Freelance Feb/Mar 2015 by Admin Assist

Freelance February / March 2015 Volume 45 Number 2

In this issue: Writing Picture Books Braking (Not Breaking) Into Print Making Magic SWG Saskatoon Flooding Update

Contents

Vol. 45 No. 2/Freelance Feb/Mar 2015 ISSN 0705-1379

President’s Report . ............................................................................................1 Executive Director’s Report ..............................................................................2 Grain/Saskatoon Office Flooding Update ......................................................4 Grain Update ......................................................................................................5 Ken Mitchell Library Dedication .....................................................................5 Connecting With the SWG ..............................................................................6 Writing Picture Books: Part One .....................................................................7 Children’s Literature in E-Books ......................................................................8 Kay Parley: Up in Front ...................................................................................10 Braking (Not Breaking) Into Print ................................................................12 Space Time Continuum ..................................................................................14 Books By Members .........................................................................................16 Calls of Interest ................................................................................................18 Professional Development .............................................................................20 Member News ..................................................................................................21 SWG Highlights ...............................................................................................23

Freelance is published six times per year for members of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild.

Contributors to this Issue: Linda Aksomitis Gary Hyland Kay Parley Edward Willett Dianne Young

On the Cover: In the bleak midwinter, by Jess Richter Jess Richter is a printmaker currently working in Regina, SK. She has had solo shows in several galleries in Regina. Richter works primarily in silkscreen, relying on historical imagery, folk patterns, fairy tales, family stories, and family photos to examine what it means to be second generation German in Canada. W: jessrichterprints.com

The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild gratefully acknowledges the support of SaskCulture, Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund and the Saskatchewan Arts Board

Submissions to Freelance are welcome for editorial review. If accepted, articles will be edited for clarity. The basic criteria to meet in submitting materials are readership interest, timeliness, and quality and following the standard submission format (see SWG website). Viewpoints expressed in contributed articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the SWG. We do not accept poetry or prose at this time. Copyright for articles, reports, photographs, and other visual materials or text remains with the creator and cannot be used or reprinted without permission. SWG pays for one time rights/use only. Payment for articles and reports is 20 cents a word. Photographs and other visuals are paid at a rate of $25 each. Cover art payment is $80. Deadline for the next issue of Freelance: Apr 15, 2015. SWG BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jeanne Alexander (President), Regina Brian Cobbledick (Vice President), Regina Heather Getz, Regina Miriam Körner, La Ronge Brenda Niskala, Regina Paula Jane Remlinger (Treasurer), Beaver Creek Marianna Topos (Secretary), Regina Design & Layout : Corey Wilkinson

Contact Us SWG Regina Office Contact P: 306.757.6310 Toll Free: 1.800.667.6788 F: 306.565.8554 E: info@skwriter.com or swgmedia@skwriter.com W: skwriter.com Mailing Address Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild Box 3986, Regina, SK S4P 3R9 Regina Courier or Drop-Off Address 1150 8th Avenue, Suite 100 Regina, SK, S4R 1C9 SWG Saskatoon Office Contact P: 306.955.5513 F: 306.244.0255 E: saskatoon@skwriter.com Mailing Address Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild Bessborough Hotel Suite 719- 601 Spadina Cresent Saskatoon, SK, S7K 3G8

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

President’s Report

appy New Year and all the best in 2015 as we work toward making this world a better place.

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Wallis Zbitnew, a motivational speaker and author of Mr. Apple Discovers the Four Way Test. Her book is based on the four precepts of Rotary which she claims have been invaluable in her life. To paraphrase, those ideals include the quest for truth, goodwill, benefit and fairness to all. During our discussion, Zbitnew quoted several sources whose ideas, I think, should give us pause for reflection in terms of our own thoughts and writing. “Words have a consciousness,” and “words are containers,” if we ruminate upon those thoughts let us consider the strength of writing and its ability to influence. Mind boggling, isn’t it? Yet how empowering! I am pleased that after more investigation and further consultation we are moving forward with the question of the future of Grain. We are grateful to SaskCulture and the Saskatchewan Arts Board for clarifying several points, at a special informational meeting in December. Grain’s publication continues with guest editors and staff working hard on each issue. As president of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, I was honoured to receive an invitation to the Governor General’s Literary Awards hosted by His Honour David Johnston in Ottawa, at Rideau Hall. Recognition by

governance and governing bodies give more credence to the works created by writers. It was a splendid affair lauding Canadian Award Winners. The pomp, and ceremony set in the resplendent rooms of Rideau Hall held all the earmarks of the red carpet at the Oscars. Congratulations to all literary award winners. Intermingling with authors and members of other guilds from across Canada was a marvelous experience. One of the many highlights was the grand tour of Rideau Hall and of special interest was the Governor General’s (GG) Library which houses a copy of every GG’s Literary Awards Winners book. The GG’s own grandchildren have dubbed him, “Grandpa Books,” a testament to his commitment to promoting literacy and the literary arts. Thanks to the Governor General and his staff for a fantastic evening. “There is a ripple effect in all that we do. What you do touches me and what I do touches you.” - Author Unknown

Jeanne D.G. Alexander President of the Board of SWG

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Executive Director’s Report “The Times They Are A-Changin’ Come gather ‘round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’” Bob Dylan Release Date: January 13, 1964

othing ever seems to stand still at the Guild office, nor in the community around us. “The times they are a-changin’” as Bob Dylan’s lyrics said over fifty years ago, have never been truer than now. The fluctuating economy, world unrest, social dynamics and integration of cultures (or non-integration as the case may be) all lend themselves to an ever changing landscape that can be disconcerting at times, but often refreshing and/or liberating. And so it goes, with more adjustments for the SWG in many areas. Staff Updates The Guild is really pleased to announce that the Aboriginal Program Coordinator position has become full-time and that Dominga Robinson has agreed to continue in the role. Jordan Morris, as Grain Business Administrator in the interim of deciding Grain’s future, is leaving us midFebruary for another six month sojourn to South America. This is his second stint with us, and we hope he’ll return again. Lauren Numrich is easing into the head of the Guild’s accounting department as Lois Salter gradually edges into retirement from the Guild by the end of our fiscal year. Lois has been with the Guild for four years and we will certainly miss her leadership in bringing the Guild forward in financial accountability and practices. February 1 marks my fifth anniversary with the SWG as Executive Director and I find it hard to believe the time

