Find a Writer in Canada's Prairies and North

Looking for a great writer to develop articles for your magazines, produce web content or manuals, write speeches, newsletters or annual reports?

The PWAC Prairies and North Regional Blog is a hub for a diverse group of Canadian professional writers who specialize in freelance writing, editing, and copywriting for the public, private and non-governmental sectors.

Some of us work full-time, some part-time, and some on the side, but we are all committed to producing great work for our clients, whether they are in Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, or anywhere else on the Prairies and North — or across Canada and beyond! (We're centrally based in the middle of North America, so easy to access from wherever you are.)

To learn more about our members' skills and interests, and to find the best writer for your project:

• Check out the links to the Member Websites and Member Blogs at the right. 
• Visit Writers.ca, PWAC's virtual hiring hall, where writers and clients connect. Once there, you can Find a Writer by searching by name, location, subject or expertise for your next project. 

Happy writing! 

-- posted by Shelley Banks

Get the Most out of a PWAC Conference

10 Ways to Get the Most out of a Conference (on the heels of attending MagNet 2013)

1. Bring your business cards, give them out and take other people’s. Forgot yours at home? Get creative.  Elizabeth Johnston of Montreal went down the street, bought a bag of colourful, foam letters (the kind you would use to do an art project) and wrote her email address and website on them. When she ran into people, she opened her little mesh bag and asked them to pick their favourite letter. Mine is an orange “A.”

2. Be prepared for “manageable networking.” Very few of us can be “on” 24/7. Have a few brief conversations then slink up to your room, if you need to, before coming back down for the next stretch of chatting.

3. Take some time at the marketplace to talk with industry insiders (there are often fun freebies like pens and pads of paper for the taking).

4. Have a sense of humour. As one of my sources recently said: Three things will tick (I am paraphrasing) you off every day. How are you going to handle that?

5. Don’t be afraid to ask questions at the registration area. Even after registration is long over, it is an excellent resource.

6. Follow-up afterwards. A quick thank you e-note to a presenter or request for a colleague to connect with you on LinkedIn demonstrates he or she has made an impression on you. And who doesn’t want to know that?

7. Select five people you want to meet before the conference is over and make an effort to find them. It won’t always be easy, especially if the conference is large. For example, I never managed to locate Max Fawcett from Alberta Venture or Jennifer Walker from Best Health, both of whom I work with but have never met. But I met Laurie Jennings from Chatelaine.

8. Be prepared for surprises. I literally ran into Trudi Down from Hamilton at the pre-dinner cocktail party who turned out to be a lovely connection. And Noreen Shanahan, who writes obituaries for the Globe and Mail. Really? Very cool.

9. Step outside the hotel. Go shopping, grab a coffee and stretch your legs. Consider taking part in the additional activities typically organized by the host city. But don’t feel obliged. Pick and choose the events which appeal to you. This conference is a precious opportunity. You want it to work for your needs.

10. Nobody is perfect, nor is any conference. Be prepared to give balanced feedback to the organizers. There is always room for improvement. 

PWAC Regional Seminar - Doing Business with the Government of Canada

Doing Business with the Government of Canada
PWAC Prairies and the North Regional Seminar
Friday September 6, 1:00-3:00 pm
Alternate: Tuesday August 27, 2:00-4:00 pm

Start your fall off right by exploring how to successfully sell your writing services to the federal government.  Darlene Chuka, Supply Team Leader with the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME), will offer this special free seminar to PWAC Prairies and the North region members who are interested in learning about the procurement process and how to sell goods and services to the Government of Canada. Members, associate members, and student members are welcome to attend.

Each member will be able to log in at his or her computer terminal, at the specified date and time, in a flexible webinar-style setting. At the same time, members from the same chapter will hear the information, have a chance to ask questions that target it to our region, and be able to discuss the information together afterwards, to get maximum benefit from the seminar.

Seminar topics include:

• Overview of the contracting process
• Registering in supplier databases
• Finding key purchasing contacts
• Conducting market research through searching previously awarded contracts
• Searching for opportunities on the Tenders mini site
• Finding subcontracting opportunities
• Obtaining security clearances
• Bidding on opportunities

To register, please send an email with the subject "Seminar registration" including the preferred date, your name, company name, email address, and phone number, to Marie Powell at pwacprairies@gmail.com

Please respond by August 15 so we can set up the seminar details.

