Edmonton Publishing/ entrepreneur quiz/ I got published

This is from www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

Nov. 14 Edmonton publishing: I Google "Edmonton trade publications."  It lead me to this site:  

http://www.relocatecanada.com/edmonton/publish.html

Edmonton Journal: The first one on that list is this.  I did send my resume to them before.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/index.html

Edmonton Sun: I think I did apply there.  I read in the Edmonton Journal business section that the Sun Media Corp is laying off 500 employees.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/

Edmonton Examiner: I applied there too, quite awhile back.  Maybe I should apply again.

http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/

Alberta Farmer: I clicked on it, and the website is a list of other Canadian newspapers and magazines.

http://www.albertafarmer.com/

I Google "Alberta Farmer.ca" and it leads to these agriculture websites:

http://www.countymarket.ca/

http://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/

Alberta Views: This looks like a good website.  It's from Calgary.  In the About section, it writes about: "politics, education, industry, public service and the arts."

http://www.albertaviews.ab.ca/

Edmonton's Child Magazine: I don't believe I've heard of this magazine before.  Maybe saw it in a waiting room.  It could be another parenting magazine in the waiting room.

http://www.edmontonschild.com/

Here's a good article about homelessness in Edmonton and the charities like: Boyle Street, Hope Mission, the Mustard Seed.

http://www.edmontonschild.com/articles/community/edmontons-homeless-community

Greenwoods Bookshoppe: This was also on the list.  Here's an article that the bookstore closed down.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Close+book+Edmonton+Greenwoods+Bookshoppe/7334108/story.html

Edmonton Bookstore: This independent book store is still open though.

http://www.edmontonbookstore.com/ArtInStore.aspx

Alberta Venture: This is Alberta's business magazine.  The website is very organized.

http://albertaventure.com/

Entrepreneur quiz: Alberta Venture has this really good quiz: "What kind of entrepreneur are you?"  Here are a couple questions:

6. If given the choice, you’d rather:
A. Come up with something new
B. Try to do something that people say you can’t
C. Deal with real-life, concrete situations

Me: I would pick C. 

 8. Your legacy will be defined by:
A. What you made
B. Why you made it
C. How much you made in making it

Me: I would pick A.  I was thinking about my blog.  You can look at the blog I made. 

It turns out I picked 4 As and 4 Cs so I am "the visionary" and "the professional."  The B is
"the hero." 

Canada Wide Magazines and Communications Ltd: This is a really big company.  They have 11 self-owned magazines, 30 custom publications for clients, 10 e-newsletters, and 8 websites.

http://www.canadawide.com/cw/our-company

AGWA: It stands for Alberta Game Warden Association.  It's a non-profit by the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Officers Association.

http://www.gamewarden.ab.ca/

Faze magazine: This is a Canadian magazine for teens.  I remember reading this and getting it for free at my school libraries.  I just checked out their website.  I was reading a Ed the Sock (from MuchMusic) and this woman Red who give advice to teens.  I thought the advice was good.

I read a few questions and it's like teens not getting along with their siblings, parents, people, etc.

http://www.fazeteen.com/ed/index.html

http://www.fazeteen.com/

Publishing consultant: I had written this down, but didn't research it until now.  Here's how it's defined:

"Ideally, a publishing consultancy should cover all services to authors from writing classes and assessments through to editing and marketing your work to publishers. We take authors at all stages of their development allowing writers to choose which service they require at a particular time.

For example, a writer may want an assessment from the publishing consultancy but prefers to market their own work to publishers. Another writer may want their work edited but not assessed. Another may request marketing only.

While it is preferable that an author go through all the stages of development on their script for the best results, publishing consultancies should work with authors according to their needs. So find out what the publishing consultancy offers and ask the same kinds of questions as indicated earlier in this text."

http://www.dunsfordpublishing.com/consultancy.html

Mackwood Publishing: I did find this good publishing consultant family.  They say they help and guide writers with their projects.
http://www.mackwoodpublishingconsultants.com/

Nov. 16 Resume: Today I found this writer's ad I cut out a long time ago.  I think I applied for it, but I will again.  I emailed my resume, cover letter, and the two movie reviews of The Fourth Kind and Daybreakers as my writing samples.

Nov. 20 Script flashback: I'm clearing out clutter in my room, and there are drafts of my script The Vertex Fighter.  I have drafts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 printed out.  Draft 5 is really the first completed 90 pages script.  Drafts 1, 2, 3, 4 weren't 90 pages.  I remember that night in March 2009, I pushed myself and completed it.  I felt so happy.