has gone by so quickly. It seems like only a few months ago that I began my tenure at the Guild with my enthusiastic ideas for being of service to the members and assisting the organization in moving forward to keep up with the times. Right now, we are very fortunate to have a number of younger people on staff to bring fresh and innovative concepts to our programming and services while some of us more ‘mature’ folks anchor the organization with experience and corporate knowledge to guide them. I’ve never been more pleased with a team of people to work with as I am with the current staff, and wish we could keep them together for years to come. But I know, ‘the times they are a-changin’ faster than ever now, and we all evolve and grow and choose new paths from time to time in a way that never happened in our parent’s and grandparent’s generations. Dedication Although times do inevitably change whether we want them to or not, we must all remember where we came from and acknowledge those who had the foresight to lead us where we are today. This is especially so with the Guild, which has risen to be considered a leader in the literary arts community and one of the most thriving organizations in the entire country today. With this in mind, we would like to pay tribute to Ken Mitchell, who was instrumental in gathering several other writers together with the vision and foresight to form the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Join us at noon on Tuesday, March 3 immediately after Ken Mitchell’s Write After Lunch session for the dedication ceremony of the Ken Mitchell Library followed by a light lunch reception. For details on the topic of Write After Lunch and this celebratory event, please see the SWG website: skwriter.com New Payment Rates On the financial front, the Guild is increasing its payment rates to those who do work for us in almost all areas of our program and services operations; some slightly, while others, such as payment to contributors for Freelance articles will double. You’ll see this starting to come into effect over the coming months and all will be operating at full throttle in the new fiscal year when the new budget is in place. For instance, in the fall of 2015, the SWG Author Readings Program will increase to commonly accepted Canada Council rates of $250 per 45-60 minute reading; however we will be stringent about only authorizing seven readings each per author per year to keep the situation fair and reasonable for everyone to have an equal opportunity to participate. Writing Groups will also see an increase from $500 to $750 for professional development support. Manuscript evaluators and editors of Windscript and Spring likewise will see increases in payment in the next fiscal year. Speaking of Manuscript Evaluations, we are offering a special discount to users from February 1 until the end of July this year. Those needing evaluations done on prose pieces up to 50,000 words will pay $10 and pieces above 50,000 to a maximum of 100.000 words pay $20. Poetry is up to 64 pages for $10 and 65 to 100 pages is at $20. For more details, please see our website: skwriter.com. Please keep in mind this program is for critiques on how to improve your work, it is not an editorial service. Ebriefs, Emails and Exasperation We thank everyone for your patience and kindness in understanding the email problems that are plaguing us all due to changes SaskTel and other providers have made to their filtering systems. They still haven’t seemed to solve these after several weeks, much to our exasperation. Information for how to adjust your settings as a possible solution is included in this issue of Freelance, and we do ask you to please contact us if you are not receiving Ebriefs or other communications through your email accounts. There might be a way we can help you look for glitches on your systems, if this happens to be the case. In the meantime, we are in communication with SaskTel to rectify the problems with their outsourced provider.

Programs Evaluations of Guild programs and services are ongoing with assessments geared not only to the costs in relationship to the numbers being served, but to other aspects such as meeting Guild mandates and goals, capacity to run it, or values, such as importance to the community, quality, accessibility, relevance, expectations and outcomes of outreach, awareness, diversity, credibility or other intrinsic values. This process in ongoing for the Guild so we hope you take advantage of our programs and services to keep them viable and vital. We have a plethora of programs to offer you, and I’m pleased to announce we now have investigated and implemented new software so that we can bring professional development workshops throughout the province to everyone who has internet access capabilities to receive them. Watch for the launch of this new service shortly. Keep warm, keep healthy and keep writing! Best regards,

Judith Silverthorne

Step Out of the Shadows and Into the Spotlight! Calling All Members to Register on the SWG Website We know you’re out there and we want you to add your profile to make it easier for reading hosts and other folks to find you. Update Find Saskatchewan Writers & Services It’s quick and easy to do: simply click on the Members Area button on the left hand sidebar, login with your password, go to the “Update Sask Writer” link, and using the dropdown menu at the top go through and enter your information in each section to register your page. Make sure to save your updates after each section. If you do not have login and information, please contact: info@skwriter.com.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Grain/Saskatoon Office Flooding Update By SWG Staff

nd the rains started and the floods came down. Well, not exactly the rains, but as you probably already know, pipes in the ceiling did burst and water flooded the Guild’s Grain/ Saskatoon office on the 7th floor of the Bessborough Hotel at the end of November. It also affected Sage Hill and other organizations housed in the “flood zone.” Needless to say, all of our computers and office furniture have been damaged beyond repair. What little in files and magazines that we could salvage is stored and we are awaiting insurance imbursement to purchase new office equipment.

Renovations could take another couple of months or more, so the office will remain closed until such time as this is completed. We might also consider finding a new space that would be centrally located with access to a larger board room to hold workshops and small events. We’d love to continue to partner with other like-minded organizations. Let us know if you hear of something that might be suitable at a reasonable cost to the Guild. We want easy access, good parking, and to have more of a visible presence. In the meantime, Grain and Saskatoon email is still being checked. Grain phone messages will be checked regularly. However the Saskatoon phone will be inactive. If you need to contact someone, please call the Regina Office toll free at 1.800.667.6788. We have forwarded the mail to come to the Regina office and business is progressing as usual for both the Saskatoon programming and Grain magazine. Thanks again to our Guest Editors and Associate Editors for their superb work in maintaining the high standards of Grain magazine. Thanks also to the Guild staff for their awesome work at keeping the behind the scenes magazine alive and running well. Please continue to send your submissions to Grain PO Box 67, Saskatoon, SK, S7K 3K1. Submissions, subscriptions and inquiries regarding Grain continue to be processed as normal, albeit transferred to the Regina office for appropriate responses, processing and distribution. Subscriptions may also be purchased online. The newest issue of Grain is now available for purchase and to find out more about this journal of eclectic writing, please visit: grainmagazine.ca Damage was extensive to the Grain/Saskatoon Office at the Delta Bessborough Hotel after a pipe burst in the ceiling at the end of November 2014. (Top Right). Work is under way to reapir the damage but it will be many months before they are completed. (Bottom Right).

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Grain Magazine Update By SWG Staff

he Guild Board has been working diligently towards a practical solution for Grain magazine’s future. Prior to the AGM, the situation was studied by the Grain Ad Hoc Committee, which made recommendations to the Guild Board, who in turn made a decision that differed somewhat with the committee’s views. This decision was brought forward by the Board to the AGM, which culminated in a tabled motion and then an interim motion being made.

Everyone was given the opportunity to ask detailed questions and seek clarification for the ins and outs of proper protocol financially, legally, and for practicality. Further discussion and decision making was scheduled for the Board’s February 8th meeting in Regina, where it is expected the process of moving forward will be expedited. Further details will be released as they become known.

In order to move forward and facilitate what was seen by the Ad Hoc Committee and the Board as misunderstandings or different interpretations of details from the same sources, an informational meeting was held for the new Board and Ad Hoc representatives to gather all the facts. This included full documentation gathered by the Guild from funders, lawyers, accountants, CRA-Charities, etc. Representatives from as many interested parties as possible attended, including the Guild’s funders (SaskCulture and the Saskatchewan Arts Board), Guild administrative, accounting and current Grain staff, Ad Hoc Committee representation, and the Board.