Prairie Regional VOLUNTEER AWARD WINNER June 2013

The PWAC Regional Volunteer Awards were born in 2005 and recognize the valuable contribution of members who volunteer for the organization in their regions. This year’s worthy recipient from the Prairie and the North Region was Calgary chapter president Andrea Tombrowski.

This was her nomination:

Andrea has been the president for the Calgary chapter of PWAC for the last two years. She has demonstrated, during this timeframe, responsibility, initiative and creativity in fulfilling this role. She organizes and chairs regular meetings for chapter members and has invited interesting guests to these working groups, such as editor Jennifer Hamilton of Avenue and editor Terry Bullick of Apple. Chapter membership has grown under her “reign” and has been more active than ever. She works well with other writers’ groups such as the Calgary Association of Freelance Editors (CAFE) and the Writers Guild of Alberta, passing along important information from said groups and encouraging joint meetings. She contributes to PWAC policy discussions and list-serve discussions, she has attended regional conferences and has facilitated action on the regional blog. Andrea juggles these daunting duties while trying to get a documentary produced and raising two young children with her husband, and all the while maintains a sense of humour. Chapter members could learn from her dedication to her craft and her community.

This was Andrea’s response to winning the award: 

"It's thrilling to have received this award. I am honoured that I was considered for this recognition and am humbled by what it represents. I'd like to say that there are numerous opportunities for members to be involved in PWAC. And I am inspired by those persons who contribute their time, energy, talents and passion to this invaluable organization. The rewards of getting involved are abundant and can be - as in the case of receiving this award - delightfully surprising."

Let’s give a “shout out” to the winners from all the regions. Giving buckets of time to PWAC this way is truly appreciated and makes the writing world a better place.

Colleen Biondi
PWAC Calgary Chapter

Looking for freelance writing work is not for sissies ...

by Colleen Biondi

PWAC Calgary Chapter

Looking for work is not for sissies.

It sounds pretty basic. Email editors to let them know you are available for projects and they will give you work. But what if we don’t hear back (and, in my experience, that is happening more and more – editors are busy apparently), then what should we do? As professional freelance writers, we can’t afford to sit back and wait for work to come our way. We could be waiting till the cows come home.

Do we call them by phone or do we send them a reminder email (as in, “I am following up on my email of last week.”) or another type of message (as in, “Since I haven’t heard back I will assume you are not in need of my services at this time.”)?

Freelance writing skills now include finessing the situation so that responsible follow up does not turn into quasi-stalking. My rule of thumb is to send a reminder email, followed finally and if necessary, by a message like that last one. I cannot tell you how many times, when I have said “Looks like you don’t need anything,” I have heard back from folks. Ironically, when I say something like, “I know you are busy, so no need to reply if you have nothing at this time. I will connect with you in a few months to see if anything has changed,” people tend to reply.

Follow up often bears fruit. The other day, an editor replied to say, “Thanks for getting back. I did get your follow up message and I apologize for not getting back to you faster.” Another said, “I was waiting to have my editorial meeting, so didn’t get back to you before now. I’d like to assign you a story and consider you for another in our fall issue.” Further to querying a national magazine, a follow-up phone call resulted in – nada. Well, you can’t win them all.

But when we follow up respectfully and in a timely fashion, at the very least we are, albeit briefly, front and centre in that editor’s mind. We have also demonstrated how we would approach a freelance assignment – with professionalism. And, of course, we might even get work out of it.

Would love to hear thoughts from my fellow writers. What do you do to keep that dialogue going? And if there are editors reading, do you have some comments about my approach or other viable suggestions about how to keep the work chugging along?

Guest Blog on Non-Fiction Conference in Banff ...

The Creative Non-Fiction Collective Annual Conference,

Banff, April 26 – 28, 2013

By Anne Gafiuk

PWAC, Calgary Chapter

The CNFC Annual Conference was held at the Banff Centre this past weekend.  Approximately fifty delegates came together to participate in workshops, readings, a plenary session, to hear a guest speaker, do some networking, learning, experience camaraderie and enjoy good food!  Some people came all the way from Halifax and Nanaimo, plus many places in-between, including numerous writers from Alberta.

Six months ago, I was invited to join the CNFC by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, an author based in Edmonton I have gotten to know over the last eighteen months because of our common interest in the history of aviation. 

