#14 A Call for Pitches
Commissioning articles on artisanship in Britain.
My name is Louis Elton. I’m on a quest to craft an entire outfit from underwear-to-outerwear entirely in Britain. Why? To trigger a renaissance in British manufacturing and to heal the nation’s spirit, of course! Welcome to the scores of new followers who subscribed to Nation of Artisans this week.
In this week’s post, the TL;DR is (1) Are you a journalist/writer? I want to commission interesting dispatches on artisanship in Britain, and (2) I’m now working with the winners of the NOA Prize to design a mascot — suggest your ideas!
1. Calling all writers
Are you a writer/journalist fascinated by artisanship and Britain?
I am launching a new space for a dedicated monthly guest article.
Each month, I want to commission a brilliant writer to craft a 1200-1500 word dispatch exploring artisanship in Britain.
Pitches should be at the intersection between the world of artisanship in Britain and how it relates to culture, history, politics, economics, and identity.
I define “artisanship” very broadly. I urge you to think niche.
You could write about anything.
It could be about crafting handmade shoes in Northamptonshire or maybe the dying art of stained glass making. Maybe you want to visit the last living cricket ball maker in England or uncover the secrets of forced rhubarb growing in Yorkshire. Or perhaps you are an AI optimist who wants to explore the unexpected positive fusions between AI and craft.
The possibilities are endless.
As a model, check out my UnHerd dispatch from Sudbury Silk Mills.
If you are interested, please send a short pitch and a sample of your writing to louis@nationofartisans.com.
If I think it will work, then I will commission you — all paid, of course!
I’m no media baron, but I’ve been advised by a wise journalist that £500 is a fair rate for this sort of thing. However, I would be happy to discuss this based on scope and experience.
2. Meeting the NOA Prize champions
Loyal readers will know that after 3 months, the NOA Prize is now finished. Last week, I announced that Tom Moore and Angel Jones were triumphant.
This week, we met on a video call to plan next steps. Here we are:
The vision is to lead with a word mark and a letter mark, but I still want a mascot.
I love their unicorn and dragon designs, however, I want to use these for future deep dives into Scotland and Welsh stories.
This leaves us with the question: what should the mascot be?
I love the idea of some sort of creature which can be altered for each future project e.g. adapt it with a tool, an item of clothing etc — all depending on whatever form of artisanship NOA is focusing on.
Feel free to share your ideas…
3. Now try this…
This week, I’ve been deep in work mode for my day job doing Anthro-Vision; however found some time to meet a maverick knitter (more on him in the future) and a whisky and Harris Tweed expert from deep in Scotland.
I’ve also been reading Don't Forget We're Here Forever: A New Generation's Search for Religion by Lamorna Ash. I feel Ash begins with the same longings that sparked NOA, but we’ve come to different conclusions. She’s become a Christian, and I’ve started a weird cult of artisanship. I suspect NOA will probably outlast Christianity.
Until next time… where I will show you some hot behind-the-scenes content on Project Boxers.
Readers! I need your help. Nation of Artisans is growing steadily, but to go bigger and better sooner, I need your help. If you know one person who might be interested in this project, refer them, and give them this link (Nation of Artisans) so they can see what I am actually doing. We’re building a cult here, and I need you all to radicalise others.
Now hit that ❤️ button so the Substack algorithm is kind to me.