Author Archive
Coworking for freelance writers
Freelance writing can be lonely. Just you and your laptop adrift upon a sea of words all day long… It’s easy to lose focus. And it can get depressing, too. That lonesome freelance feeling is what led to the rise of coworking. A trend that started in San Francisco in 2005, coworking offers freelancers a community-minded […]
Author Guy Lawson talks freelancing in the U.S.
Guy Lawson says he’s “finally now ready to be a writer.” It sounds strange coming from a man who’s been published by Harper’s magazine and has been on contract with GQ and Rolling Stone. But now, with a new book underway, Lawson now feels he’s achieved enough success to settle into the role. Born in Canada, Lawson […]
How to pitch interactive projects to the NFB
Diversification is without a doubt one of the keys to freelancing successfully. And although opportunities in traditional media seem to be on the decline lately, publishing innovations and new media present writers with exciting new possibilities. The trick is knowing where to find them. I stumbled across one recently and set out to get you the low-down […]
Journalist bursaries and fellowships
Heads up, Story Board readers: a couple of opportunities for journalists have crossed my desk over the past couple of days. Applications for Forum Freelance Fund bursaries are due at the end of this week, August 31st. These bursaries of $2500 and $1000 help Canadian independent journalists attend hazardous environment training courses in the U.S. and Britain. […]
The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #2 – Andrew Clark
In this regular feature, Story Board asks Canadian writers to share a few details about their work habits and their strategies for navigating the ups and downs of freelance life. 1. Where are you when most of your story ideas come to you? I hate to say it, I’m usually on deadline so I’m […]
Reselling: how to increase your freelance mileage
Story Board recently had a request from a reader for a post on the etiquette of reselling stories in the digital age. It’s a golden question for freelancers, isn’t it? How do you take something you’ve already written and squeeze a few more dollars out of it? I checked in with a few Canadian writers […]
What It Feels Like To Be A Freelancer
This little video has been going around this week, striking a chord with freelancers of all stripes. The video is posted on dontgetscrewedover.com and was sponsored by Docracy, a U.S.-based site launched last year that hosts free, open-source legal documents provided by users. The site contains personal documents such as wills and rental agreements, as well […]
Making the most of LinkedIn
With LinkedIn in the headlines over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about my own neglected LinkedIn profile with a mild sense of shame. LinkedIn has always struck me as the driest of the social networking sites. It’s all business, unlike my newsy Twitter stream and my gossip-laden Facebook feed. But I’m realizing lately that […]
Finding Karla’s Paula Todd talks ebooks and the future of journalism
Paula Todd, the author of Finding Karla,
Greetings from the new editor of Story Board
This is a tough time to be a freelancer. Let’s be honest: it seems like every single day there’s another discouraging report about the painful decline of traditional media. With newsroom layoffs, magazine closures, and budget cuts at CBC, paid work for writers appears to be dribbling away with increasing speed. But we should never […]
