These magazines accept hobbies and crafts articles and ideas. Topics include weaving, spinning, dyeing, knitting, basketry, felt making, papermaking, train modelling and railroads, sewing and soft crafts, art collecting, dioramas, miniature crafts, metal detectoring, including coinshooting, relic hunting and prospecting, collecting teddy bears and fine plush, astronomy, artists who work with unusual material, sustainable and community art, and craft destinations, to name a few. Some do not specify what they pay, so writers should query first. Also see this list for more hobbies and craft magazines that pay writers. –– S. Kalekar

Fibre Focus

This is an in-house magazine of Ontario Handweavers & Spinners. The magazine provides weaving, spinning, dyeing, knitting, basketry, felt making and papermaking as well as sheep raising and craft supply information. They also publish profiles of craftspeople, how-to articles, techniques, news of interest in the fibre world, new developments in fibres and equipment and book reviews. Pay is $30/page, including photos and diagrams. Details here.

O Scale Trains Magazine Online

They want articles from model builders. They look primarily at the quality of accompanying photos and illustrations (diagrams, drawings, etc.), content of the how-to-material, and to a much lesser degree, the writing style. They are especially interested in how-to material; how-to paint, how-to scratchbuild, how-to kitbash, etc. Features on the authors’ own modeling projects make good articles. They are always interested in material from new writers. Features are generally under 1,500 words; those of 2,000 words can be made into multi-part features. Pay is $150 for a short article, more for longer; product reviews pay $50. Details here.

Trains

They want photographs, news stories and feature articles covering railroading’s past and present, including first-person recollections. They do not buy travel stories, poetry, or fiction. Each issue contains 80-100 photos and 27,000 words. Pay is $15-300 for photos, and begins at $0.10/word for text. Query first. Details here.

Sew News

They want articles that teach a specific technique, introduce the reader to a new product or company related to sewing, or information about current fashion and sewing trends. Their focus is garment sewing for women, but they also include stories on sewing for men, children, and specialty groups like senior citizens or plus sizes. They also cover home décor, soft crafts, machine embroidery, and fabric embellishment methods, such as stamping, painting, beading and stenciling. Emphasis should always involve sewing, fabrics or notions in some way. They do not cover topics like hand weaving, hand needlecrafts, crochet, knitting or macramé. Query first. Pay is $50-500; for new writers, it is $50-150. They cover expenses (see guidelines). Details here.

American Craft

This is the magazine of the American Craft Council. They want good storytelling that explores a craft artist’s struggles, doubts, determination, and triumphs. They like to read about how craft shows up in modern life. When touching on craft theory or history, writers should write clearly and for a non-academic audience. Their guidelines list a number of topics that could be of interest, including artists who use unusual materials, who’ve traveled unusual paths in their work, handmade goods that are stylish, innovative, and affordable, craft that reflects values of sustainability and community, people who’ve collected craft and art objects in a beautiful living space, or U.S. or foreign locales that offer a number of interesting craft destinations for travelers. They have several departments that accept specific kinds of features (see guidelines). Query first. Details here.

Western Art & Architecture

This is a magazine for art collectors and architecture aficionados across the US. They approach their coverage of arts and design from a lifestyle perspective, offering insight for collectors, gallerists, artists, architects and patrons. Their work focuses on America’s love for the Western visual arts — from the classic Western masters to contemporary trendsetters. Writers should approach a story from a new angle and evoke a powerful sense of time and place. They have also listed their 2018 issue deadlines. Pay varies, but is usually $0.50 a word; departments and features are of various lengths, up to 1,500 words. Details here.

Cricket Media: ASK Magazine – Miniature Worlds

This is a nonfiction science magazine for 7-10-year-olds. For their upcoming Miniature Worlds issue, possible/suggested article topics include bonsais, fancy dollhouses, votary models in tombs, making dioramas for museums, how scale models are used in engineering and architecture, theatre maquettes, orreries, carving toothpicks and other extremely small art, and how sculptors use small models to make huge statues. The deadline for queries is 15 March 2018, for this issue. Details here.

Cricket Media also has other magazines for children; some of these regularly buy craft ideas.

Western & Eastern Treasures

They want stories about finds by metal detectorists. Full-length features are 1,500-2,000 words. These provide coverage of every aspect of the hobby, with emphasis on current, accurate information and innovative, field-proven advice. Each monthly issue is themed, and has articles on all fields of responsible recreational metal detecting: coinshooting, relic hunting, prospecting, beach combing, ghost towning and more. They have uploaded their 2018 themes and deadlines. Pay is $5 for photos, and $0.05/word for features. Details here.

Teddy Bear & Friends

This is a magazine for teddy bear connoisseurs and serious soft-sculpture collectors. They publish in-depth features, collector tips, expert advice, bear-making techniques, news, show reports and photos of the world’s most beautiful bears. Articles are on how to find collectible bears, understand their cost, see new creations, and enjoy designs. Topics range from antique and modern teddies to artist and manufacturer designs. Editorial contact details are here.

Astronomy

This is a science and hobby magazine for astronomy enthusiasts. Most articles are commissioned, but some unsolicited material is published. Hobby feature topics include observing features, which explain where to find and how to view celestial objects and include sky maps, diagrams, and illustrations. Articles can be aimed at beginning, intermediate, or advanced observers. Photography and imaging features provide how-to advice on capturing portraits of celestial objects on film or in digital format. Equipment features range from product reviews to surveys of telescopes and accessories. They also publish science features. Articles are 1,500-3,000 words. Details here.