the publication and give a final thumbs up or thumbs down. I find they generally approach the task in a distanced and clinical way. At times, the legitimate desire...
The plan has been since last fall that I was going to dedicate the month of January to working on the magazine exclusively. I knew there was going to be a lot of editing and design work that I couldn’t get done in my “spare” time alone. Also, the public excitement about M&T really forced me to step up my game and make this thing as polished as I reasonably could achieve with the time and resources I had at hand. Giving M&T this concentrated January time worked out well with the exception of one thing: it’s still not over. As we were packing magazines and dropping off van load after van load at the Post Office last month, things...