I printed it out on scrap paper.  I see that it was on my old Professional Writing college registration handbook papers.  I then sent Draft 5 to a production company that rejected it, and it was sent back to me.  I have two Draft 5s.  Now I'm going to throw out one of them because it's redundant to have two.

I guess I kept that Draft 5 as a memory and token of that night where I finally completed a full- length screenplay.  Yeah, well I still have that other copy.  I guess I'm writing about it, so I can get over it and move on.

Old me: As a kid and teenager, I was fun, funny, imaginative, and right-brain.  I liked to watch TV instead of do stuff.  I liked to read fiction so I can be transported to a different world.

Now I'm an adult, I'm serious, practical, businesslike, and left-brain.  I do like to watch TV, but I'm more inclined to do stuff.

Nov. 21 Script pitch: Here's something I haven't done in awhile: pitch my script.  I had written down a TV production company on a piece of paper.  I researched it, and it created the TV show Less than Kind.  I think I may have pitched to them before.  I checked my email account to see if I got an email from them.  None.

I checked my blog to see if I had pitched to them.  I didn't find anything.  So I decided to pitch to them.  If I did pitch to them before, it wasn't this year.  It was probably from the past 3 years.

Nov. 24 I got published: I got 2 movie reviews published at The Golden Vanguard.  This time when I wrote the reviews, I found it easier to write.

Here's the review for Cabin Fever:

http://www.thegoldenvanguard.ca/movie-reviews/cabin-fever

Salt:

http://www.thegoldenvanguard.ca/movie-reviews/salt

Litfest/ Eli Roth/ fun business books

This is from www.badcb.blogspot.ca:

Oct. 20 Litfest: I went out to pick up my paycheck and deposit it.  I passed by the Stanley A. Milner library and see a big sign that the Litfest was there.  I went downstairs, and a woman was sitting at a table.  She says there's a film being shown right now, and it just started.  It costs $5.  She told me it was a documentary about writers talking.

I checked out the books she was selling from the authors there like Noah Richler.

AB magazines: There were lots of AB magazines laid out like Template.  It was the same 2006 issue that I still have back when I was in college.

Get Vrse: There's an ad in the Lit Fest brochure for this design company in Edmonton called Get Vrse.  They designed for the festival, and they won for designing a calender.  Here it is.  It has pics and inspirational quotes: 

http://getvrse.com/work/illustration/

Editorial Freelancers Association: I had written this down so I could look it up later.  It's based in New York City.

Oct. 23 Writing tips: I found this through Freelance Writers.  This is a slide show of tips like "Summarize your idea into 3 or 4 sentences" and "Create an outline."  It also said to allow yourself to change the story if you have other ideas.

It was pretty simple, but it's really to help you focus.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Watch-Dependable-Tips-on-Writing-101577.S.99238811?view=&gid=101577&type=member&item=99238811&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_nd-pst_ttle-cn

Oct. 24 Eli Roth: Last Sat. I saw the scary movie Cabin Fever.  It's about a group of college friends who go to a cabin for a week.  They then get infected with this disease and have to survive it.  It was written and directed by Eli Roth.  I thought the name sounded really familiar.  It turns out I had cut something out of him in the newspaper.

I thought he kind of looked like this guy at my work and I showed the picture I printed of him out to him.  He didn't he looked like ER.  I showed it to some other people and one said the eyes did, and the other said his smile did.  ER is also an actor and you can see him in Inglourious Basterds.

The newspaper clipping I have of him says: "The building next door was under construction, and ripping up the ground dug up all the rats that came with it.  Suddenly they were everywhere.  I'll never forget the day we spend wearing breathing masks and rubber gloves, scrubbing out apartment from head to toe, tossing the rotting carcasses into a trash bag.  At one point I looked at my brother and said, 'I'm 25.  I have $300 in a bank account...I'm cleaning up dead mice in a sweltering walk-up on 25th Street.'"

He didn't give up, and 6 months later he had moved to California and raised enough money to shoot his first film called Cabin Fever.

Oct. 25 Movie reviews: Today I wrote a movie review for an online magazine.  I submitted it.  It took me an hr to write it.  I also wrote it differently.  When I write movie reviews for my blog, it contains spoilers, synopsis, my personal comments.  This time, I wrote it like I am submitting it for an online magazine.  I am more professional about it.  We'll see if it gets published, and I can later put it up on my blog.