Ken Mitchell Library Dedication By SWG Staff

n celebration of the Guild’s 45th birthday, we are honouring Ken Mitchell as a founding member by dedicating our library in his name. Join us in the dedication of the Ken Mitchell Library at the Guild office in Regina on March 3, right after his Write After Lunch presentation. Ken’s WAL presentation “Writing for the Community” will run from 12:15-12:45 pm in person and via livestreaming. After the talk, we will have the unveiling ceremony — there will be a light lunch and refreshments. The talk and dedication are free and everyone is welcome. In addition to these two wonderful events, the SWG will provide time for visitors who wish to see the facilities or speak directly with staff about programming and services. Ken Mitchell is a prairie-based writer who has published over 30 books – novels, poetry, dramas and histories. His most recent is Rhyming Wranglers, Cowboy Poets of the Canadian West, from Frontenac House, Calgary. His most recent stage play is Edna Jaques – Live, which opened at the Artesian Theatre, Regina, in 2013.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Connecting With The SWG By SWG Staff

e value all of our members and pride ourselves in responding to inquiries in a timely manner. We appreciate your patience; however, if you have not heard back from us after a few days, we encourage you to contact us again, preferably by telephone, especially if you have sent an email. Queries are always welcome, but remember items sent in the mail take several weeks to arrive and be processed so please allow time for mailing and for processing before you send a query. If you have not received Ebriefs after a couple of weeks after you’ve sent your completed membership form, please contact us by phone. Do NOT wait for several weeks or months as we don’t automatically know you’re not receiving our messages! Email Providers and Servers

Due to changes SaskTel and other providers have made to their systems, we, along with other organizations, are experiencing problems in the exchange of emails and in your receiving Ebriefs. Sometimes we have not received your emails, and sometimes you have not received ours, even though neither one of us is getting an error message. In October we experienced a massive server crash that resulted in our systems going down for several days. We have recently discovered that this affected our membership database, resulting in several updates to expiry dates and new memberships not saving properly. While everything appears normal on our end, some email addresses and member information is not being picked up properly by our system. We are working diligently to try and find all of the member accounts that were impacted by this crash and reset their accounts to work properly. This crash also resulted in some continuing problems with the server’s connection to the internet with regards to our online forms. We are looking into ways to fix this problem, and thank you all for bearing with us. Levels of frustration can be high on both ends, but an optimistic attitude helps us all in the long run. We really do our utmost to respond and provide services to you as quickly and efficiently as we can.

Receiving Ebriefs Ebriefs will on occasion be blocked by SaskTel and @sasktel. net email users may not receive Ebriefs because of this. It is strongly recommended that @sasktel.net email users and others having problems add swgmedia@skwriter.com to their contacts list. If problems persist please call the SWG Office at: 306.757.6310. You might also try contacting us this way too swgmedia@skwriter.com or info@skwriter. com, but chances are if you are experiencing an email problem we may not receive it. You may also find the following steps are necessary: 1. Check your junk mail folder. 2. Add swgmedia@skwriter.com to your contacts list 3. Check to ensure that your membership is current and that you have chosen to receive Ebriefs on you form. We are happy to respond to any and all enquiries and comments, and look forward to you connecting with us. The SWG Team!

The SWG Seeking New Board Members The SWG is seeking to appoint two SWG members to the Board to the fill vacancies. These individuals must live in Saskatoon or rural Saskatchewan.

If interested or for more info, Contact: edswg@skwriter.com

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Writing Picture Books: Part One By Dianne Young

write picture books. Not because I’m practicing to someday write a novel (I don’t want to). Not because it’s easy (shorter is not a synonym for easier). Definitely not because I can draw (I can’t). I write picture books because I like picture books. I like to read them and I like to write them.

Rhyming books are easy to write.

Hopefully this series of articles will answer any questions you might have about writing picture books. Please note – for every general rule I state, there will be exceptions, but what makes them general rules is that they are accurate most of the time.

Rhyming books are easy to write poorly. That’s why so many publishers say they aren’t interested in rhyming stories. There are three important aspects of a rhyming story – the rhyme, the rhythm and the flow. The rhyming should be perfect. Near rhymes (eg. young and done) aren’t good enough. The rhythm must also be perfect. The best way to check this is to have someone else read it aloud to you. If they stumble or have to reread a line to “make it fit”, it’s not good enough. It also has to flow. The story should drive the rhyming, not the other way around.

To begin, let’s deal with the myths and misconceptions:

Picture books are short so they’re easy to write.

Picture books are expensive so the author must make a lot of money on them.

Here’s an exercise for you. Write down in detail one incident that happened to you today. Make it interesting and as long as you like. Now rewrite it using one-quarter the number of words but keep it interesting. Do you still think shorter is easier?

If your book is accepted by a traditional publisher, you will receive 5% of the retail price on each copy sold. The illustrator also receives 5%. If you are the author and illustrator, you’ll get 10%. You may get an advance, but with smaller publishers, you may not. However, with a traditional publisher you do not have to pay the costs of producing the book. If you choose to self-publish, you will probably make more per book, but picture books are expensive to produce and it’s you who will have to pay the illustrator and the layout and printing costs. An author gets to choose their illustrator. Not unless you are self-publishing. In the traditional publishing world, the publisher chooses the illustrator. Depending on the wording in the contract, you may or may not have any say regarding the illustrations. It can be jarring sometimes to see someone else’s visual interpretation of your words. You may have certain images in your head but those images may be the result of details you deleted six drafts ago. An illustrator’s visualization is a result of reading your words, and so is probably closer to what a reader would see than what you see. Different isn’t necessarily wrong. I need to tell the illustrator what to draw. Not unless you’re okay with them telling you what to write. Sometimes there is a critical detail that needs to be shown in the illustrations and it’s okay to mention that in the manuscript, in square brackets, but don’t go overboard. Let the illustrator do their job.

It’s just for kids. Did you emphasize just? – To get an honest opinion of your story, read it to a group of seven-year-olds. They won’t laugh if it’s not funny. They won’t pay attention if it’s not engaging. They are a demanding audience. They deserve your best. Did you emphasize kids? – Don’t forget that it’s not little Johnny who’s reaching into his pocket for $18.95 to buy your book, or little Suzie who’s going to review it. You have to satisfy adults as well as children. Writing picture books is good practice for writing a novel. Believe it or not, this isn’t exactly wrong, but it’s not exactly right either. Any writing you do is good practice. But picture books are not a stepping stone to novels. If you want to write a novel, then practice by reading and writing novels. If you want to write a picture book, then practice by reading and writing picture books. Dianne Young lives in Martensville, SK and is a teaching assistant for children with special needs in Saskatoon. She was born in Regina, SK with no intention of ever becoming a writer. She is the author of The Abaleda Vouluntary Firehouse Band, Purple Hair? I Don’t Care, and Dear Flyary.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Children’s Literature in E-Books By Linda Aksomitis

-books for children have been the poor cousins of popular e-book genres like romance and fantasy. Why? Well, there are a few reasons, but the main one, strangely enough, is that this generation of digital natives (individuals who have always had access to the Web) seems to prefer print books. Part of that reason could be that parents, who worry about the hours their children already spend in front of a monitor with school work and video games, have provided print books and discouraged e-books as a leisure activity. Another reason is that today’s parents as children, grew up with trips to the library to pick out picture books and chapter books - and enjoyed sharing those books cuddled up with their parents in an easy chair. They enjoyed the tactile touch of paper and the smell of new books, and want to ensure their children also have those experiences.

