Montreal freelance writers should sign up for Mediaville Montreal
Below is some information about a great upcoming event for freelance writers here in Montreal. It's a joint effort by some of the best writers organizations in the country (including my personal favorite, the Professional Writers Association of Canada), and it combines workshops with a client mixer and other networking. Get your tickets and I'll see you there.
Mediaville Montreal
Where freelancers go to town!
Saturday, October 24 2009
11:30 am to 9 p.m.
Best Western Hotel Europa
1240 Drummond Street
Attention writers, editors, publishers, translators, and anyone interested in pursuing a career as an independent media professional: Mediaville Montreal is a professional development and networking event you won’t want to miss!
There will be expert panel discussions on how to build a successful freelance media career and how to develop your freelance business, a workshop on how to sell your services to the federal government, a client-freelancer mixer, and an inter-association networking event. (A list of potential clients attending the event will be provided as they’re confirmed.)
Early-bird discount on tickets until October 10, and space is limited, so register soon!
Tickets available for purchase through TicketPro or our box office. See mediaville.ca for details.
Presented by:
American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), Canada chapter
Association of English-Language Publishers of Quebec (AELAQ)
Editors' Association of Canada (EAC), Quebec/Atlantic branch
English-Language Arts Network (ELAN)
Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC), Quebec chapter
Society for Technical Communication (STC), Montreal chapter
New gig: I’m joining PBS MediaShift
I’m pleased to announce that I will be joining PBS MediaShift as an associate editor. I’m very excited to work with Mark Glaser, his team, and the site’s many contributors. In addition to working with contributors on their articles, I’ll be writing a monthly feature for MediaShift. I’ll also be involved with MediaShift’s sister site, Idea Lab.
This news won’t have any impact on Regret the Error, and I’ll also continue writing my weekly columns for Columbia Journalism Review and Hour. Among other things, the new gig, which is part-time, will give me an opportunity to expand the media-related topics I write about.
I hope you’ll consider adding MediaShift and Idea Lab to your feeds or your bookmarks if you haven’t already done so.
I start next week.
Last week was a very, very good week
I'm still recovering from last week's festivities and surprises.
This recovery process included sleeping for 12 hours last night, which is almost unheard of for me, and spending most of yesterday afternoon and evening lying on a couch and trying to avoid anything resembling work. Last week was the MagNet/PWAC conference, the National Magazine Awards, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. I was involved in some way with each of them. In the end, I finished the week having given out two awards, won two of my own, and connected with editors and freelance writers from all over Canada.
It was a very, very good week. Allow me to share the highlights.
A super "super conference" -- For the first time in its more than 30 years of existence, the Professional Writers Association of Canada joined with other organizations for its annual conference. I'm a former Quebec Chapter president of PWAC and currently sit on its board of directors, a volunteer position. This year we teamed up with MagNet, the big magazine conference, the Canadian Authors Association, and Canadian Society of Magazine Editors to create a joint conference. I love my fellow PWACers and it was great for us to be able to mix with other organizations. The result was that Canadian magazine editors and writers (among other industry folks) were together in workshops and at meals. I met several editors and made some good connections.
Giving Out Awards -- As PWAC's Quebec Regional Director, I handed out the award for Regional Volunteer of the Year. Then, the next day, I announced that Jennifer Walker of Best Health magazine was the winner of PWAC's Editor of the Year Award. That was a lot of fun. Congrats to her and the two Honourable Mentions, Diana Swift of Canadian Health and Ian Johnson of CBCNews.ca.
Taking Home Some Hardware -- On Thursday night around 10:30 pm, I found out that Michal Calce and I had won the Arthur Ellis Award for non-fiction crime book of the year. Mike was at the ceremony in Ottawa (I was in Toronto at the conference) and I can honestly say that we are both shocked and thrilled by the win. The other books on the short list were very impressive and I didn't think we'd win the award. I also didn't expect the win to generate so much press coverage, which then resulted in a ton of congratulatory emails. Then, on Friday night, I received a Silver Medal at the National Magazine Awards. (Read the winning article here.) The gold in the humour category went to Bruce McCall, who contributes to The New Yorker, Vanity Fair etc. So, uh, pretty good company. And one hell of a good time.
Thanks to PWAC, MagNet, the Crime Writers of Canada, the National Magazine Awards Foundation, Penguin Group (Canada), Maisonneuve magazine, the Transatlantic Literary Agency and the other groups and people that made it possible.
Two great upcoming workshops for Montreal writers
PWAC Quebec is putting on two workshops for Montreal writers in March and April. I'm currently the Quebec Regional Director for PWAC and am a big supporter of the organization. These two workshops are free for PWAC members (join up!) and are also open to non-members. All the info is below. Email Giancarlo La Giorgia if you want to attend.
