Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Dec 29-Jan 5
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, publishing, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From the U.S. and beyond:
- How to be good at everything: tips from renaissance freelancers [Freelancers Union]
- What did you learn in your first year of freelancing [Freelancers Union]
- Conde Nast to pay $5.85 million to settle intern pay dispute [Circa]
- AP’s year of freaking out language geeks [Poynter]
- New Year’s Resolutions for Writers: 5 Goals to Amp Up Your Writing This Year [The Write Life]
- 6 Myths About Freelancing [Freelancer’s Union]
- Write Better and Faster: 6 Smart Ways to Increase Productivity and Creativity [The Write Life]
- Freelance Writing Rates: 5 Resources for Figuring Out How Much to Charge [The Write Life]
Last week on Story Board:
- The Born Freelancer’s Resolutions on Essential Traits: For this post I thought I would combine two ideas that seem timely. First, my list of the essential qualities or characteristics I believe every freelancer should possess to insure maximum success…
Spot a story you think we should include in next week’s Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca or tweet us at @storyboard_ca.
The Born Freelancer’s Resolutions on Essential Traits in 2015
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments.
For this post I thought I would combine two ideas that seem timely. First, my list of the essential qualities or characteristics I believe every freelancer should possess to insure maximum success. Secondly, my related New Year’s resolutions – which will reflect on my own traits on that list. I’ll reference my resolutions in order to show that all of us (even me!) need to constantly guard against complacency; that all of us (especially me!) still have lessons to learn every year; and that you are not alone if you feel you need to work on any of these traits. (By reading this post I confer upon you honorary membership in the club!) I list them in no particular order.
Persistence
Can there be a more invaluable quality for a freelancer? One of my failings is my need for greater persistence. I usually give something my best shot first time out and if that doesn’t work I have two or three back up shots, not quite as good as the first but good enough. If they don’t fly I get restless and generally move on. And yet I know I should persist in many cases because with each successive pitch I have usually got closer and closer to the goal line (to mix sports metaphors). I know some writers who are almost indefatigable machines when it comes to their persistence and the volume of their sold work reflects this clearly. I admire their obsessive single-mindedness. So come the new year I will try to be more consistently persistent in following up on those goals I have in mind.
Independence
I think most of us have chosen the freelance life in part because of our life long aversion to office life, to fixed and externally designated routines and to being beholden to one employer who in turn has the figurative power of life and death. Of course, this characteristic of independence can manifest itself all the way up to, say, being a foreign correspondent, living by your wits in the most inhospitable of regions of the world; or all the way down to less glamorous forms of freelancing in very hospitable parts of the world. I am comfortable with living the latter and in the new year will do my best to remember to enjoy it even more.
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Dec 16-22
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, publishing, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From Canada:
- J-Source’s top 10 journalism stories of 2014 [J-Source]
- Glacier and Black Press newspaper deal reduces competition in Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley [Georgia Straight]
- Glacier, Black Press swap community newspapers [J-Source]
- Descant to cease publication after winter issue [Masthead]
From the U.S. and beyond:
- 8 ways to make the holidays less stressful [Freelancers Union]
- 4 Questions to Ask When Drafting Freelance Contracts [The Freelancer]
- Why You Need an Ultimate Archive of Your Work [The Freelancer]
- A new generation of correspondents hustles for work with the help of the web [Nieman Reports]
- How freelancers should create LinkedIn profiles [Forbes]
- Setting Your Own Corporate Milestone [Freelancers Union]
- Ask A Freelancer: What If an Editor Never Publishes My Article? [The Freelancer]
- 23 gifts for writers [The Write Life]
- A freelancers’ gift guide [Freelancers Union]
- 5 Audio Tools That Will Help You Avoid Distractions While Working [The Freelancer]
- Predictions for Journalism in 2015 [Nieman Lab]
- How Unlocking Your Inner Teenager Can Help You Overcome Writer’s Block [The Freelancer]
Last week on Story Board:
- The holiday season, freelancer style: Whether you’ve got too much work to do during this busy month or not enough work coming in during the most expensive time of year, the holiday season can be a tough time for freelancers…
Spot a story you think we should include in next week’s Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca or tweet us at @storyboard_ca.
The holiday season, freelancer-style
Whether you’ve got too much work to do during this busy month or not enough work coming in during the most expensive time of year, the holiday season can be a tough time for freelancers. There’s been lots of advice on Twitter this month for freelancers wondering how to survive the next couple of weeks. Here’s a handy round-up of some of the best:
• PWAC Toronto says you should spend your holiday downtime cleaning your office, reaching out to past clients and setting goals for 2015.
• Contently suggests that you use the slow Christmas and New Years period to, yes, clean your office, visit the dentist and work on dream projects.