Okay, so the question for anyone writing for the children’s and young adult market is what the market potential actually is if they publish e-books today. The good news is that it’s growing! Before we get to the e-book format specifically though, let’s talk about children’s and young adult (YA) book popularity in general. The book list of 2014’s top selling titles, which was put out by Nielson BookScan, ranked eight out of the top ten titles as all being from the YA market. How many copies did they sell? Well, the number one book, John Green’s, The Fault in Our Stars, trade paperback, about two teens with terminal cancer, sold 1,813,574 units! Amazon Kindle’s best seller list was also dominated by YA books, with The Fault in Our Stars leading it too. Indeed, six of the top ten titles on Amazon were YA. The reason? Research shows that many adults have discovered YA books and are buying them. Before all of the 2014 sales statistics had even been tallied, YA and children’s books were credited in general with saving the publishing industry for the year due to an increase of 22.4%. Early statistics for 2014 sales indicated e-books for young readers sold nearly 53% more than in 2013! Now that’s good news. In fact, this may be the perfect time to dive into electronic publishing with your picture books and chapter books too

Linda Aksomitis. Photo courtesy: Linda Aksomitis and the reason is simply that the technology has improved. Typically, e-books are published in what’s called a reflowable format instead of a fixed format. The reflowable format lets the text and images in the e-book fit themselves to the display screen used by the reader. Web pages that don’t require horizontal scrolling are a reflowable format. PDF (Portable Document Files), which need to be viewed at less than 100% to avoid horizontal scrolling, are a fixed format. They’re actually intended for printing on paper. Picture books and chapter books with images lack a lot of sophistication in reflowable format - so do nonfiction books, for that matter. Instead of having text around images or even overlaid on images, the images must be centered over or under text. Things like text boxes, bulleted lists, and other advanced formatting must be removed from reflowable content books.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015 Most of the dedicated e-readers sold today require reflowable content. Devices like tablets and smartphones, on the other hand, can display apps, which really look just like a Web page with nicer formatting called RWD, or Responsive Web Design that’s reflowable. Apps can also use HTML5 rather than the earlier versions of HTML we used to create Web pages and that’s what’s driving the move to enhanced e-books. So it’s no surprise that the leaders in e-book sales have come up with free and easy opportunities for publishers who want to create e-books for the children’s market. Amazon launched a whole new publishing plan called KDP Kids. The program features a free book creator tool that anyone can download and use as long as the books will only be sold on Amazon.

allow family members to read the book to children and have it recorded into the book. While these are the two newcomers, Apple was the first to bring out a free tool, iBooks Author, for writers and illustrators to create books specifically for iPads and iPhones that could be given away or sold through the Apple Store. This one is wide open to nonfiction and textbook creators too, and has many features that can be used to create amazing e-books. However, in order to use the tool you do need to have a Mac computer. Of course there are also more options for creating illustrated books, however software such as Adobe InDesign can be costly and complicated to learn.

The KDP Kids fixed layout tool lets e-book writers include any kind of traditional formatting they wish, plus has the option to add pop-up boxes and other embedded multimedia. Currently, you can’t add audio to have the book read to the child as pages are turned.

And where does that leave children’s writers in 2015? If you’ve got a YA manuscript that hasn’t found a home yet, now is a great time to self-publish it. For those who enjoy putting together images and text, jumping in at the beginning of this surge in illustrated books is likely a good idea too.

Barnes and Noble also has a Nook Kids program and free tool that creates books specifically for their Nook readers. Their reader does have an audio feature, which can also

Linda Aksomitis teaches the online course, Publish and Sell Your E-Books, at around 4000 community colleges around the world. Visit Linda online at: aksomitis.com

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Up In Front By Kay Parley

hen the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild was still very young they held a meeting in Saskatoon. One of the questions up for discussion was why they were experiencing a poor turnout for readings. I had a hunch I knew the answer. I’d been to readings where writers read as if they’d like to crawl into the book and hide, as if their own familiar words would magically protect them from an alien audience. I had wanted to scream, “Look up! Show some enthusiasm. Communicate!” I remember well what I said when they came around to me. I said, “Hire actors.” And I was serious about that. If a writer is so self-conscious that he/she can’t pitch their own work with enthusiasm, perhaps he/she needs to find someone who can.

Thinking it over, I realized I’d been lucky in having some excellent training in public speaking, even though the insights were widely scattered in time and place. No doubt I got my earliest “training” in my home community of Moffat, just listening to the old Scots pioneers do public speaking. Believe me, they knew how to get attention and be heard. There was a dynamic to those old-country speakers and I suppose I took that as a goal. My first real brush with training was at Balfour Tech in Regina, when I was taking a business course. That was in 1942, World War II was raging and it was very different from today’s wars. Now we sit back and buy gas and sugar as per normal. We don’t buy “War Savings Certificates.” We let the military fight the war. It wasn’t like that in 1942. That time we felt as if we were fighting the war, every one of us. So a speech expert came to Balfour to give a few lessons in public speaking. They were looking for people who might be useful if trained for radio propaganda. That short course was an eye-opener for me. Slips of paper containing topics were passed around and we each had to draw one. Then we were given about five minutes to think about it. I drew “roads.” Images of country trails came to mind, shifting to graded roads and then to highways, and I got up and talked about it. Another time I drew “shoes.” It was fun, and I learned the first lesson in public speaking: Never write out your speech and memorize it. Just think it through, jot down the main points and take it ab-lib. That way there is no fear of “forgetting” what you meant to say and you can relax.

Kay Parley. Photo courtesy Kay Parley. Working in a law office in 1950 brought me another important lesson. My boss, a seasoned public speaker, told me how to set up a talk. He said, “Say what you’re going to say. Say it. Say you said it.” (That’s Intro, Body, Conclusion). So now I had the structure and that was a big help. Of course I’d been to Lorne Greene’s Academy of Radio Arts in the meantime and that was a priceless experience when it came to communication. We had to learn to project through the microphone, visualizing the listeners even though they weren’t really there. It taught us to want to reach out, to have our message heard and understood. Having a superb speaker like Lorne Greene for a teacher was certainly a big bonus. When I returned to Saskatchewan, I spent a few years quite involved with theatre and that taught me more essential lessons about addressing the public. Of those, two pointers stand out as very important. For one: Stop worrying about stage fright. Welcome it. Be glad of it. It means the adrenaline is pumping and getting you revved up to do a good job. It’s like the nervous tension an athlete feels before the competition. It will turn into instant energy the minute you actually begin to speak, but only if you understand it for what it is and accept its help. And what if it doesn’t? What if your voice comes out shaky and squeaky as a new-hatched chicken? Then you’ve got a wonderful chance to build a rapport with the audience. Laugh about it. Tell them, “I’m scared silly and I sound

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015 it.” Anything, but communicate. That’s what an audience loves and it helps to forge that link that gets them on your wavelength. Relax. The audience didn’t come to be your enemy. They simply want to get to know you. Drama taught me another priceless trick. Project to the back row. How often I’ve seen a speaker look down at someone in one of the two front rows, reluctant to take in the entire room. Like memorizing a talk, this habit tends to make the speaker appear self-conscious. Problems like mumbling and shyness may accompany it. Actually, a speaker has an advantage over an actor. The actor rarely gets to look at the audience. His world is the stage, so he has to become sensitive to audience reactions without actually watching for them. A speaker, on the other hand, can see if the listeners look bored or puzzled and he can do something about that. Remember, you haven’t memorized this talk. You are free to take detours and add or subtract points as you go along. If humour isn’t working with this audience, change tactics. But to be effective in these ways, the speaker must take in the entire audience and that means talking to the back row. When the voice is thrown to the back the eyes go too, and they begin to scan the audience, taking in left, right and front as well. Relax. You’re talking to real people, and it’s not about you. It’s about communication.