Marketing Yourself as a Freelance Writer, a workshop by Helena Katz
Location: Marianopolis College, 4873 Westmount Avenue
Date: Saturday, March 28, 2009
Time: 1 to 4 p.m.
Cost: Free for members, $15 for non-members
Ever wonder why some people always seem to have work while others are perpetually sitting by the phone like a teenager waiting for a prom date? It's all in the marketing. During this session, reformed introvert and widely published freelance writer Helena Katz will teach you how to pick saleable ideas, find the right markets and shape attention-grabbing pitches for newspapers and magazines.
Helena Katz's pitching technique has landed her assignments with Canadian
Geographic, Homemaker's, More Magazine, Canadian Living, VIA Destinations, British Columbia Magazine and Up Here, among others. She is the author of The Mad Trapper: The Incredible Tale of a Famous Canadian Manhunt, and Gang Wars: Blood and Guts on the Streets of Early New York. She is the president of the Travel Media
Association of Canada and is a former president of PWAC's Quebec chapter. Hélèna was born and raised in Montreal but now lives in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park where bears and bison roam.
Freelancer Boot Camp '09
Location: Marianopolis College, 4873 Westmount Avenue
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2009
Time: 1 to 5 p.m.
Cost: Free for members, $15 for non-members
This half-day workshop presents a series of speakers about important freelancer topics. This year's topics and speakers are:
Hi-tech communication and research tools, by Gazette tech-writer Roberto Rocha
How to economize in tough economic times, by savings maven Sandra Phillips
Web design, search engine optimization and other online marketing skills, by writer and web designer Carole Zabbal
Copyright law, by lawyer Nadine Benny
Breaking through the isolation, by motivational speaker Shari Reinhart
Each speaker will give a presentation and then take questions from audience members.
Workshop: How to Succeed as a Freelance Writer
Starting in March, I will be teaching an eight-week workshop about freelance writing. The course is presented by the Quebec Writers' Federation and costs $170 ($150 for QWF and PWAC members). All the details are below. You can reserve a spot by contacting the QWF office at 514-933-0878 or info@qwf.org.
PITCH, PUBLISH AND GET PAID: HOW TO SUCCEED AS A FREELANCE WRITER
Eight Wednesdays, 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. (March 4–April 29— no meeting April 8)
1200 Atwater Avenue, Suite 3
Workshop leader: Craig Silverman
Making a living as a freelance writer requires a diverse skill set. Successful freelancers mix high-quality writing with efficient business practices. This workshop addresses both areas to help participants establish, manage and advance their freelance career.
Participants will develop story ideas, identify potential markets, and write compelling query letters. They will also draft a basic business plan for their writing enterprise. A priority is placed on helping participants pitch and place articles, while at the same time working to develop their business skills.
The workshop will also provide instruction in:
- Forging strong relationships with editors
- Negotiating pay, contracts and copyright
- Building a professional brand
- Networking
- Taxes and accounting
- Branching out into books, film work and other areas
To prepare for the workshop, participants are asked to think about their goals as a freelance writer and develop story ideas that can be turned into pitches during the workshop.
Craig Silverman is an award-winning journalist and author. A columnist for the Globe And Mail, Hour, and Columbia Journalism Review, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Montreal Gazette, Toronto Star, and Report On Business magazine. His book, Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech, won the Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism from the National Press Club in Washington. Craig also received a gold medal at the 2008 Canadian National Magazine Awards. His second book, written with Michael Calce, is Mafiaboy: How I Cracked the Internet and Why It’s Still Broken. www.craigsilverman.ca
Freelancing the future
I've been following Adrian Monck's series (1,2,3) of blog posts about how "journalism is not to blame for the decline of newspapers." The most recent one, which quotes from a post/speech by News-Record editor John Robinson, got me thinking about the changes we're seeing in the world of media and publishing -- and how these changes are impacting freelance writers.
The newspaper business ain't what it used to be, and therefore neither is writing for newspapers. Magazines are also changing. (Robinson's speech was also noted by Gazette Editor-in-chief Andrew Phillips on his recently-launched blog. Bookmark it.)
Being a freelance writer today is remarkably different than it was when I sold my first article 12 years ago. To name a couple of the more discussed points, pay rates haven't changed much over the last 30 years (at least in Canada), and new contracts being offered by publishers demand more rights than ever before, which can make it tough to resell and republish work.
I know: wah, wah.
I'm not interested in complaining about the situation because I'm equally tired of hearing editors and others complain about their plight: falling revenue and subscriber numbers, fragmentation of the audience etc. These are serious challenges, but it's time to focus on solutions. I say the same thing to freelancers when I speak to them, as I did last week in Ottawa.
Yes, we should be trying to negotiate better contracts and word rates, but we should also recognize the current business climate and stop pining for the good old days. Most importantly, we should be focused on taking advantage of opportunities created by all this change.
