Submissions open for the 2020 National Magazine Awards
If you’re a writer, photographer or illustrator who does freelance work for magazines, it’s time to start thinking about making a submission to the National Magazine Awards.
The awards program has 18 writing and visual award categories, including feature writing, investigative reporting, fiction, photography and many more. The gold medal winner in each category receives a $1000 cash prize.
If your publisher isn’t planning to submit your work, you can submit it yourself. The awards foundation offers freelancers a discount on entry fees with the Freelancer Support Fund, which allows freelancers to submit two entries for the price of one.
The call for entries is open until January 22, 2020.
For more information about the categories, rules, and submissions process, check out the National Magazine Awards Foundation’s website.
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Nov 26-Dec 1
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- Journalists-Turned-Entrepreneurs on How They Built Their Businesses [Nieman Lab]
- Canadian media needs to take further steps in recognizing diverse preferences in disability language [J-Source]
- Balancing privacy and transparency when reporting on minors [J-Source]
- Six tips to improve your radio and podcast interviews [Journalism.co.uk]
- 8 steps for building your writing process [Poynter]
- Four steps to getting published more [The Writer]
- VICE reporter takes press freedom award [CWA Canada]
- TWUC Short Prose Competition [TWUC]
- Nautilus, under new ownership, commits to paying back freelance contributors [CJR]
Recently on Story Board:
- Dalton Camp Award submissions open December 2: If you have thoughts about the link between democracy and the media in Canada, it’s time to start thinking about your entry for the 2020 Dalton Camp Award…
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.
Dalton Camp Award submissions open December 2
If you have thoughts about the link between democracy and the media in Canada, it’s time to start thinking about your entry for the 2020 Dalton Camp Award.
Submissions for this year’s contest open on Monday, December 2.
The competition is run by the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Essays must be written in English and not exceed 2000 words in length.
The winning essay will be granted a prize of $10,000. A second prize of $2500 is also available for the best essay submitted by a student journalist.
For more information or to submit an entry for the Dalton Camp Award, check out this page on the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting’s website.
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Nov 19-25
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- How to Self-Publish a Book: A Guide for Aspiring Authors [The Write Life]
- Canadian journalism in decline: Fewer permanent jobs, less security [J-Source]
- These 7 freelancers’ websites are killing it (and here’s why) [Freelancers Union]
-
CBC reverses decision to merge northern newscasts [Cabin Radio]
- Torstar cuts more than 100 jobs [J-Source]
- StarMetro Vancouver to Shut Down in Torstar Cost-Cutting Move [The Tyee]
- In a slump? Try these 5 tips to get motivated [Freelancers Union]
- How to Grow Your Freelance Biz By Starting a Podcast [The Write Life]
Recently on Story Board:
- The Born Freelancer on Not Sharing Unmerited Credit: Creative collaborations are often mutually profitable. They can be the beginning of lifelong associations that eventually benefit all parties. Sometimes they fizzle out despite everyone’s best efforts. And, on occasion, they can be problematic…
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 on Not Sharing Unmerited Credit
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? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Earlier this year I wrote about protecting your ideas while still participating in the rough and tumble world of freelancing.
One of the best ways to do that is to make them as uniquely your own as possible. This becomes increasingly more practical as your brand becomes better known.
But it’s also important to use caution when collaborating with others in order to bring your ideas into the marketplace.
I would like to share a cautionary tale to illustrate the type I hope you never have to suffer.
This particular collaboration necessitated the sharing of “creative intel,” not with another writer but with an actor in order to try and sell a project. Having a recognized actor associated with a speculative script (especially in the world of episodic television) can help “green-light” a worthy but otherwise anonymous project.
These associations are usually mutually profitable. They can be the beginning of lifelong associations that eventually benefit all parties. Sometimes they fizzle out despite everyone’s best efforts. And, on occasion, they can be problematic.
In creative collaborations of all kinds, safeguards should be introduced early in the process so as not to jeopardize the health of a project, not to mention its creator.