I think I’ve covered the most important things I ever learned about speaking in public: don’t memorize, plan structure, be clear about the points you want to make, welcome the “stage fright,” and always pitch to the back row. Kay Parley is an author and newspaper columnist. Her books include, They Cast a Long Shadow, Lady with a Lantern and The Sixth Age. Kay Parley is now living in Regina, SK.

Find Saskatchewan Writers and Services Is a valuable online promotional tool for SWG members and the work you do. Consider adding yourself. If you are already listed, please make sure your information is current so people can learn more about you.

For more information contact the SWG office at: 306.791.7740 or info@skwriter.com

Digital Storytelling with Evie Ruddy The SWG is pleased to offer a digital storytelling workshop. This workshop will be held in two parts. The first Saturday will be a full-day workshop, and the next Saturday will be a half day workshop. Registration is required and class size is limited to 12.

When: March 21, from 1 pm to 4 pm March 28, from 10 am to 4 pm Where: SWG Ken Mitchell Library, 100 - 1150 8th Ave, Regina Fees: $42 (includes GST) In this workshop, you will create your own three-to-five minute digital story. Digital storytelling is a creative way to tell a first-person narrative using written language, visual imagery and sound. With the facilitator’s assistance, participants will write short non-fiction stories, record themselves reading their scripts, and collect photographs to illustrate their stories.

To register visit: skwriter.com

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Braking (Not Breaking) Into Print By Gary Hyland (Originally printed in 2002)

elf-publishing can be nasty or pleasant business, but it is definitely business. Like the farmer, the writer is the primary producer, which means he often gets the short end of the economic stick. Publishers, distributors and retailers gobble up ninety percent of the revenues. A typical breakout on a twenty dollar book is $8.00 for the retailer, $6.00 for the publisher, $4.00 for the distributor and $2.00 for the person who generates the raw material. Yet where would these people be without writers creating products for them? Given these figures, the financial appeal of self-publishing is evident. It’s something like the farmers running the railway and grain companies. Depending on the arrangements a self-publisher opts for, up to 100% of revenues can be earned. Twenty dollars for a twenty dollar book sounds fantastic, but if you are the author, typist, designer, publisher, distributor, promoter, and sales team, you will sweat for every cent. You might want to consider bringing in a well-chosen partner or two to share the load and some of the glory and profits.

Provided you have a book for which an audience is either waiting or can be created, and provided you operate in a business-like fashion, you might possibly net 40 to 50% of your revenues, a tidy margin but not assured. More often, self-publishers are content to break even while having the pleasure of knowing their book was produced and sold on their terms and reached a good portion of its intended audience. Some don’t make their investment back, but consider it money well spent, nonetheless. A key marketing strategy is made when you decide on the retail price of your book. The ideal price is not too high nor too low, but what does that mean? Check what other books of the same size and type are selling for. When you receive quotes from printers, you should calculate the unit price of your book as closely as you can. Then you should multiply the unit cost by six, multiply that product by projected sales (always a stab in the dark) to see how the your bottom line is affected, and make adjustments up or down from there. Let’s assume you have just taken proud delivery of enough boxes of your book to weigh down the back of your uncle’s half-ton. Let’s assume yours is a well-written book with superb design features that will induce browsers to give it a second look. How do you get those books before the eyes and into the hands of delighted readers so that their money gets into your delighted hands?

At this juncture some self-publishers opt to job out the distribution work to an established firm while they handle promotions themselves. Send a sample book, a pitch explaining why the book will sell and a description of your promotion plans. If a distributor (wholesaler) considers your title and plans attractive enough, you may receive an offer that is higher than the trade standard 20%, sometimes as great as 55%. Distributors explain that they are providing large-scale distribution, they are taking a greater risk with self-published books and that economies of scale do not apply to single title acquisitions. If the 50 or 55% they ask for slices off both your cake and icing, you may have no choice but to be your own distributor. Before deciding, try to get quotes from at least two distributors, but don’t necessarily go with the lowest if the highest has a significantly wider reach. Negotiate in a similar fashion with the large chain stores. Try to get the best possible terms when placing your books. That means payment in advance and a non-return agreement. Offering an over 50% discount is preferable to consignment arrangements and permission to return unsold copies. Believe it or not, you have certain advantages over a large firm. A book’s best sales person is its author. No sales representative could know your book as well as you do or be as enthusiastic about it. With only your work to promote, you can be totally focused. No title from a large publisher gets the exclusive treatment you can give your book. You can run a small first edition, just big enough to test the market while breaking even on your costs, which keeps you leaner than large publishers can manage. While your book is being printed you do not rest. As part of your business plan you should have identified the people and organizations with whom your book can make a connection. Presumably, you have already solicited some provocative blurbs from influential people for the back cover and prepared a promotion sheet or two incorporating them. In addition, you should compile a list of potential book reviewers and purchasers and print the labels for them; prepare promotional devices such as bookmarks, posters, flyers, coupon discount offers and ads; purchase padded mailing envelopes; determine postal rates for various numbers of your book; arrange for a supply of stamps or a postage meter; reproduce letters to reviewers and releases for the local media; prepare forms for ordering, sales records, inventory and invoicing; acquire address lists of libraries, book buyers, and media

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015 interviewers; prepare return envelopes for mail orders; and arrange a sales/presentation/media visit junket or two to drum up interest and deliver books. One enterprising author got local merchants to display her book in their windows, printed envelopes and stationery incorporating the book’s cover and also printed Christmas cards using the design. The more prestigious review journals prefer their reviews to appear just prior to or in conjunction with a book’s release. Should you wish to accommodate them, you must submit galleys (proof sheets) well in advance of your release date. If your list of potential reviewers is large, send galleys or books to those most likely to produce a review; to the others mail announcements containing a description of the book with a note that review copies are available on request. Always send a note of thanks to reviewers, regardless of the kind of review you received. The belief among some marketers is that a reluctant buyer becomes a purchaser only after encountering at least three positive references to a book. Arrange for references to your book by issuing media releases, and contacting columnists and interviewers, especially those in specialty areas your book might touch upon. Have a list of provocative questions for reluctant or lazy interviewers and prepare lively responses for them. Besides the launching of your book, a favourable review, a second-edition printing or an upcoming public appearance are good occasions for media releases. Consider special sales initiatives. If you’ve written a book called Surefire Barbecue Recipes, approach the outlets that sell barbecues and barbecue foods to carry your book as a mutual promotion. Better yet, get them to buy a quantity to give as premiums. One such premium deal with a largescale firm can banish the red ink from your ledger. Then there is the Internet. Cozy up to a web master and see what it will cost to have a home page that celebrates your book in vivid colours and has a downloadable order form. Link up your home page with other relevant sites and get listed with as many search engines as possible. Internet publishing is emerging as a possibility, though the formats are still in their infancy. The most common presents an enticing portion of a book and allows the reader to order the entire book online. When enough orders have accumulated to justify the cost, the publisher contacts the customers, confirms their orders with credit card payments and prints exactly the number of books required. It is not clear if such approaches will be successful. The technology is certainly too complex for most of us. The best technology for selling your book is the face-toface encounter, the way growers sell produce at a market. Writers can arrange presentation tours on their own or

