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The Longhand Review No. 14
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A magazine about how good work gets made

Four issues a year and a letter every Saturday, about the people who make things well and the habits behind it.

  • Founded June 2023
  • Providence, Rhode Island
  • Paid for by readers

The Review began as a letter. In June 2023, Meg Ostrander sent 212 people an essay about a stonemason's notebook, and asked whether they'd read one like it every Saturday. Enough of them wrote back that a magazine followed a month later.The stonemason, who asked to be called only Paul, still gets a copy of every issue.

We publish essays, interviews and short notebook pieces about craft in the broadest sense: carpentry and copy editing, baking and bookkeeping, teaching, repair, maintenance. What they share is attention, and the patience to do something a second time until it's right.

What we won't do

We don't run ads, sponsored pieces or affiliate links. We don't publish lists of productivity tips. We don't use tracking pixels in the letter, so we never know whether you opened it, and we've made our peace with that.We count subscribers and renewals, and that's all. It turns out to be enough.

I.So far

Three and a half years, oldest first.

  1. The first Saturday letter

    Sent to 212 people from a kitchen table in Providence. It was about a stonemason's notebook.

  2. No. 1 goes to print

    Eighty pages, six pieces, a run of 600 copies stocked by four shops.

  3. We start paying 80 cents a word

    Up from 30, once memberships covered the printer and the post.

  4. Audio editions

    Writers start recording their own pieces for members.

  5. No. 14, in a run of 2,400

    Our largest printing, and the first issue edited aloud.

II.Who makes it

Two editors, a deputy for print, and the writers in each issue.

III.How to reach us

A person reads every message, usually within two working days.

Letters to the editor
[email protected]
Pitches
Use the pitch form, which goes to the right editor
Membership and billing
[email protected]
Post
The Longhand Review, Post Office Box 1407, Providence, RI 02901
Write to the editors Pitch a piece

Start with a Saturday

The letter is how most readers meet us. It's free, and it's short.

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One email every Saturday. Unsubscribe from the foot of any letter.

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