So you’re considering submitting a design or article to Knotions? That’s great! We welcome both experienced and new designers and writers.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions.
WHAT’S YOUR SCHEDULE?
We publish monthly.
Please note that our next opening is for the August issue. We’re filled up before then.
Fall
Winter
Style Guide
You can get a sample pattern here. The big things to remember are:
- Bold Row and Rnd instructions as “Row 1:” and “Rnd 5:”.
- Abbreviate Round as Rnd in this case.
- Don’t use Heading 1 in your pattern.
- Don’t use text boxes or tables in your document.
- Use Heading 2 for the major headings, and then 3 and 4 as appropriate.
- Write stitch counts as “Row 1: Knit until 2 sts rem, k2tog; 12 sts”. The big things to remember are to include them whenever you have an increase or decrease and to separate it from the rest of the row with a semicolon.
If you do these things you’ll get 90% of the things we end up editing.
Proposals
You may submit a design proposal to our submissions team for consideration. Proposals should be sent in as early as possible. We’ll respond to your proposal as quickly as possible and you should expect approximately 2 weeks of time for you to hear from us.
Your proposal should include a description of your design, sketch/sketches, and swatches.
Submissions
Your submission should be sent via email to our submissions team and should include:
- Submit your pattern using our Submissions Guide as the template. Microsoft Word or Pages are both good choices. We use Track Changes during the editing process so we need something that can track the changes – so we can note edits and you can easily confirm them. If you don’t have Microsoft Word or Pages drop us a line and we’ll figure something out!
- Charts in .PNG or .GIF format if you’re outputting them from StitchMastery (please don’t use JPEG)
- Schematics in .PNG or .GIF format
- Photos of the design in .JPG format. Include as many photos as you feel necessary (being worn, close up, variety of angles). Quality photos often make the difference!
- Signed statement of originality – you can digitally sign it via email. Just copy the Statement or Originality and type your name and date below it.
- About the designer
- Thumbnail photo of yourself
- Short bio (up to 50 words) written in the third person
- Blog, web site or Ravelry designer link (optional)
- Paypal email address
Payment
We strive for fair and equitable payment to our designers. Payment for all published patterns is currently between 75 and 200 USD. Payments are made via Paypal approximately 2 months after the issue goes live.
Payments are determined by a combination of factors, including:
- Pageviews (via Google Analytics).
- # Favorites, Queues and Projects in Ravelry.
- Designer responsiveness to Knotions.
- Designer responsiveness to crafters who have questions.
- The amount of your promotion (and yes, it impacts all the others listed but we like to call that one out separately as well).
- Quality of your photographs.
- Quality of your pattern.
Our Growth
We put together an infographic to show our growth.
We’ve made lots of improvements:
- Mobile-friendly for desktop, tablet and mobile.
- PDF versions of all patterns. Have a peek at one of the patterns.
- Curious to hear more? Read some of the details.
- Read what Bonnie Sennott had to say about her experience working with Knotions.
Can I submit a proposal? Or should I send in a full submission?
This is your decision. Read about the pros and cons of each above.
Do you have themes for each issue?
We don’t create themes beforehand but we do give you some ideas. We want to offer the best work we receive, so we keep the theme open. We may find a theme in the submissions and follow it through to publication, but we don’t set out with a specific theme in mind.
I can’t make pretty schematics and charts. What should I do?
We do the layout for all charts and can do your schematics as well. You can even draw your schematic and send us a pic of it. The important thing is that we have the right measurements.
What should I know about your review process?
Quality photography often makes or breaks a submission. Shoot your design in good light and at a variety of angles and include close ups of the important or interesting bits.
Keep in mind that good light DOES NOT mean full sun. Submit more pics than you think we’ll need! Keep in mind we like to highlight design details as well as the full item. We also need to create a thumbnail and possibly include it on a banner ad. So, a wide range of shots and angles will give your design the best possible chance. Also, we suggest submitting both portrait and landscape shots because we use them in so many different ways.
When naming your design, take a look to see if the name already exists for a design. Check ravelry, google and just ask around. While a duplicate name isn’t a deal breaker, it does make it harder for people to find your design or link to it in forum posts. Not exactly what you want, right? If the name you *love* is taken, look at variations, synonyms or even foreign language translations.
What do I get by getting published in Knotions?
Great question! We do a lot of the legwork for you so it can be a good way for a new designer to test the waters and learn. It can also be a great way for established designers to get additional coverage.
When your design gets published in Knotions we:
- professional tech edit
- layout the pattern
- create the schematic
- create any charts
- possibly include your design in ads in social media
- promotion in addition to the ads
You get all of this and the rights to the pattern switch to non-exclusive (meaning you can distribute it as well) after the design is live for 3 months on knotions.com).
Standard Abbreviations
We’ve compiled a list of our Standard Abbreviations. Please use them when writing your pattern.
Publication Schedule
See above for our upcoming plans.
Statement of Originality
By typing my name and date below, I warrant that:
- I am the original creator of “<the work name>” and have not infringed upon the existing intellectual property rights of any third party.
- The original work has not been previously published, in whole or in part, elsewhere in any format.
I agree to hold harmless and indemnify Knotions from any and all expenses, losses, liabilities, damages and third-party claims that may arise from any infringement of such intellectual property rights.
I confirm that the one-time payment I receive from Knotions is my full payment for exclusive electronic media distribution rights for three months, and non-exclusive electronic media distribution rights in perpetuity. I confirm that I will include the notice “Originally published in Knotions Magazine” and always include the Knotions issue as a source in Ravelry if I choose to publish the pattern in any media format once the period of exclusivity has ceased.
This notice serves as my written permission to allow Knotions to publish my pattern and all related images in its current and all future formats.
Articles
Articles should be emailed to our submissions team. Articles on any knitting- or crochet-related topic are welcome — techniques, projects, companion to a pattern and humor are just a few examples.
Articles should be between 500 and 1,500 words in length, and submitted in Microsoft Word (preferable) or a plain text file. Placement and captions for each photo should be noted but please keep them separate from the Word doc. Please put the name of each image in the Word doc to show its caption and placement, and please make sure you include the pic separately. If you’re presenting a technique, step-by-step photos are required.
In your email cover letter, please include a signed Statement of Originality (copied from here and pasted in email is fine as long as you type your name and date below it) and the following author Information:
- Full Name as you want it to appear in the article
- Thumbnail photo of yourself
- Short bio (up to 50 words) written in the third person
- Blog or Web site address (optional)
- Paypal email address
Payment
Payment for all published articles is currently between 50 and 75 USD. Payments are made via Paypal approximately 2 months after the article goes live.
Statement of Originality
By typing my name and date below, I warrant that:
- I am the original creator of the work and have not infringed upon the existing intellectual property rights of any third party.
- The original work has not been previously published, in whole or in part, elsewhere in any format.
I agree to hold harmless and indemnify Knotions from any and all expenses, losses, liabilities, damages and third-party claims that may arise from any infringement of such intellectual property rights.
I confirm that the one-time payment I receive from Knotions is my full payment for all electronic media distribution rights. This notice serves as my written permission to allow Knotions to publish my article and all related images in its current and all future formats.