through their national and provincial writers’ groups. Poets and fiction writers usually do readings. As well as readings, nonfiction writers should consider presentations that include visual components such as transparencies, slides or videos to groups that might be interested in their subject matter. Be sure bookstores in an area where you are scheduled to appear receive publicity and encourage them to stock your book. You are a crafts person with a first-rate product, a farmer with top grade high-protein low dockage wheat. Don’t be diffident. Banish the myth that it’s undignified to promote your own product. Load up your uncle’s half ton, arm yourself with chutzpah and go forth. An arrangement with a distributor usually means you cannot sell directly to bookstores, but you can attend for autographing sessions, and you should consider setting up displays or a sales/ autographing table at other types of stores, conventions, conferences, fairs, craft shows, libraries, farmers’ markets and special venues where your natural readership might congregate. If your book deals with a controversial topic or one of high public interest, contact talk show hosts offering giveaway copies of your book in exchange for a slot on the show. Believe it or not, some writers have done very well selling their books door-to-door. Self-publishing is a hands-on, extensive education. It will transform you, perhaps not from solvency to insolvency, but certainly from novitiate to insider. The world will never be the same. Whether it will be any the better for having one more book is another question. This was the 27th article in a series that considered the ways people become creative writers written by Gary Hyland. Hyland was an award-winning poet whose books include After Atlantis and White Crane Spreads Wings.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

The Space-Time Continuum: Making Magic By Edward Willett

ne of the things that sets apart the writing of science fiction and fantasy from the writing of other forms of fiction is the sheer amount of make-believe involved.

Of course all forms of fiction involve make-believe: that’s what makes it fiction. But in genres other than science fiction and fantasy, the story is typically set in the real world—maybe some exotic, ancient, or out-of-theway corner of the real world, but still a place where the physical laws of our own planet hold sway. The minute you introduce something that doesn’t conform to reality, you’ve slipped over into fantasy. When you write science fiction and fantasy, however, everything is subject to your whim. Writing science fiction typically involves imagining technology that does not yet exist. And fantasy, typically, involves magic.

In fact, I’d say magic is what separates fantasy from science fiction. In science fiction, the fantastic things that happen have a scientific explanation, no matter how hand-wavy. In fantasy, the only limit is your imagination. But a story in which “anything can happen” is unlikely to be a good story… because if anything can happen, the things that do happen have no meaning. They’re just arbitrary events. If your character can make anything happen by wishing, he, she or it isn’t a relatable character at all: he, she or it, is God. You might worship such a being, but you could never understand or relate to it. In most fantasy stories, then, the magic is limited and defined by what is usually called “the magic system.” Designing that system is one of the big challenges of writing fantasy. I’ve had to come up with several magic systems in my career, and it’s always a challenge. Yes, I can make up anything I want—I am, after all, the omnipotent Creator of my fictional world—but if I don’t design the system carefully, it will cause me problems in the process of writing, or wreck the story entirely. I usually start from a “big idea”—some broad concept of the magic in my fictional world—and then proceed to

Edward Willett. Photo courtesy Edward Willett. fine-tune it. In my current YA fantasy series The Shards of Excalibur (Coteau Books), Ariane Forsythe, a 15-yearold girl from Regina, inherits the power of the Lady of the Lake. Making her the heir of the Lady was my big idea... but then I had to focus on the nuts and bolts of what that meant. I decided the Lady of the Lake would logically have power over water. So Ariane can manipulate water in various ways (instantly drying herself if she fall in the lake, or forming water into tentacles or even spears of ice to use as weapons). Even more importantly, though, she can use it as a means of transportation, zipping in insubstantial form through streams and water pipes and underground rivers and even the clouds. I gave her that ability for an entirely pragmatic rather than aesthetic reason: I knew the shards of Excalibur would be scattered all over the world, and I needed a way for my teen characters to be able to travel anywhere freely. Practical storytelling considerations drive a lot of both magic and far-future technology systems. Star Trek’s transporter was invented not because anyone thought it

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

a likely technological development but because it enabled the TV show’s creators to instantly pop the characters into a new setting, saving more time for story. Having decided what the magic allows Ariane to do, I then decided what it wouldn’t allow her to do. What a magic system won’t allow is even more important than what it does allow, because such restrictions create obstacles for the characters, and characters facing and overcoming (or failing to overcome) obstacles define the story. Ariane can travel through water, but not saltwater. She can travel long distances, but it takes energy, and if her power fails at the wrong moment the results could be fatal. And so on. Of course the restrictions built into your magical system are every bit as arbitrary as the magic itself. (Remember, you’re making everything up.) But the goal of your magic system is not only to make your plot work mechanically, but to help your readers suspend their disbelief. In other words, your arbitrary restrictions have to seem to arise naturally from the magic system itself. My character Ariane can’t travel through salt water because her power comes from The Lady of the Lake,

not the Old Man of the Sea. Maybe your druid character draws power from the earth and so can only wield magic when he’s barefoot in the dirt. Restrictions just for the sake of restrictions (your wizard character can’t heal his companion because it’s the second Tuesday of a month with the letter “R” in its name) might make your plot work for you, but not for your reader. So by all means, give your characters magical powers. Let them invoke the gods or the elements, call down lightning and hurl fireballs, heal the sick or strike their enemies dead from afar. But think long and hard about where that power comes from, what the costs are of using it, and what the restrictions on its use are. That will make the stakes higher for your characters, generate more challenges (and hence a more interesting plot)… and convince your readers that your magic-infused world is as real as their own, and worth an extended visit. Which, when you think about it, is also a kind of magic. Edward Willett is a freelance writer and performer in Regina. He is the author of over 50 books.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Books by Members

The Lake in the Clouds By Edward Willett Coteau Books ISBN: 9781550506167

Honouring the Buffalo By Judith Silverthorne Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing ISBN: 9781927756331

Know Thyself By Donna Miller Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing ISBN: 9781927756348

In the third installment of this modern take on Arthurian legends, Ariane – descendant of none other than the Lady of the Lake herself – is on the run and on her own. Using her powers to keep avoiding Rex Major’s agents makes her too weak to detect the next shard of the broken sword she must reunite. And her erstwhile best friend and sidekick Wally has switched allegiance and is living a pampered life at Rex Major’s right hand.

Through the Creator, Buffalo gave themselves as a gift for the sustenance and survival of the Plains Cree people. This largest land animal in North America once thundered across the Great Plains in numbers of 30 to 50 million. They provided shelter, food, clothing, tools, hunting gear, ceremonial objects, and many other necessities for those who lived on the Plains.

I read the ad. “Know Thyself. Astrology lessons--only serious students need apply.” To know myself--how wonderful! But I didn’t realize just how long and rough the road to self-discovery would be. The sequel to the awardwinning memoir, Black Fury and A Family of Our Own. The compelling true story of a family in turmoil.

Perhaps worst of all, the powerful Rex (aka Merlin) has the biggest network in the world, and has used it to find Ariane’s Aunt Phyllis – her mother’s sister, and the person she’s closest to. With her aunt under threat, Ariane has no choice but to walk straight into Rex Major’s trap. No longer using her powers to stay ahead of his spies, she can sense the third Shard. Now all she has to do is win back Wally’s friendship, protect her aunt’s life, figure out Major’s next move – oh, and get to New Zealand and safely back with the shard whose song is beginning to call her... .

