I don’t have any hard stats on this, but unresponsive editors appear to have reached epidemic proportions of late. I know so many writers — newbies and veterans — whose pitches are being met with deafening silence. Everyone’s talking about it on the writing listservs I subscribe to. Editors, they say, aren’t even sending them […]
Industry news
Originally published in August 2013 in Blog
Two quotes about media stood out for me last week. Here’s the first: “We’re not ever going to return to a stable status quo where editors know where their audience is and publishers know where their revenue stream is. We’re in an era of non-stop innovation and constant turmoil. [Don’t expect] any kind of settled […]
Future shock
Originally published in May 2013 in Blog
Shitty things can happen when good people do nothing. This is my interview with Story Board, the blog for the Canadian Media Guild and the Canadian Writers Group. The internet spreads stories, voices and awareness, when we use it well. The 5-Minute Freelancer Q&A #8 – Alison Garwood-Jones In this regular feature, Story Board asks Canadian writers […]
Mobile blinders
Originally published in February 2013 in Blog
Photo by Jordan Taler with Brushes drawing by Alison Garwood-Jones Newsstand sales of magazines and gum are both down. There’s a connection David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines, is calling it “the mobile blinder effect.” Talking to the Financial Times, he said that people waiting in line at the grocery store and the newsstand are […]
Spilled milk
Originally published in January 2013 in Blog
UPDATED: January 30, 2013 Yesterday, The Globe & Mail, “Canada’s national newspaper,” fired took its literary editors, the crusty and intelligent team of Martin Levin and Jack Kirchhoff, off Books. I pounded my fist on the desk when I read this. Then I let out a cry in my condo that was heard only by the dogs […]
Blogging rules
Originally published in November 2012 in Blog
The power of pause
Originally published in May 2012 in Blog
Maria Shriver has a foothold in all the major social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, WordPress and, presumably, whatever promises to be the next best thing. Media and communications are her career. But how she uses them is worth noting. There are enough voices on the internet going for cheap attention. Expensive attention, as […]
#FreedomIsBlogging
Originally published in April 2012 in Blog
Why some never disappear
Originally published in April 2012 in Blog
