Smart on the page, smart on the screen—smart for the writers?
According to this recent Postmedia News article, it’s getting harder to fund documentaries in Canada. So the kind of partnership The Walrus and High Fidelity HDTV have announced—making documentaries “inspired” by Walrus stories and broadcasting them on High Fidelity’s eqhd channel and on WalrusTV—might be what the industry needs to continue putting our non-fiction stories [...]
CWG negotiates new deal with Reader’s Digest
It doesn’t happen every day, so when writers make gains after negotiating with a publication, it’s a story worth sharing. Working with Reader’s Digest managing editor Derek Webster, Derek Finkle negotiated a new pay grid on behalf of writers represented by the Canadian Writers Group this fall. Shortly before Webster left the magazine in October, [...]
Forget about 15 minutes—Canadian visual artists want their five per cent
Imagine if, to sell your writing or other media work, you had to give up all re-sale rights, knowing full well that the person you were selling it to would earn far more than you had because of their access to a wider market. If what you’re producing is one-of-a-kind, nearly impossible to re-create, and [...]
Why I wrote for the Huffington Post (and why I stopped)
By Emma Woolley The Huffington Post is evil, right? It makes a lot of money from content it doesn’t pay for. It exploits writers and undermines their right to earn livings. It contributes to the overall devaluation of writing and especially web writing. I knew all of this and I still wrote for the Huffington [...]
Show me the money: Invoicing tips from the Born Freelancer
Gather a bunch of freelance writers together and it’s almost always the number-one topic of conversation. The general public may expect us to be dissecting esoteric topics like the influence of Faustian legend on contemporary media, but for most of us it’s: “Got any new tips for getting paid faster?” Several posts ago Story Board [...]
F*ck you. Pay me. Mike Monteiro’s advice for getting paid as a freelancer
If you’ve ever had trouble collecting payment from a client, this video is for you. Mike Monteiro, co-founder of Mule Design Studio gives his provocative (and sometimes profane) tips for protecting yourself as an independent contractor.
New Star freelance contracts raising eyebrows
The Toronto Star has been issuing new agreements to its freelancers that contain broader language than previous ones. According to some freelancers we heard from, there was less pressure to sign and return the contracts when they were first distributed, but after questions were raised about its wording, a hard deadline was set. There are [...]