Oct. 29: Today was my day off and I submitted another movie review for the same online magazine.  It was kind of a struggle to write it.  For example, what should I put in the review without spoiling it?  I should focus on the characters and what the story is about.  Don't write about specific scenes. 

On Spec: I picked up this ad at the Lit Fest for the Canadian magazine On Spec.  They
publish short stories, poems, and art.  They're not accepting any submissions right now.
It's located in Edmonton.  They sell their own merchandise like bags, hats, and cups.

http://www.onspec.ca/
Uppercase: I also picked up an ad for Uppercase magazine that's from Calgary.  It publishes books and magazines for artists.  The submissions are asking for blog submissions like an event.  It also asks for pictures.

http://uppercasemagazine.com/

Writer-in-exile: I picked this brochure up from the library.  "....Edmonton organizations to understand better the needs of "exiled" immigrant writers living in Canada, and to create opportunities for them to pursue a professional career.

http://www.epl.ca/writer-in-exile

Canadian Literature Centre: On the brochure, it mentioned this.  I researched it, and it was from the University of Alberta in 2006.  It was so that researchers, authors, publishers, and public to promote research of Canadian literature. 
http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/clc/index.php?page_id=2&lang_id=0

Fun business books: Alissa Alvarez sent me this article "The 25 Best Business Novels to Dig into this Summer."  I would have put this in my "job" email, but it was more fun.  Most of these books are fictional like The Godfather.  It's about family business.

There is a lot of non-fiction like #11 The Greatest Salesman in the World: "...find inspiration to become a good salesperson, find inspiration, and believe in yourself."  #14 is How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Daniel Radcliffe is on the cover.  #16 is Microserfs about working for Microsoft.

#23 is The Goal.  It's analyzing the "theory of constraints."  Wikipedia says: "...adopts the common idiom "A chain is no stronger than its weakest link" as a new management paradigm. This means that processes, organizations, etc., are vulnerable because the weakest person or part can always damage or break them or at least adversely affect the outcome."

So it looks like my thought of bringing down Wal-Mart is not that ludicrous.  The plan is to get a job there and give bad customer service.  It's so minor, but then I would be the weakest link.

http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/the-25-best-business-novels-to-dig-into-this-summer/

Oct. 30 Blogging: I found this through Freelance Writer emails.  It's how to write the "perfect blog post" like use short paragraphs, and a good title to tell you what it's about.

http://www.360tips.org/2012/03/tips-to-write-perfect-blog-post.html

Oct. 31 Publishing: I've been reading this in the newspaper that Random House and Penguin are going to merge together to create this big publishing giant.

Scotiabank Giller Prize: This was on last night.  It was an hr long on CBC, with Canadian stars introducing the Canadian authors.  The finalists are Will Ferguson, Kim Thuy, Victoria Glendinning, Alix Ohlin, and Russel Wangersky.

The winner is Will Ferguson.  He gave a funny speech and a toast to the written word.

Nov. 4 Post Secret: I found this on it today:

"My TV shows have become my salvation."

I can relate.  It's about the writing, story, characters in it.  Escaping into a different world when watching it.

literary agent/ TV production/ I got published

This is from my www.badcb.blogspot.ca: 

Oct. 2 Literary agent: I'm researching careers that I could be good at or interested in.  I found how to become a literary agent.  Ehow says:

1. Major in English, journalism, or business.
2. In the US, NYC, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco are good cities to be one in.
3. Work your way up in a publishing company.  Develop contacts.
4. Join an established agency.
5. Strike out on your own by opening your own agency.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2121717_become-literary-agent.html

Oct. 3 Blog: Hannah Howard sent me this article "How to Handle Negative Feedback on your Blog."  Don't apologize for what you said.  In some cases you should, but mostly people who rant, it's because they just don't like a lot of things.  Just say "I understand." 

Don't take it personally.  "One thing you have to learn when you put yourself out there for the whole online world to see is that you will not always please everyone. As much as you want to make everyone happy, it just doesn’t work all the time."  Yeah, I know.  It also says to stay calm.

http://www.longhornleads.com/blog/2012/how-to-handle-negative-feedback-on-your-blog/

Oct. 4 New direction: I'm going in another direction.  The other week I didn't look for an office assistant job at all.  Instead, I looked for an agent, and went through my Two Bits Linked In group emails.  Last week I was researching careers.  Now I'm going to look into all communications, publishing industry positions.  CPRS send me these emails and I bookmarked some job ads from them.