I think a lot of freelancers and editors/publishers got caught watching things change. In some cases, we were reporting about the larger trends, yet didn't see how they applied to us. I get the sense that newspaper people are currently more focused on solutions than freelancers are. I often hear my fellow freelancers complaining and trying to reclaim the way things used to be.
Our clients are changing. We've got to change, too.
How should we change? I don't have all the answers, but here are a few ideas. I'll also say up front that I need to work on each of these areas. Writing this post has driven that point home.
Build Your Brand, Rather Than Your Clients' -- Freelance writers have, in my opinion, traditionally been bad at branding ourselves. We often define ourselves by the brands we work for ("I write for The New York Times" etc.), rather than making those brands a part of our identity. Someone will tell you whom they write for and expect that name brand to tell you something about them. Freelancers need to create their own personal brand -- something that can attract clients in this Googleized world. Also, thanks to the Internet, your brand can attract an audience. We used to have to rely on clients for that. Take a look at how Penelope Trunk has built her brand. (Her blog is here; her company is here.) Her clients will change, but she will always be the Brazen Careerist until she decides otherwise.
Yes, branding means a website, but it really means thinking about what you want to convey about yourself. Clients will come and go; you can't define yourself by them. That's their brand, what's yours? Who are you? How are you unique? As Seth Godin said to me during a recent interview, you want to make it so that you're the best, the only, choice for what you do.
Be Platform Agnostic -- This is the buzzy term used by Arthur Sulzberger to explain that The New York Times isn't just going to be a newspaper -- its reporting will live on multiple platforms. I don't think most freelancers have begun thinking this way. In truth, it represents a huge opportunity. There have long been people who sell a story and photos as one package, but we can go beyond that basic combo. This could mean selling a story and photo for the newspaper, a photo slideshow and/or short video interviews for a website, a radio report from your recordings etc. If contracts are going to demand more rights, which can make it hard to resell an article, then we need to find better ways to slice and package our work in order to extract the most value. One story can become many different things, all of which can earn additional income. But in order to do that, we need to...
Always Be Training -- One of the smartest things I've ever done was take an HTML programming course one summer during university. It helped me understand the Web, which caused me to learn more about the Internet and eventually to take up blogging. That led to Regret the Error, which led to a book etc. As freelancers, we need to expand our skillset. I'll always be a writer first, but if I can also take a good photo, and shoot and edit video and audio reasonably well, then I'm in great shape to tell -- and sell! -- a story in a variety of ways. That means more jobs, more exposure, more possibilities for me. By constantly working to add new skills that can aid us as storytellers, freelance writers will be even more useful in a platform agnostic world. These skills can help us replace revenue lost due to bad contracts and other factors.
Build Your Own/Sell Direct -- Meet Paul Lima. Paul is a fellow freelance writer/speaker based in Toronto. Paul sells some of his work to newspapers and magazines, among other things, but he also sells some of his writing on his website. He's selling his words direct: no dealing with pitching editors, invoicing etc. He has written several ebooks and makes them available on his website. He's taken advantage of services like Lulu.com and PayPal to become both a creator and a retailer. Some things will naturally need to be sold to a traditional market such as a publication, but there are services and technologies that make it easier than ever to sell your work directly to people (your audience). Blogging services and ad networks have also made it possible to build your own publication or service. If you're not happy with the markets you currently serve, then you need to go after new markets or create your own. Selling direct is one option. Building your own is another idea. One more suggestion is too...
Develop Networks -- Forgive me for stating the obvious, but we are living in a networked world. Freelancers often work alone and from home, so networks are crucial for us. Social networking tools like Facebook can help connect us to our community. Business networking tools like LinkedIn can connect us to colleagues and clients. Organizations like PWAC are an additional business network. Building and maintaining these networks is essential for a freelancer, but I think there's one network that we need to get working on: story networks. Take FeatureWell as an example. Freelancers should be coming together and creating organizations that can help place/syndicate our work. We rely so much on others to accept a pitch, offer a fair rate, give a good contract. We should be looking to shift some of the power into our hands so we have more negotiating clout. We should be taking advantage of the Internet and building new networks that distribute our work and increase our exposure and revenue.
The bottom line is that freelancers need to start thinking strategically about what we do. Our business is changing and, just like our clients, we need to adapt and innovate.
No more complaining; it's time for ideas and solutions.
What are yours?
War reporting panel this Wednesday
This Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. the CUAA Journalism Chapter and the Journalism Student Association will present a panel discussion, “Stories from the front: staying safe while getting the story.” This promises to be an interesting look at war reporting, in spite of the fact that I'll be moderating. I've included all the details below and hope people will show up. But I also have a request.