But by 1889, just over a thousand buffalo remained, and the lives of the Plains Cree people changed. Buffalo are honoured to this day, a reminder of life in harmony that was once lived. This is the story of how Buffalo came to share themselves so freely for the survival of the Plains Peoples. Written by Judith Silverthorne, based on the Plains Cree legend as told by Elder Ray Lavallee; illustrator Mike Keepness. English with Cree translation and educational resources.

Donna Miller has always wanted to write a book but never had the time, having spent a couple of her teen years and most of her adult ones raising six children—not bad for an only child. But no regrets. Her children, grandchildren and greats are her “bestest” friends. She now spends much of her time writing, and in the summer, working at the Farmers’ Market, gardening and tenting. She lives in Rosetown, Saskatchewan.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

The Education of Augie Merasty By Joseph Auguste Merasty with David Carpenter University of Regina Press ISBN 9780889773684 The Education of Augie Merasty offers a courageous and intimate chronicle of life in a residential school. Now a retired fisherman and trapper, Joseph A. (Augie) Merasty was one of an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children who were taken from their families and sent to government-funded, church-run schools, where they were subjected to a policy of “aggressive assimiliation.” As Merasty recounts, these schools did more than attempt to mold children in the ways of white society. They were taught to be ashamed of their native heritage and, as he experienced, often suffered physical and sexual abuse. Even as he looks back on this painful part of his childhood, Merasty’s generous and authentic voice shines through.

The Days Run Awayg By Robert Currie Coteau Books ISBN 9781550506082 The Days Run Away is a series of narrative poems in which Currie examines the moments that make up every ordinary, extraordianry life. The spotlight is turned on the single events, the chance interactions, the moments that, in their ordinariness, are turning points masquerading as the everyday. In this sublime collection, the ‘eternal’ boyhood of setting traps, making dens, reading Hardy Boys, spying on girls, worshipping cowboys, and playing hockey with frozen horse dung pucks gives way to sharp lessons about becoming a man - and to even harder ones about the coming of old age and infirmity. The world created in these poems allows us to feel, deeply, the sense of what is lost in adulthood and old age. This is not limited to the concrete - happy marriages, reliable health, friends, family - but tackles also the intense frustration of the loss of words, and of one’s voice in the music of life itself. Currie is a former Poet Laureate of Saskatchewan and the author of numerous poetry and short story collections and novels. He lives in Moose Jaw, SK.

Have A New Book Coming Out? Let everyone know by having it featured in Freelance’s Books By Members Section. There are two ways of submitting: By Mail Mail a copy of your book to the SWG, along with a writeup of 150 words about the book and the author. PO Box 3986, Regina, SK, S4P 3R9 * Mailed books will not be returned and will be added to the SWG Library Collection. By Email Send a JPEG, TIFF, or PDF of the cover that is at least 2MB in size, along with a writeup of 150 words about the book and author to: swgmedia@skwriter.com * Put “Books by Members” in the email subject line.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Calls of Interest Looking for a Writers’ Group to Belong to in Regina? The Prairie Phoenix group meeting is free and open to any and all ages, genders, genres, ideas and input. Our plan is simple: • Bring your work, share it, and get feedback. When you choose to share your writing, please bring a few copies. • If you are looking for likeminded people, inspiration, new ideas, a little nudge to pick up the pen again, check us out. When: The last Thursday of every month, unless there are location conflicts.

Where: Ken Mitchell Library, 100 1150 8th Avenue, Regina If you have any questions, you can call Marianna at 306.924.4030 or send her an email at: marianna_11@ hotmail.com.

Transition 2014 Continuous Submission Guidelines Transition is a truly unique publication, which is published twice annually by the Saskatchewan Division of Canadian Mental Health Association. Transition publishes two kinds of works: those directly about mental health issues; and those about the individual’s personal experience of those same issues. Transition is seeking original, unpublished articles, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art on current mental health issues and their impact on individuals. Payment: $50/printed page, $25/ half-page, $40/ published visual art work; and $200 for cover art.

Maximum manuscript lengths: articles – 15 pgs; all other prose – 10 pgs; poetry – 10 poems or 10 pgs, whichever is less; visual art – 10 pieces. Electronic submissions with full contact information and a brief bio in Word or WordPerfect (12-point TNR, double-spaced, 2.5 cm margins) to: Editor at tdyck@ sasktel.net or contactus@cmhask. com.

The RSPB and The Rialto Nature Poetry Competition RSPB works for birds and nature on an international scale. As well as offering poets the chance to win considerable cash prizes and publication of their poems, the competition will raise money for conservation and poetry. We are working in partnership with leading independent UK poetry magazine, The Rialto, as we feel the magazine will be the perfect place to showcase the winning entries. Full details on how to enter online can be found on The Rialto website: therialto.co.uk. Deadline: March 1, 2015

Call for Submissions: The RBC Bronwen Wallace Poetry Award for Emerging Writers A prize of $5,000 will be awarded for the best work of poetry. Two honourable mentions will each receive $1,000 prizes. To be eligible candidates must be: • A Canadian citizen or permanent resident • Under the age of 35 as of the

deadline • Unpublished in book form and without a book contract • Previously published in an independently edited literary magazine, journal, or anthology Candidates should submit 5 - 10 pages of previously unpublished poetry. Manuscript pages must not include identifying information and should be consecutively numbered. Deadline: March 2, 2015 For more information, visit writerstrust.com or contact: Amanda Hopkins at: ahopkins@writerstrust.com

Second Story Press Call for Submissions Second Story Press is announcing a call for contemporary writing for a young reader audience that reflects the modern experience of Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) people. Canadian writers who identify as Aboriginal are invited to submit original, previously unpublished fiction or nonfiction manuscripts for children or teens. Deadline: March 31, 2015. The winner will be offered a publishing contract from Second Story Press. More information is on Second Story’s website secondstorypress.ca

Saskatchewan Arts Alliance Seeks Writers The Saskatchewan Arts Alliance is looking for writers and artists to contribute to their Op-Ed/Living

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

the Arts blog. The articles are a maximum of 1,000 words. This is a great opportunity to examine issues facing the arts in Saskatchewan. Articles will elaborate and comment on arts policies, initiatives and milieu or will feature personal accounts of the distinct challenges facing artists. Writers are paid 15 cents per word. If interested, please contact: 306.780.9820 or email: info@ artsalliance.sk.ca

Rebelight Publishing Inc. Now Accepting Submissions Rebelight Publishing Inc. is a worldwide English language publisher based in Canada, devoted to outstanding fiction for middle grade, young adult, and new adult readers. We’re looking for fresh voices and amazing stories in any genre. Experienced Canadian

authors and new writers welcome. Check out rebelight.com for more information and submission guidelines.

