The four worst things a writer can hear

Freelance writer David Hayes, wrote an entry in the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers listserv called  Four Worst Things a Writer Can Hear. Here they are, slightly edited:PAY ON PUBLICATION: Articles get bumped to future issues for all kinds of reasons (the mix worked better by moving your piece to a future issue; fewer ads than expected shrunk space in the issue your piece was scheduled)

U.S. freelancers need to be counted properly, union demands

The Freelancers Union in the U.S. is demanding that the Bureau of Labor Statistics do a better job of counting freelancers. The Union says independent workers make up 30% of the U.S. workforce; the BLS says its 4%, according to a story carried by the blog WordCount. The item quoted a Bloomberg Businessweek article that reported that because of lack of funding, the BLS hasn't done a tally of

65% say they're doing same or more freelance work: Story Board online freelancers survey

The online freelancers' survey done by Storyboard, a joint venture of the Canadian Writers Group and the Canadian Media Guild (working together to organize freelancers) has been reported back in time for the National Magazine Awards, as promised. I hesitate to go into details, which you can do here. Why? Well, there is no indication of the number of responses (just percentages) or anything about

Canadian Writers Group and Canadian Media Guild poll freelancers in advance of Magawards

The website Story Board, a joint initiative by the union, the Canadian Media Guild and the agency, the Canadian Writers Group, is conducting an online survey of Canadian magazine freelancers, results of which will be released the morning of the National Magazine Awards. Gearing up for the NMAs this month, we thought a survey on the state of magazine freelancing in Canada was in order. It’s also

U.S. freelancers file $105 million class action lawsuit against Huffington Post over unpaid blogging

The freelance writer and union organizer who took on the New York Times -- and won -- in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case is now leading the charge against the Huffington Post. Jonathan Tasini, whose name is forever attached to the case Tasini et al vs New York Times*, is heading up a $105 million class action lawsuit against HuffPo, Ariana Huffington herself and AOL, which recently bought the

Staffers say Globe and Mail forbids freelancing for Toronto Life, Chatelaine

The Globe and Mail is apparently forbidding its staffers to freelance for Toronto Life and Chatelaine, according to a posting on Storyboard.ca. And it is imposing the same stricture on freelance contributors.John Stackhouse, executive editor at the Globe and Mail, has reportedly told Globe staffers they can no longer freelance for Toronto Life  and Chatelaine because the magazines are now

Final settlement in class action suit preferable to drawn out trial, says Heather Robertson

Heather Robertson, the apparently indefatigable lead in the long-running lawsuit Robertson vs Thomson et al says that the settlement was preferable to going to trial and that it would mean more money, sooner, for freelance writers. As readers of this blog and other reports will know, the struggle (see this and  related posts below) concerns the allegation that the various publishers posted

Canadian Media Guild and Canadian Writers Group align to represent freelancers

The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) and the Canadian Writers Group (CWG) have formed an alliance to advocate for freelancers on rates, copyright and digital and re-use rights, it was announced today.Readers of this blog will be familiar with CWG, an agency formed by independent journalist Derek Finkle to represent freelancers. (See earlier posts) It was founded in 2009 and currently represents some 75

Great books can -- and often do -- grow from great magazine articles

Allan Casey (Canadian Press)
Many a great Canadian book gets its start, or its impetus, from being first published in a magazine.
Allan Casey of Saskatoon, took the non-fiction prize in the Governor General's Literary Awards for his first full-length book Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada (Greystone Books).Two of the chapters originated as articles published by Canadian Geographic

Former Shameless co-editor doing research into the freelance experience

Nicole Cohen, the co-founder and former co-editor of Shameless magazine, now a doctoral candidate at York University, is circulating a questionnaire as part of an investigation of the working conditions of freelance writers."My research looks historically at freelance writing as an occupation and the development of writers’ organizations in Canada. The survey portion of my research will help me

Rogers syndication practices called into question by Canadian Writers Group

Derek Finkle who runs the Canadian Writers Group, an agency that represents some of Canada's most successful magazine freelancers, has called into question how one large magazine publisher, Rogers is syndicating articles to third party websites. Essentially it is that magazine articles are being posted on third party websites such as Yahoo and MSN by Rogers despite signed contracts with writers

Rogers Publishing rolls out new freelance contract that requires rights across "all forms of media"

[This post has been updated]Rogers Publishing is rolling out a new contract for freelancers. The differences between the old and the new is that Rogers is stipulating that a given article would be published across multiple platforms, presumably for the same freelance payment [see update* below] .
Rogers spokesperson Suneel Khanna said "the changes in the contract reflect the changing environment

Writer's open letter to Canadian writers urges them to join "a real union"

In the accelerating turmoil of e-rights and relations between editors and publishers and their freelancers, here is an interesting take on the situation, from writer Sarah Sheard. In her blog she has written an open letter counselling Canadian writers to consider joining the U.S.-based National Writers' Union. She met with two officials of the NWU in June, soon after resigning from The Writers'

Stanford conference looked at art and science practiced by independent journalists

Freelance writers and those who employ them will doubtless be interested in the outcomes of a two-day conference at Stanford University in California June 18 & 19 called The Future of Freelancing. (Thanks to Craig Silverman for alerting us to this.) About 125 freelancers and 50 editors, agents and other experts gathered to talk about independent journalism. A Stanford site makes available a

Former RD editor says seeking out freelancer contributions is not a new initiative

Peter Stockland, the former editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest Canada, sent a comment in response to a recent post about RD actively soliciting contributions from a wider range of freelancers. While I put the comment up, I am also quoting his response here.No to take anything away from Derek [Webster, managing editor] and Carmine [Starnino, assigning editor], who I know are doing a great job, D.B

Freelancer Mary Rogan reflects on her Aqsa Parvez story and the outcomes

Last week, with the conviction of Aqsa Parvez's father and brother for her murder, we asked whether views had changed on the December 2008 cover story in Toronto Life by Mary Rogan. Not much was heard from her at the time. But Rogan clearly has her own views looking back. In a Q & A with the magazines's Informer blog, she says she was particularly disturbed by the number of people, particularly

If it's good enough to publish, it's good enough to pay for

Starting last week, the Globe and Mail has been trumpeting the success of its Facts & Arguments page, which is celebrating 20 years of getting contributions from all sorts of people on all sorts of subjects. But there is a flip side to this success, apparently, given that since 2008 the paper hasn't paid a dime to the people who contribute to what is inarguably one of its most popular

Two finalists named for PWAC Editor of the Year award

Holly Bennett, editor-in-chief of Today’s Parent Special Editions and Michael Totzke, editor of Canadian Interiors have been named finalists in the Professional Writers Association of Canada Editor of the Year Award. It is to be presented at the Writers' Industry Awards Luncheon on Friday 4th during the MagNet magazine conference. “This is a unique editing award because it comes from Canada’s

One mag writer disses another over article about Montreal jazz scene

A while back, we posted an item about the illustrations by Montreal illustrator and artist Aimée van Drimmelen in the spring issue of Maisonneuve, illustrating a story by Chantal Braganza about the late jazz guitarist Nelson Symonds. There as no comment here about the story itself, but what it said (or how it was said) it seems to have aggravated some Montreal jazz fans. One of them, lournalist

New listserv for Atlantic Canada freelancers

[This post has been updated] One of the things that I think distinguishes the magazine business, and journalism in general,  is its collegiality; people in this trade, such as freelance writers, wish each other well and realize that there's much to be gained from sharing, collaboration and networking. One good example is the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list (TFEW), a listserv that has