• This post from Fast Company says you’re better off spending this slow period getting serious about LinkedIn and setting concrete career goals.
• The Write Life advises freelancers to spend the second half of December getting all the stuff organized: client information, accounting, websites, email inboxes and social media profiles. Oh, and the fun part: setting up some coffee dates with fellow freelancers for early in January.
• On the lighter side, this post from Creative Live lists all of the positive aspects of being a freelancer over the holidays: you can shop during off-peak hours, you can work from airport lounges, and you’re always home to sign for package deliveries.
• And from Story Board’s archives, here’s a post by The Born Freelancer with advice on how to cope if you’ve got too much or too little work to do over the next couple of weeks.
How do you cope during the holidays? What do you think is the best way to occupy yourself during a work lull? Let us know in the comments below or come and join us on Facebook for some freelancer holiday camaraderie.
Cheers and happy holidays from Story Board!
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Dec 9-15
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, publishing, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From Canada:
- Memo: Jennifer McGuire on changes to CBC newscasts [J-Source]
- Media mogul Moses Znaimer in talks to buy Sun News Network [Globe and Mail]
- Descant magazine is to be discontinued after 44 years [Canadian Magazines]
- We need to change the culture of journalism, not just what it produces [J-Source]
- The Agenda takes on Canadian magazines [Masthead]
From the U.S. and beyond:
- 4 Scenarios When Freelancers Have to Say ‘No’ [The Freelancer]
- 10 practical ways to create work-life balance [Freelancers Union]
- Ask a Freelancer: How Much Should You Research Before Pitching? [The Freelancer]
- 11 Proofreading Tips to Help You Write with Confidence [Jimdo blog] (via @editorscanada)
- Knowing Your Worth as a Writer [Writer Access]
Last week on Story Board:
- Graphic Designers of Canada decries government logo design contest: Prominent members of Canada’s graphic design industry are angry about a government plan to source the logo for the country’s upcoming 150th anniversary through a contest for students…
- Who’s afraid of an unpaid internship?: Less than two weeks after Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz advised youth to take unpaid positions to boost their resumes, a group of aspiring and emerging media workers, activists and academics gathered to tackle the weight of these words…
Spot a story you think we should include in next week’s Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca or tweet us at @storyboard_ca.
Graphic Designers of Canada decries government logo design contest
Prominent members of Canada’s graphic design industry are angry about a government plan to source the logo for the country’s upcoming 150th anniversary through a contest for students. Graphic Designers of Canada, the country’s federally chartered accreditation body for graphic and communication design professionals, says the contest demonstrates a lack of understanding about the graphic design industry and a lack of respect for design students.
Mark Busse, Vice President, Public Relations of the BC Chapter of the GDC says the logo, which was previously at the centre of some controversy in 2013, is too important to get wrong.
“This is the country’s 150th anniversary. It’s our birthday. It’s our identity,” he told Story Board via phone earlier this week.
Although Busse applauds the government’s efforts to engage youth in the upcoming anniversary, he says this is the wrong way to go about it.
“Wanting to get the public aware and participating in something as important and historic as this, that’s awesome. But this is not some fun community project logo. This is the identity of the country. This is a crucial milestone in the history of our country,” he said.
The logo, says Busse, will play a major role in the 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017.
“This is graphic design, visual communication design in terms of brand, strategy, messaging, identity. This is huge. It’ll be on stamps, on posters, on television commercials, on banners on billboards, on letterhead throughout the year that we’re celebrating the anniversary,” he said.
Busse also says the contest is disrespectful of the graphic design students it seeks to engage.
Read the rest of this post »
Who’s afraid of an unpaid internship?
by Maggie Reid
photo by Katherine Lapointe
Less than two weeks after Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz advised youth to take unpaid positions to boost their resumes, a group of aspiring and emerging media workers, activists and academics gathered to tackle the weight of these words.
On November 12, the Communications Workers of America-Canada’s Associate Member program held a media mixer at the Foundery in Toronto. Attendees gathered to network, eat, drink and discuss the media labour market and strategies for navigating internships and precarious work.
A panel moderated by journalist Denise Balkissoon, featuring writer and social critic Septembre Anderson and University of Toronto professor Nicole Cohen, provided a critical assessment of the rise of precarious and unpaid labour in media industries while leaving us with a sense of hope that alternatives can and are being created.
Anderson shared her experiences steering through the often-exploitative terrain of the internship world, pointing out that internships are increasingly replacing entry-level positions. Unpaid internships have essentially become a rite of passage in the media industries while there has been a simultaneous devaluing of such work, she said. Anderson said that her first unpaid internships were not meaningful learning experiences and that landing paid positions was difficult without paid experience—challenging the idea that internships are always an entry into paid work.
