IN THE BEGINNING

In the beginning, I was inspired by other venerable publications like Popular Mechanics and Fine Woodworking that had lasted the distance. I had a vision to create a magazine that would link all the various tinkerers and artisans labouring in their sheds all over the country.

Jim Hopkins’ book Blokes and Sheds had made an impact and reinforced in me the belief that there was a substantial potential readership for the magazine. Not everyone shared my enthusiasm. I got a terse one-line rejection from a major magazine distributor saying, “We don’t see any market for this title.” Fortunately, their competitor had a different opinion.

At the time I couldn’t find anything similar to what I had in mind for The Shed. Instructables.com and YouTube were just starting but their initial offerings were very simple. I wanted to create a magazine that would appeal to sheddies who had some experience; it wasn’t going to be a beginner’s guide. We assumed that people had some tools and some knowledge and we wanted to show what others were doing with those tools and knowledge. There were plenty of magazine articles showing how to make an MDF coffee table but I wanted more than that.

Time to give it a go

I had had the idea for in my head for some years and wanted to have a go