Contributor guidelines

Canadian Home Workshop is Canada’s finest home-improvement and woodworking magazine. We provide our readers with a mix of classic and contemporary woodworking plans, from some beginner projects that build skills and confidence to more advanced projects that challenge and inspire. Our do-it-yourself features cover home-improvement and renovations, from small projects that can be completed in a few hours, to extensive renovations. We also offer authoritative reviews of the latest tools and home-improvement products, do-it-yourself advice, and a showcase of Canada’s up-and-coming woodworking talent.

Our readers are mostly male, between the ages of 35 and 59. Our magazine has 100,000 subscribers across Canada, who read our woodworking and home-reno stories six times a year. If you are as passionate about DIY as our readers and have ideas that would interest them, you can send us your pitches. But before you send your ideas in, please read the guidelines below and familiarize yourself with at least the last year’s worth of CHW issues.

Guidelines for Woodworkers/Renovators

Guidelines for Reader Tool Testers

Guidelines for Photographers and Illustrators

After becoming acquainted with CHW magazine, a woodworker or renovator with a story idea should send a 300 to 500 word pitch to editorial@staging.canadianhomeworkshop.com. We are not only looking for talented experts, but writers who can deliver accurate and engaging stories along with precise sketches of their projects. Prospective builders should also send a few photos of projects that they have already completed.

The magazine has four common story types:

Woodworking Project

This type of story, which tells a reader how to build a particular project, will range in length from 800 to 2,500 words depending on its complexity. For new writers, it is best to propose a smaller, less complex project. If a story idea is accepted, the writer will have to provide text, sketches of the project with measurements and a parts list. Afterwards, the writer will work with our editors to get everything ready for publication. The project will be shipped to our offices for photography.

Home-Renovation or Maintenance Project

This story is usually a four- to eight-page article with detailed step-by-step instructions on larger home repairs: installing hardwood flooring, building or maintaining a deck or building a fence. Its length can range from 1,500 to 3,000 words. In most cases, the writer must be present during the construction, if he is not undertaking the construction himself. This feature is usually heavily illustrated with

photographs and drawings. Usually, the photography is arranged to coincide with the building process.

Quick Fix

A quick fix is a short story, usually one or two pages or 400 to 800 words. It gives our readers detailed step-by-step instructions on a relatively small household repair or improvement. Examples include installing crown moulding or replacing a set of porch stairs. These articles are narrowly focused: we won’t try to squeeze a complete bathroom renovation in here with 12 step-by-step photographs to illustrate techniques.

Product Sort-Out

This story covers product categories such as windows, roofing or specific tool types. Our goal is to help readers make informed purchasing decisions. Although this feature is not the same as a tool test, we expect in-depth research with detailed comparative data on such things as price, applications, ease of use, availability and so on. We also focus on the latest technological developments in the category. We generally assign these features to established writers, but are open to queries. Story lengths are typically 1,500 to 3,000 words.

A few times a year, we feature tool tests done by CHW readers. If you are interested in participating in such a test, please send an email to editorial@staging.canadianhomeworkshop.com. Be sure to include your full name, mailing address and a brief description of the kind of DIY work you do. We will keep your name on file and contact your when an appropriate test comes up. Payment is usually the tool the tester used in his or her test.

Send a link to your portfolio to editorial@staging.canadianhomeworkshop.com. Make sure the shots or illustrations are related to the subject matter or our magazine.