Call for Submissions

COMPENSATION & RIGHTS

We here at Making Stories will take care of yarn support for your design. We’ll also handle tech editing, test knitting, photography, layout and errata updates for you. You, the designer, will be writing up the pattern with our style guide and knitting up the sample (which can be done by yourself or a sample knitter).

Compensation for your pattern is based on complexity and ranges from € 100 to € 550. We’ll reimburse sample shipping cost (from your location to Berlin) up to €10 for
domestic shipping and €35 for international shipping.

We at Making Stories will hold the exclusive rights for your pattern for 4 months after publication. The pattern itself may be published, distributed and sold both in the print and the digital version of the magazine. The pattern will not be sold individually through Making Stories. After the exclusivity period, we can still continue to sell the print and digital version of the magazine that include your contribution.

Four months after the publication date, you’re more than welcome to self-publish the individual version of your pattern in either your own branding and layout or as the PDF version of the pattern that we’ll provide to you. Should you want to use your own layout, you’re more than welcome to use up to five of the official pattern photos (with photographer credit) - we’re purchasing those rights for you! You also have the option of adding your individual pattern to our individual pattern marketplace if you'd like to do so.

If you’d like to read our full designer contract, you can do so here.

SUBMISSION

Please include the following in your submission:

• a short description of the design and its construction,
• a note on how your design relates to the topic the issue,
• a photo of your swatch (the full, bound off and blocked swatch),
• a sketch (ideally on a body if you're submitting a garment),
• suggested yarn weight and gauge.

Please send your full submission in PDF format to hannalisa@making-stories.com. If you require any accommodation for a disability, we would be honoured if you shared this with us so we can provide the best collaboration experience possible.

COMPENSATION & RIGHTS

We here at Making Stories will take care of proof reading and layout of your final piece of work. You, the author / illustrator, are responsible for submitting your final piece by the deadline.

Compensation for your work is based on complexity and word count and ranges from € 50 to € 200.

We at Making Stories will hold the exclusive rights for your piece of work for 3 months after publication. The essay / illustration itself may be published, distributed and sold both in the print and the digital version of the magazine. After the exclusivity period, we can still continue to sell the print and digital version of the magazine that include your contribution.

SUBMISSIONS

Please submit an abstract (for an essay, short story or poem) or rough sketch (for an illustration).

Please send your submission in PDF format to hannalisa@making-stories.com. If you require any accommodation for a disability, we would be honoured if you shared this with us so we can provide the best collaboration experience possible.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR IN A SUBMISSION?

A while ago, we asked for your opinion on our submission process, and you sent us a lot of thoughtful (sometimes tough to hear, but necessary) feedback. We’ve changed quite a lot in our submission process based on that, and have published a blog post detailing what we look for in a submission: Our Submission Calls - What Makes A Great Submission?

It’s absolutely not a prerequisite to read the blog post, but if you’ve been wondering what we look for when we go through the submissions, it might help a bit.

We also recommend to show any techniques or shaping in your swatches - they're a great way to bring your idea to life!

SIZING

Here at Making Stories, we’ve worked on establishing a standard sizing sheet that specifies all relevant measurements for the designs. We do this because we want our pattern sizing to be consistent and comparable across our publications. You’ll get access to the full sizing sheet if your submission has been selected, but we know that sometimes it might be useful to know a few measurements beforehand (e.g. when you want to see if your stitch pattern would fit the sizing).

Here’s a brief overview of some key measurements:

For garments: 10 sizes designed for a bust circumference of 78 (86, 94, 102, 110, 118, 126, 134, 142, 150) cm

For socks: 5 sizes designed for a foot circumference of 20 (21.25, 22.5, 23.75, 25) cm

For hats: 3 sizes designed for a head circumference of 51-55 (55-60, 61-65) cm

For mittens: 3 sizes designed for a hand circumference of 18 (21, 24) cm

All measurements are nude body measurements, meaning, for instance, if you were to design a pullover that’s intended to be worn with 10 cm of positive ease, it would need to have a finished bust circumference of 88 (96, 104, 112, 120, 128, 136, 144, 152, 160) cm.

YARN PARTNERS

Please take a look at our yarn partner page and the yarns we stock for possible yarn pairings. We work with sustainably produced, natural yarns - we’re also always curious to hear about new producers, so if you have a favorite yarn that we don’t know of yet and that does fit the bill, by all means include it in your submission!