The Word Weaver Podcast

Today’s chapter of the Word Weaver Podcast is my in-depth interview with Ben McNally, the legendary bookseller behind "Toronto’s Most Beautiful Bookstore” and his namesake, Ben McNally Books. The shop first opened in 2007 at 366 Bay Street in Toronto’s financial district but Ben has worked in the book business for over 40 years.

We chatted over coffee inside his stunning shop, under the 14-foot ceilings, with the mahogany bookshelves as our backdrop. I was honoured that Ben would take the time to sit down and speak with me as he is somewhat akin to what a celebrity chef in the restaurant industry would be to the Canadian literary scene.

Independent bookstores have long been thought of as a dying breed, particularly with the age of Amazon. Even big box superstores like Chapters Indigo are dedicating more of their retail space to housewares, a higher profit driver for them than books. Despite the recent revival of indie bookshops (much like the renaissance of vinyl records and polaroid cameras), many independent bookstores have been forced to shut their doors over the years as book sales are unable to cover their overhead. In a fraught industry, Ben McNally Books has managed to stay competitive, which he credits to building trusting, loyal and long-lasting relationships with his customers — a face-to-face interaction he fears is being lost in our overstimulated technology era.

“On the internet you can find what you’re looking for; in our store you can find what you are not looking for.”

- Ben McNally

In today’s podcast chapter we discuss everything from how he went from parking cars at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) to being at the forefront of the literary industry. He also gives us a behind-the-scenes look from the booksellers perspective of the publishing industry and his stance on why books are sexy again.

Don’t miss the rapid fire at the end where he tells us his favourite author, book of ALL time, favourite place to read and why he loves Harry Potter!

I don’t know if it was being in a bookstore on a quiet, snowy morning or listening to Ben talk about books, but I felt such a sense of calm during the interview. It was a magical conversation with a magical man! I hope you enjoy.

ps. If you’re located in Toronto, Ben hosts a monthly Books and Brunch in the Vanity Fair Ballroom at the King Edward Hotel with up to four authors and various In Her Voice events at the bookstore that support emerging female writers and poets.

In today’s chapter of the Word Weaver Podcast I’m sharing the nitty gritty of freelancing 101 and how to get started as a freelance writer. There’s a lot to unpack on this topic so if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section below, on Instagram or iTunes.

Before diving in, we have to define what exactly is a freelance writer? Freelance writers are self-employed and typically write for several publications at any given time. In this podcast chapter, we’ll go through the different types of freelance writing that you can do and earn money from. When you’re first getting started it can feel a bit overwhelming of where to employ your word weaving talents, but you’ll naturally gravitate towards the topics and the writing formats that you’re most interested in and best at.

In general, the main types of freelance writing are (Note: I got more in-depth in the podcast):

Article (or “Feature”) Writing

Copywriting / Content Writing (including advertising copy, website content, press releases, white papers, print or digital newsletters, and even in-house or individual e-book ghostwriting)

Social Media Content

Blogging (for businesses or personal)

Editing / Proofreading

One of the biggest keys to being a successful freelance writer, with the goal of making this your full-time living, is to DIVERSIFY YOUR REVENUE STREAM. It’s no longer enough to rely on pitching a few magazine articles each month and hoping they get published. There are lots of companies, brands, and individuals looking to outsource various communication functions to freelance writers if you’re willing to put in the work.

The three key traits that every good freelance writer requires is: self-discipline, self-motivation, and an insatiable curiosity. You have to constantly brainstorm new ideas, always have your antenna out collecting concepts, and reading a wide variety of subjects while analyzing what would make a good headline or unique story angle. Then, you have to have the self-discipline to sit your butt down, spend the time researching, outlining, contacting sources, writing and revising your articles, which can be anywhere between 500 to 2000 words. Self-motivation is essential when it comes to making writing a daily habit, while sticking with the relentless pitching process to editors, companies and brands.

So, once you know that this is what you want to do. How do you establish yourself in the freelance writing space and actually find jobs?

The three steps that I recommend starting with are as follows (Note: I go more in-depth in the podcast):

Create a Website Portfolio

Start Honing your Writing Niche

The Pitching Process

Once you land your first writing gig, whether it’s for a newspaper or magazine or a business/brand, I’ll walk you through the phases of submitting your work, solidifying a contract and payment schedule with deadlines (including how many rounds of revisions), to invoicing and getting paid in a timely manner.

The reality when it comes to pitching is that even if you send 20 pitches, chances are you’ll hear back from 1. As freelance writers, the odds are NOT in our favour when you’re first starting out. I know a lot of people think that freelancers get to sit around in their pajamas all day and sleep in but it is a GRIND and you have to work your butt off every single day (eventually you can do it in your cute flower PJs from home once you’ve set up a system!).

Don’t be afraid to follow up with editors after a few weeks, people usually need (and appreciate) a gentle nudge as their inboxes and requests are overflowing. If you still don’t hear back, never take it personally, just move on to the next handful of editors or places you’d like to pitch from your excel spreadsheet and eventually, you’ll get a bite. Don’t get discouraged, don’t give up, and try to take your ego out of it. Rejections have nothing to do with you (they don’t even know you!) so often it’s about timing or not having space in the magazine. As Lady Gaga has said many, many times “If there are 100 people in a room, and 99 of them don’t believe in you, all it takes is one and it changes your whole life.”

The last burning question I dissect in this Word Weaver podcast chapter is how much money do freelance writers make?