Not knowing what to expect, but filled with anticipation, I signed up for the conference.  Two workshops were offered simultaneously in the morning:  “Ownership:  Stories and Lies” given by Tyler Trafford and Kate Braid, moderated by Myrna Kostash, and “Writing History into Your Work” by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail. 

Attending Danielle’s session, I met other writers and people interested in pursuing writing and history.  We all shared what areas we were interested in and what tools we would need to accomplish our goals.  I came away with more ideas and was also able to contribute a few, too.  Before we knew it, our ninety minutes was over!  We were so engaged; we all agreed we could have stayed together until noon. 

The delegates had a break for refreshments then gathered for the plenary session featuring three people who discussed marketing, promotion and publicity of one’s work, the changes in the publishing ‘landscape’, technology, and readership trends.  A few new platforms were discovered, including Boulderpavement.ca.

                                                 

Books written by members of the CNFC were on tables against the wall, available for purchase.

Then it was time for a delicious lunch, involving more discussion and networking, finding out about other writers and their projects.  It seemed time had flown by; we had to return to our afternoon workshops.  Two more choices were offered:  “Stories from the Road:  Travel Writing”, by Marcello Di Cintio and Glenn Dixon, moderated by Cathy Ostlere, and “Perspiration Leads to Inspiration” by Lynne Bowen.  I chose the second session.  Again, sharing of ideas and how to organize research occurred. 

Another refreshment break....yum!  Then to the Keynote Address by Karen Connelly, entitled:  “New Instrument, Another Music:  Moving from Fiction and Poetry to CNF.”  I had heard of Karen’s work, but have not read it, so to hear this famous Canadian writer speak, then read some of her poetry and prose was very enlightening.

The CNFC conference was excellent.  And a great deal.  For $73.50, I attended two sessions, the two general sessions, including all refreshments, a very extensive buffet lunch, and parking, too!  It was an easy drive up and back from Calgary!

The CNFC will be celebrating their tenth anniversary in 2014.  I highly recommend their next conference.  I look forward to joining them again.

Guest Blog on upcoming Edmonton Event, Words in 3 Dimensions ...

by Rusti Lehay 

It might have been me with a book deal …

I well remember Cynthia Dusseault, head of Pitch Camp at the Get Publishing Communications Society (GPCS) “At the Edge of Print” 2011 conference, ask me, “Do you want to take a Pitch Camp slot with Rose Scollard from Frontenac House? I chose to set aside my poetic aspirations and instead pitched to Darren Boisvert, editor of community newspaper the Rat Creek Press. Deborah Lawson, a fellow PWAC member, took the slot with Rose Scollard and landed a contract with Frontenac House.

Although it may have been a missed opportunity, I also believe all things are meant to be. I now live in Darren Boisvert’s editorial community for the Rat Creek Press. He offers incredible mentoring, editorial guidance, thorough feedback and respectful editing for writers open to the process. He is super appreciative of professional writers and offers whatever he can to compensate for … yes … low pay. Generous with his praise, he says, “You have wicked interviewing skills. You spend six months with us, and I promise, you will be able to freelance to any newspaper in Canada.” Priceless. Best editor relationship I have ever enjoyed and I owe it to Pitch Camp at the GPCS conference.

I am having a blast writing a feature article a month and doing the monthly restaurant review. We call my reviews the Food Quest. The first quest was for great pub food and the best poutine. The second quest was to learn about Ethiopian food with Edmonton’s Habesha the unknowing teacher. More than fun, the quest is proving to be quite edible.

The best part? The Rat Creek Press and Boisvert gave me my first shot at an article that mattered and free reign to present the issue as I saw fit. It felt like the first time I wrote something of import. My article on Idle No More made the front page in March.

So while it might have been me signing a poetry book deal with Frontenac House, I am thrilled it is Deborah Lawson. I have long admired her poetry and will be first in line to buy her book when it comes out.

This year’s GPCS conference on May 24-26^th is a three-way collaboration, thus the “Words in 3D” theme. GPCS is partnering with the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and the Editors’ Association of Canada-Prairie Provinces Branch to host Words in 3 Dimensions. There are a number of PWAC members on the organizing committee including Deborah Lawson, Cynthia Dusseault and me.

What a conference it is going to be! Registration is rapidly filling up so register soon. We will see you there!