Folklore Magazine Seeks Contributors The Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society publishes a quarterly magazine, Folklore. The magazine’s mandate is “to gather, preserve and share the history and folklore of the area now known as Saskatchewan.” Our magazine relies solely on volunteer, freelance writers. We accept folklore stories, historical pieces, photographs, and poetry dealing with any aspect of Saskatchewan’s past. For more information or to submit a piece of writing please visit the ‘Publications’ section of our website, shfs.ca, or contact Jessica DeWitt, Folklore Editor at: shfs.fa@sasktel.net

Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature Eligible manuscripts and books published between 1 May 2012 and 30 April 2014 must be submitted by publishers no later than 1 May 2014. A First Prize of $12,000, a Second Prize of $8,000 and a Third Prize of $5,000 will be awarded to the authors of the winning titles. Publishers of the winning titles will be awarded a guaranteed purchase of a minimum of 2,500 copies to be distributed to First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth across the country. For more info contact Catherine Belshaw at: cbelshaw@codecan.org

subTerrain Annual Lush Triumphant Literary Awards Competition The competition awards cash prizes & publication. There are three categories and three cash prizes of $1,000, plus publication. Entry Fee (non-refundable): $27.50 per entry. The winning entries in each category will receive a $1,000 cash prize (plus payment for publication) and will be published in the Winter 2015 issue. First runner-up in each category will be published in the Spring issue of the following year. Entries must be previously unpublished material and not currently under consideration in any other contest or competition. Entries will NOT be returned. Results of the competition are posted in the fall, prior to publication in our Winter issue, on the subTerrain website. For more info visit: subterrain.ca

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Professional Development Regina Write Club First rule of Write Club: Tell Everyone.

Started in Calgary, Write Club is a writing productivity group that focuses on putting pen to paper, helping you reach deadlines or your own writing goals. Starting with monthly meetings, with the aim of twice-monthly meetings, Regina Write Club works through a combination of 15 to 20 minute writing â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sprintsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and 5 to 10 minute breaks between for socializing. It is a place to work towards project completion while still getting to know other writers and have fun. Writers of any age, skill or genre are welcome. The group meets bimonthly.

For more information go to: facebook.com/ReginaWriteClub or contact Tim or Sam at: reginawriteclub@gmail.com or timjohnson2001@gmail.com.

Using WordPress to Create Your Website (or Blog) Need to finally get your author platform established? Join Jennifer Sparks (a bestselling author, teacher, and technology lover) for a one day intensive workshop to learn how to set up your website pages and or start a blog using WordPress. The objective is that you come with your content, images, cover pictures, testimonials, and so forth ready to cut and paste into your new website. There will be direct instruction followed by work time. Space is limited to ten people to ensure quality support.

Check out: stokepublishing.com for more details, earlybird pricing, and bonuses! When: Feb 28th 9am-3pm with a working catered lunch. Where: The Refinery, 609 Dufferin Avenue, Saskatoon.

Free Open-Mic at Frances Morrison Library Join an Open-Mic night held at the Frances Morrison Library in Saskatoon at 7 pm on the second Thursday of every month. Free to attend. Join in and bring your latest work or sit back and be inspired by fellow writers and poets.

Freelance Seeking Cover Artists Any artists of all disciplines and styles are welcome to submit work. Freelance cover art is open to both members and non-members.

To Submit:

Send Hi-Res (4MB+) images of the work in JPG, TIFF, or PDF form to swgmedia@skwriter. com. Include Freelance Cover Art in the email subject line. Cover artists are paid $80 if their work is chosen.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Member News Writer, Professor Rick Hillis, 58, dies in Texas Professor Rick Hillis exemplified a passion for literature and teaching throughout his life. Hillis, an associate professor of English at DePauw University, died unexpectedly in Texas on Oct. 8. He was 58. Hillis grew up in Saskatchewan. After high school graduation, he attended the University of Saskatchewan and earned his MFA at the prestigious University of Iowa Writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Workshop. His Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University led him to a two-year teaching fellowship there, the Jones Lectureship.

New Members The SWG would like to welcome: Philip Adams Kevin Allison Robert Cram Kim Jones Reed Langen Erin McCrea Loverna McKenzie Karen Nye Larry Rempel Stephen Rice Sean Stares Timothy Stobbs Krista Webster

At DePauw, he taught fiction writing, screenwriting, poetry and songwriting

Call for Submissions to Grain Grain magazine, a publication of the Saskatchewan Writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guild, is now receiving submissions of engaging, surprising, eclectic, and challenging writing and art. Guest Editors are looking for imagistic pieces, distinctive and unique voices as well as artistic leaps from established authors and new and emerging writers. We look favourably upon both older literary traditions and trail-breaking prose and poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. See the Grain website: grainmagazine.ca/submit for the complete Submission Guidelines. Send submissions to: Editor, GRAIN Magazine, PO Box 67, Saskatoon, SK, S7K 3K1

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

SWG Highlights 1

1. Panelists John Donlan, Catherine Banks, Pam Bustin, Trevor Strong, and Bill Robertson answer questions from the crowd during Writing North 5 held at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Photo credit: SWG Staff. 2. FNUniv librarian speaks to the gathered audience at First Nations University of Canada for the SWGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Nations Reading Series. Photo credit: SWG Staff. 3. Randy Lundy reads from his collection of poetry during the First Nations Reading Series at FNUniv. Photo credit: SWG Staff. 4. Dawn Dumont reads from her latest book Roseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Run during the First Nations Reading Series at FNUniv Photo credit: SWG Staff. 5. Catherine Banks speaks during the panel discussion portion of Writing North 5: Our Wits About Us. Photo credit: SWG Staff. 6. Pam Bustin reads to the audience during the first evening of Writing North 5 held in Saskatoon. Photo credit: SWG Staff.

SWG Freelance Feb / Mar 2015

Backbone The SWG Thanks Our Donors Andrew Suknaski Writers Assistance Fund Sandra Birdsell Judith Krause Glen Sorestad

Grain

Adam Abbas Cheryl Kloppenburg Preston Pentony Rea Tarvydas

Benefactors ($200-$499) Robert Calder Cathy Fenwick Lyn Goldman Louise Halfe Donald Kerr JoAnn McCaig Dianne Young

Supporters ($100-$199)

Patricia Armstrong Fund Retreats

Sandra Campbell David Carpenter Lewis Horne Honor Kever Anne Lazurko Wynne Nicholson Reg Silvester

Betty Hegerat Miriam Kรถrner Katherine Lawrence Melanie McFarlane Deanna Reder Terry Toews Larry Warwaruk

Friends ($50-$99)

Kloppenburg Award

Cheryl & Henry Kloppenburg

Patron (over $500) Felicia Daunt

Mary Harelkin Bishop Margaret Durant Joanne Epp David Glaze Sheena Koops Marjorie Megan Martin Joan Olson Red Hawk Communications Inc David Richards Cassie Stocks

Sarah Wells Jayne Whyte

Contributors (up to $50) Tillen Bruce Jeanette Dean Todd Devonshire Lilian Donahue Fran Eldridge Joan Eyolfson Cadham Wes Funk Ted Haas Susan Harris Tiem Jones Allison Kydd Robert Leech Bonnie Logan Dianne Miller Ken Mitchell Tony Peter Lloyd Ratzlaff Dorene Redshaw Edda Ryan Sage Hill Writing Experience Sunday Afternoon Co-op

The SWG Foundation Thanks These Donors Facilitated Retreat Susan Hogarth

Judy McCrosky Bursary Fund Judy McCrosky James Romanow

SWG Foundation Dr. Nola Buhr George Jeerakathil Glen Sorestad

SWGF Legacy Project Gloria Boerma Rodney Dickinson George Jeerakathil

Caroline Heath Memorial Fund Lloyd Ratzlaff

Freelance

February / March 2015 Volume 45 Number 2

Publication Mail Agreement #40063014

The SWG gratefully acknowledge the support of SaskCulture, Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund and the Saskatchewan Arts Board