Communications strategist: I was going through my bookmarks, and I see this job ad.  I Google it, and it says that they look at how:

"...companies use language and the results they achieve, and they've sought out new ways of making language work better for their clients. That may involve introducing new forms of communication (migrating paper-based memos to email, for example) or it may mean running poetry workshops in law firms, to improve personal communication skills."

"Communication strategy always runs to the heart of a company's internal communications and, ultimately, productivity."
The education is human resources and advertising.
http://www.thewriter.co.uk/news/?id=161

Power Point: Here is a really good Power Point presentation about what a communications strategy does.  This would be used in a business class.
http://www.unescap.org/stat/disability/census-ws/Session5-Media.pdf

Community relations coordinator: It says: "who works with a business, corporation, or other organization that wants to have a positive public image in the community."
The duties are: "event planning, marketing, and sponsorship of local programs."  That brings me to a flashback of gr. 8 and 9, when I was on the student council.  You have to plan and run dances and school events.

You prepare and deliver speeches, buy ad space, arrange public appearances, contests, etc.
http://www.mymajors.com/careers-and-jobs/Community-Relations-Coordinator


Public relations: This must be the law of attraction, because I was researching the above careers.  I emailed this young woman from college a few weeks ago and asked about the PR program she took at MacEwan.  She gushed about how much she loved it. 
She got hired at the company she interned at and said it was practical, hands on, and what you need to learn to get the job.

Oct. 13 Ingrid Veninger: I was reading the Globe and Mail and Veninger is a film maker.  She has a production company called Punk Films.  She created a contest $1000 Feature Film Challenge where people make a film for $1000.

IV: You don't have to wait for permission from anyone to do your art.  You can put $1000 on your credit card.  You can make a feature that can play festivals and hit the big screen.  And if we can keep costs low enough, we can make money on these films.
http://www.punkfilms.ca/

Freelance Writers: Today is my day off so I was reading the business section of the newspaper and job articles.  Now I'm going through my Freelance Writer's emails I got from the Linked In group.

Alan Kinsberg: I went through 7 emails and found out the TV writer Alan Kinsberg has a Facebook page.  I liked and subscribed to it.

Shawn MacKenzie: I found this blog post about Shawn MacKenzie.  The blog is by Karen S. Elliot.  Here's a good excerpt:

"....'anyone can write' mentality. And while this is true on a certain level, it leaves the field wide open for people with stories to tell but lacking the craft for the telling. A writer is first a craftsman—a wordsmith. Hone your craft if you want your work to soar. To that end, read great books and write, write, write. "

http://karenselliott.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/editor-spotlight-shawn-mackenzie/?goback=.gde_101577_member_101632075

Oct. 15 TV production: I found these notes I took at a job interview at a TV production company.  It was back in May 2012.  The studio was easy to get to.  It was a nice office, and had like 8 staff members and some contract workers.

It doesn't produce dramas, but corporate videos.  The duties were planning, shooting, editing, and delivery.  The position was a jr. account executive.  The job was commission- based.  The shifts were weekend and evenings to see the clients.

There's a little script writing.  It was mainly a sales role.  The clients will call and want a video made for their company.  You have to follow up leads by making phone calls.  Sell $20,000 video and make commission off that.  The set salary was $1000-1500 a month and a little commission.  Eventually it will be 100% commission.

There was some production and post- production.  I learn from people, and there's no book.
They didn't call me back.  There is so much selling involved, I wasn't really looking for a sales role.  I didn't think I was a fit for it, I didn't tell them that.

Oct. 16 Script doctor: I was reading a Screenwriting Goldmine newsletter about being a script doctor.  I Google it and it's really a script consultant.  He is a screenwriter who polishes and edits the scripts for dialogue, characterization, etc.
I did learn this:

"Under the Writers Guild of America screenwriting credit system, a screenwriter must contribute more than 50 percent of an original screenplay or 33 percent of an adaptation to receive credit.^[6]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Script_doctor

Oct. 18 Linked In: A teacher from college added me on Linked In and I accepted.

Nov. 5 I got published: I put this on my Facebook status update.  I got published in the Golden Vanguard.  Here are two of movie reviews Daybreakers and The Fourth Kind.  I will later put the reviews up on my blog.
http://www.thegoldenvanguard.ca/movie-reviews/daybreakers-review

http://www.thegoldenvanguard.ca/movie-reviews/the-fourth-kind