Read the rest of this post »
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Nov 12-18
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- Productivity as a journalist [Cision Jobs]
- Everyone is admitting what they get paid to work in journalism [CJR]
- Save Journalism Project launches fundraiser to pay laid-off US reporters $2-a-word to write about media job cuts [Journalism.co.uk]
- 5 critical skills freelancers should master to get hired [Freelancers Union]
- Newsrooms not keeping up with changing demographics, study suggests [J-Source]
- Here’s All The Stuff Journalists Actually Need To Be Using LinkedIn For [Journo Resources]
- Podcasts Freelancers Should Listen To [Freelance Writing Jobs]
- Rev slashes minimum pay for gig workers [OneZero]
Recently on Story Board:
- Balancing freelance work with creative projects: No matter how amazing the gig, over time everything becomes a job. At some point in my work life I had set aside my personal projects, not realizing it was those creative exercises that gave me drive and passion. I was relying on work to energize me but it was doing the opposite…
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.
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Nov 5-11
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- How paying artists for their work can help Toronto’s economy [Toronto Star]
- There’s no journalism on a dead planet [J-Source]
- A Beginner’s Guide to Science Communication Opportunities in Canada [Medium]
- When a newspaper struggles, you don’t have to close it — you can give it to its community [Nieman Lab]
- These Hugely Popular Local News Sites In The US And Canada Are Fake [Buzzfeed]
- The Complete Guide To Pitching For Freelancers [Bloglovin’]
- Preserving work in a time of vanishing archives [CJR]
- Call For Nominations – CMG elected positions at National and Branch levels [CMG]
- Tip: Five ways journalists can use Facebook to further their reporting [Journalism.co.uk]
Recently on Story Board:
- CMG election information for CBC freelancers: The Canadian Media Guild Freelance Branch is reminding any freelancer who has completed any freelance contract since January 1st, 2019 for CBC/Radio Canada that you are eligible to sign a membership card in CMG and vote and/or run in the upcoming CMG union-wide elections…
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.
CMG election information for CBC freelancers
The Canadian Media Guild Freelance Branch is reminding any freelancer who has completed any freelance contract since January 1st, 2019 for CBC/Radio Canada that you are eligible to sign a membership card in CMG and vote and/or run in the upcoming CMG union-wide elections.
Your contract must be either a: freelance specific services, freelance contributor, or technical freelancer contract with CBC. The amount of the contract doesn’t matter, you have already paid 1.55% of your pay to CMG in union dues, but you must sign a membership card in order to be eligible to vote or run in the election. You can do that easily online at this link.
At the dropdown menu for ‘Employer’, select ‘Freelance – CBC/Radio-Canada. You will then be sent a membership number you can use in our electronic voting system.
We are seeking CBC-Freelance candidates for President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer. Nominations are now open, and close at 5pm ET on Friday, November 8th. Online voting takes place December 5th to 9th.
For more information on the election, go to this link.
For questions about responsibilities involved in holding office in the Branch, please contact current Branch President Don Genova at freelance@cmg.ca.
Off the Wire: News for the Canadian media freelancer Oct 29-Nov 4
Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?
From around the web:
- The Logic raises $1.8 million in seed round funding [The Logic]
- Postmedia, Torstar Take Taxpayer Cash, Fight to Keep Public in Dark about Cuts [The Tyee]
- Tip: boost your productivity [Journalism.co.uk]
- How one freelance writer figured out that it’s not enough to love what you do [Freelancers Union]
- Torstar suspends dividend until at least late 2020, stock plunges [J-Source]
- How to create a memorable freelance brand [Freelancers Union]
- Writing your disability or chronic illness [Open Notebook]
- I’ll Never Make A Million Dollars Freelancing—And I’m Okay With That [The Freelancer]
- App for journalists: Otter.ai [Journalism.co.uk]
- What’s your creative cruising speed? [Freelancers Union]
Recently on Story Board:
- National Magazine Awards seeking judges for 2020 awards season: If you’re a freelance writer, illustrator, photographer or digital creator who publishes a significant amount of your work in Canadian publications, you’re invited to apply to be a judge…
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.
National Magazine Awards seeking judges for 2020 awards season
If you’re a freelance writer, illustrator, photographer or digital creator who publishes a significant amount of your work in Canadian publications, you’re invited to apply to be a judge for the 2020 National Magazine Awards, Digital Publishing Awards, or National Magazine Awards: B2B.
The National Magazine Awards Foundation welcomes applications from freelancers, especially ones who have been nominated for or won a National Magazine Award themselves. The foundation aims to reflect diversity on their judging panels and is interested in receiving applications from people with different industry perspectives.
The judging process takes place remotely and will happen during February and March 2020.
To apply to be a judge or to nominate a colleague, email staff@magazine-awards.com with a few sentences that outline your professional experience. For more information, see this page on the National Magazine Awards website.
Applications for the magazine awards themselves will open on December 2.