Read the rest of this post »
Off The Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Dec 2-8
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, publishing, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From Canada:
- How to be productive during holiday downtime [PWAC Toronto]
- Holiday cheer for wordy types [Masthead]
- How to connect with potential clients on social media [PWAC Toronto]
From the U.S. and beyond:
- Freelancing 101: 10 Things People Forget to Tell You About Freelancing [Design Shack]
- 4 Questions to Ask When Drafting Freelance Contracts [The Freelancer]
- How to Ensure You Get Paid as a Freelancer [Lifehacker]
- I Made a Mistake in an Article. Here’s How I Bounced Back [The Freelancer]
- How to eliminate time-wasters [Freelancers Union]
- The Art of the Follow-up [Careful Cents] ( via @LuigiBenetton)
- 7 Ways Freelancers Outside the U.S. Can Stand Out and Land More Writing Jobs [The Write Life]
- 5 Email Tools That Will Make Life as a Freelancer Much Easier [The Freelancer]
- Story pitching tips from someone who reads them for a living [IJNet] (via @journochat)
- How to be a writer: one story [Semi-rad.com]
- How to: publicise yourself as a freelancer [Journalism.co.uk]
- 21 Ways to Overcome Networking Awkwardness [Inc.]
- How to: Get started as a freelance journalist [Journalism.co.uk]
- Journalism in the era of Ferguson: “We have to take a stand” [Philly.com]
Last week on Story Board:
- The Born Freelancer on Advising Wannabees: This is the time of year for greater social interaction, even among self-professed curmudgeonly writers. But with it also comes the greater likelihood of hearing those inevitable dreaded words: “I’d love to be a writer too. Could you spare a couple minutes”?…
- Desmond Cole on crowdfunding to get to Ferguson: Desmond Cole is a Toronto freelancer and political commentator who writes about policing, race and social justice for a variety of media outlets. When the grand jury decision came down in Ferguson, Missouri last Monday, he felt compelled to go there in search of the stories that weren’t being told…
Spot a story you think we should include in next week’s Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca or tweet us at @storyboard_ca.
The Born Freelance on Advising Wannabees
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments.
This is the time of year for greater social interaction, even among self-professed curmudgeonly writers. But with it also comes the greater likelihood of hearing those inevitable dreaded words: “I’d love to be a writer too. Could you spare a couple minutes”?
In such circumstances, freelancers have no corporate borg to hide behind; no phalanx of personal assistants to whisk us away. We are entirely on our own to face what can be, for some of us, a bit of a dilemma.
You see, most of us spend a lifetime on the other side of the equation. Our work is constantly being rejected or else arbitrarily subjected to the cruelest of philological indecencies by an ever-changing cast of editors, producers and publishers. Of course, if you’re very lucky, every now and then an editorial angel will also enter your life with understanding and support for what it is you do. It’s all called making a living.
To be asked to be the prime arbiter of what is good or bad by a rank novice unused to the rigors of the game can seem to some of us an onerous task.
Wish to be helpful and supportive
When approached by a hobby writer or novice wannabe it is far too easy to be dismissive. (It’s understandable when you’re on deadline, of course.) It’s important to keep in mind that we may be the first professional that they have ever approached. That means we can carry a powerful influence on their creative as well as psychological well-being. Never underestimate the positive power of a kind word at the right time nor the devastating impact of a thoughtless, unkind word when someone is feeling vulnerable. And all creative acts are acts of vulnerability.
Desmond Cole on crowdfunding to get to Ferguson
by Rachel Sanders
Desmond Cole is a Toronto freelancer and political commentator who writes about policing, race and social justice for a variety of media outlets. When the grand jury decision came down in Ferguson, Missouri last Monday, he felt compelled to go there in search of the stories that weren’t being told. As a freelancer, however, his precarious financial situation made such a trip impossible without support. So he decided to crowdfund it. Although The Walrus soon came through with an offer of a plane ticket and a hotel room, Cole still needed cash for transportation, food, supplies and emergencies. Within a few hours of putting out his call for support, he had raised enough money to take care of himself during his four-day trip last week. Cole took the time to speak with Story Board this week about his crowdfunding experience, and about the importance of continuing to seek out untold stories even in the face of the media industry’s financial distress.
What made you decide to go to Ferguson?
I’ve been following, as much as I could, the events since Michael Brown’s shooting. I was always very interested in the story and as we were nearing the decision from the grand jury I really wanted to be close to what was happening. I had been watching a lot of livestreams on the internet and reading a lot of news articles and I was getting a sense that there was a larger story behind most of the reporting. Which was: the National Guard being called in, looting, fires, anger. I felt that there had to be more going on than that and I really wanted to go firsthand and meet people and talk to them. And I write about policing issues here in Toronto, too.
So this story is related to your beat.
Very much.
Why did you decide to crowdfund the trip?
Read the rest of this post »