What questions would you like me to ask the panelists (names below)? What topics should we cover? I want to hear from anyone who has suggestions. We'll make sure to leave plenty of time for questions, but I'd appreciate any input from people out there. Go ahead and leave them in the comments. Then I'll see you on Wednesday.
Event info:
Join us as veteran reporters share their battle stories from Africa, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union and Central Asia in an interactive workshop on danger-zone journalism.
Guest speakers:
- Levon Sevunts, freelance journalist, writer and translator
- Martin Patriquin, Montreal correspondent for Maclean’s magazine
- Phil Carpenter, Montreal Gazette photojournalist and former Canadian Forces reservist
- Martin Forgues, Concordia journalism student and Canadian Forces member who served inAfghanistan
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
Irish Embassy Pub & Grill
1234 Bishop, Montreal
$10 for alumni and general public (includes one complimentary drink)
$5 for Concordia Journalism students
Register by March 28, 2008 online or call 514-848-2424, ext. 4397
For further information, please contact Derek Linetsky at 514-848-2424 ext. 5629 or derek.linetsky@concordia.ca
(Cartoon by Fred Serre)
Important freelancer court hearings underway in Montreal
Canadian freelance writers should be paying close attention to hearings currently underway at the Palais de Justice in Montreal. We have some essential background about the case up on the PWAC Quebec website, but the quick summary is that the Electronic Rights Defense Committee is asking a judge to decide in favor of letting a class action lawsuit proceed against the Montreal Gazette and other related parties.
The case began over a decade ago when freelancers discovered that their work for The Gazette was being loaded into paid databases such as Infomart (now FPinfomart). The writers argue that they never gave the paper the right to electronically reproduce their work; the paper says consent was implied. Obviously, there are more details to both arguments, but that's the basic dispute.
I was in court yesterday morning to present a letter of support for the ERDC on behalf of PWAC. You can read it below. Unfortunately, the publishers' lawyers objected to me reading the letter into evidence, so it was not heard by the court. But Judge Eva Petras allowed me to give some brief testimony wherein I attempted to communicate the importance of electronic rights, and the fact that many PWAC members would potentially be part of the class action if the case was permitted to proceed. I also attempted to explain that electronic rights are often taken from writers without their consent, but that raised an objection from The Gazette's lawyer. So, it was a brief court appearance for me, but the ERDC seemed pleased.
One humorous moment came when the ERDC's lawyer unwrapped a pie and used it to demonstrate that writers make the pie but then the entire pie resides with publishers when they take our rights and don't offer compensation for them. The judge, who is very pleasant and professional, allowed the pie demonstration to run its course. Some of the lawyers form the other side also took the opportunity to make comments about not being tempted by our delicious pie. For the record, my understanding is that it was a strawberry pie.
The hearings continue today and tomorrow in room 16.01 at the courthouse.
PWAC's LETTER
Honourable Justice Eva Petras, j.c.s,
The Professional Writers Association of Canada appreciates this opportunity to provide support to the Electronic Rights Defence Committee’s request for class action authorization. PWAC, established in 1976, is a national organization representing 600 professional freelance writers and journalists across Canada. It has followed the ERDC’s case with interest and support since 1997 when class action proceedings were begun.
PWAC maintains the principle that copyright must remain with the creator unless explicitly relinquished. Too many Canadian writers now have to contend with protecting their rights. We agree with many of the organizations represented here today in saying that the terms of many contracts being issued are simply untenable for a working writer. This is a sad message being sent throughout the industry.
A freelance writer’s livelihood is dependent upon the freelance work they do for various publications. We have a strong interest in seeing that electronic rights are fairly negotiated in the contracts with media organizations, particularly with regards to compensation and copyright. Obviously, extended rights are valuable or media organizations would not be demanding them, so what they are saying to writers is, “We value the rights you have over your work, but not enough to pay for them.”
There is an increased reliance on freelance writers (“independent contractors”) within the media in Canada, and freelance writers have always positioned themselves as equal partners in producing content. Clearly, there is a need for change in the contractual arrangements so the industry can move forward with a positive understanding of the rights of writers.
Sincerely,
Carolyn Gibson, National President, PWAC
John Degen, Executive Director, PWAC
Welcome
Hey there. Thanks for stopping by. I'm a freelance journalist and author in Montreal, Canada. I serve as an associate editor for PBS MediaShift, a website that reports on trends in new media and journalism. I edit RegretTheError.com and wrote a book of the same name. I'm also the co-author, with Michael Calce, of Mafiaboy: How I Cracked The Internet and Why It's Still Broken. Both books are listed to the right.
I write weekly columns for Hour and Columbia Journalism Review online, and am a former columnist and blogger for The Globe And Mail. Read my bio by clicking on the "About Me" link above, or check out the "Writing Samples" page to read some of my work. If you're interested in speaking with me about an assignment or project, email me at the address listed below.
Recent Writing/Work