How to Get Published and Survive as an Author

Step One – sign up for email notices of coming events offered by the Canadian Writers’ Union. When you receive your invitation to attend the full day workshop in a city near you, sign up. You’ll want to do this quickly, as space is limited, and all eight workshops offered in the first half of 2007 were completely sold out.

Step Two – show up well rested and ready to learn, to ask questions, and to network with your fellow writers. Business cards with your email address would be an excellent idea: bring some.

The Toronto workshop was held on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at the Textile Museum of Canada. Participants included published, unpublished, and emerging authors – those are the ones who have had one or two works published, usually with smaller presses, but who haven’t yet met the threshold at which one is able to begin applying for the various government grants which are available to Canadian writers. Where one fit in this continuum was immaterial to the presenters – the prevailing attitude was that each person in attendance was already a writer and would be published.

The presenters included Deborah Windsor, Executive Director of the Canadian Writers’ Union; Merilyn Simonds, author of twelve books including The Convict Lover, which was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award; and Ken McGoogan, award winning author of creative non-fiction novels including Ancient Mariner, a biography of Samuel Hearne. Each of the presenters was personable, well prepared and knowledgeable, and all were available for questions, both formally during the question periods provided, and informally, during well-timed breaks.

Topics addressed during the morning included an overview of the landscape of the publishing, bookselling and grant processes in Canada, the impact of technology such as the Internet and print on demand, and the relationships between publishers, editors and writers. Afternoon sessions focused not on the book, but rather on the writer. These included dealing with the daily grind of writing, and making it less of a grind by purchasing an ergonomically suitable chair and stretching regularly, generating income while waiting for one’s big break – and building a track record in the process, maximizing available tax benefits, and the importance of negotiating reasonable publishing contracts – and of seeking advice before one signs on the dotted line rather than after. The Canadian Writers’ Union is available to assist both members and non-members with this process, but is often not called for advice until the contract has already been signed, and can not be changed.

In addition to the wealth of practical information which was presented during the course of the day, participants were provided with a variety of booklets published by the Writers’ Union. The materials alone were worth the price of admission, which, thanks to a grant provided by the Government of Canada’s Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) was only $45. Practical and useful information from people with real experience, a great lunch, and best of all, an opportunity to spend a full day in the company of other aspiring authors and to be regarded as a professional writer: these are the components which ensured the success of the Canadian Writers’ Union workshop “How to Get Published and Survive as an Author.”