Often those who ENJOY writing feel guilty for getting paid to do something that they LOVE, but you have to remember that when it comes to freelance writing, you are being hired by a publication, company or brand for your unique skill set that they either don’t have time to do themselves, don’t enjoy doing, or haven’t thought of doing yet! Freelance writing is a JOB and you should absolutely be compensated for your work in any industry. Own your worth and be confident in your rates! TIME IS OUR MOST VALUABLE CURRENCY so the amount of compensation you receive should be worthy of the amount of time you put into it.

Freelance writing can be an extremely rewarding career if it’s something you TRULY love to do. Success doesn’t happen overnight so be patient and kind to yourself. Stick with it as a daily habit, persevere through the muddy waters of rejection and treat it with as much tact as you would any other profession and great things will happen!

FREELANCE WRITING JOB BOARD LINKS

Media Bistro

ProBlogger

BloggingPro

FlexJobs

WORD WEAVER LINKS

Website: louiseclairejohnson.com/podcast

Instagram: @wordweaverpodcast

#WordWeaverPodcast

Happy 2019! I’m so excited to kick off the New Year with the latest chapter of The Word Weaver Podcast featuring my interview with Paige McPhee. We met, nearly a year ago, at a writing event in Toronto where Paige was the keynote speaker. We got to talking after the event, she signed her own book for me, as she’s the author of the self-published non-fiction book entitled “I’m In Like with You” – a collection of almost love stories geared towards millennials. She knew from a young age that she wanted to publish a book…and she did it while juggling a six-course load at the University of Toronto, working multiple jobs (including Starbucks and as an intern/writer for various media publications).

In addition to being a self-published author and public speaker, Paige is a freelance writer, social media manager/producer for Notable Life and video host for Narcity Canada. Based in Toronto, Paige covers the gamut from pop culture, news, food, travel, beauty, dating, entertainment and gossip across the country.

As soon as I met Paige, I could tell right away she’s one of those rare people who is a real go-getter in life. She doesn’t just *hope* her goals and dreams come to fruition, she HUSTLES HARD for what she wants and finds a way, even with her busy schedule, to accomplish everything she sets out to.

In this podcast chapter we discuss everything from her favourite and least favourite celebrity interviews, getting published at the ripe old age of 10 in the National Post, how being a Starbucks barista honed her communication, the importance of hard deadlines, her self-publishing journey, freelance writing tips, and how heartbreak can be a great writing motivator.

Jessica Blank is a multi-hyphenate author, actor, director, playwright, speaker, and coach on a mission to impact our world through the transformative power of storytelling.

As an actor, Jessica has appeared regularly in film and television such as CBS' Made in Jersey, HBO’s High Maintenance, Blue Bloods, The Mentalist, Law and Order: CI, and many more.

With her husband Erik Jensen, she is author of THE EXONERATED, a play based on interviews they conducted with over 40 wrongly convicted death row inmates across the United States. THE EXONERATED became a New York Times number one play and an award-winning TV movie, starring Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover.

LIVING JUSTICE, Jessica and Erik's book on the making of THE EXONERATED, was published by Simon and Schuster. Jessica recently published her third novel, LEGACY (with Penguin Random House) and her first feature film based on her book, ALMOST HOME, premieres this fall. Her second feature film is currently in development with Likely Story, and her new documentary play (which has original music by Grammy winner Steve Earle) is set to be a major Off-Broadway production. If that weren’t enough to keep her busy, she is also launching several new initiatives as a writing coach and story activist in the upcoming months.

Jessica is a resident teacher at NYC’s Actors Green Room and a mentor for the Firelight Documentary Lab. She has guest taught at numerous colleges and universities including Brown, Stanford, Vanderbilt, NYU, The New School, Northwestern, and is a frequent speaker and panelist on the arts and social justice.

I can’t think of a better guest to have on the podcast to talk about the power of storytelling. Today we touch on everything from why talent is a myth, the differences between a generative and editorial brain, how to work across multiple narrative forms, the intersection between creative work and activism, and how words can change the world.

Jessica’s Links

Website: jessicacblank.com/

Instagram: instagram.com/jessicacblank/

Twitter: twitter.com/jessicacblank

Word Weaver Links

Website: louiseclairejohnson.com/podcast

Instagram: @wordweaverpodcast

#WordWeaverPodcast

There are few things I love more than a fresh notebook. If you're anything like me, then this is the podcast chapter for you!

I used to fill my notebooks with whatever came to mind as soon as I bought a new one and by the end, I could never find any of the original ideas or helpful quotes or To Do list items that I truly needed. A few years ago, I started using different notebooks for different topics and it was a gamechanger in how I organize my thoughts and achieve my goals.

If you're looking for inspiration of what to use your notebooks for or fun, new ways to organize them, then tune on in to hear the 10 ways that I organize my notebooks. I don't usually like to pick favourites but if I HAD to, the first and last out of the ten that I mention are my all-time fav notebooks.

Let me know how you use your journals and notebooks! I'm always looking for new inspiration and organizational methods. Comment below, in iTunes, or on Instagram!

In this chapter of the podcast I mention these links:

Moleskine Notebooks: https://us.moleskine.com/home

Leuchtturm Notebooks: https://www.leuchtturm1917.ca/

Word Weaver Podcast - Chapter 15 - 5 Ways to Prioritize and Protect Your Writing Time (Eisenhower Matrix): https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-word-weaver-podcast/id1393037130?mt=2

Word Weaver Links

Website: louiseclairejohnson.com/podcast

Instagram: @wordweaverpodcast

#WordWeaverPodcast #Bookstagram #BestWritingPodcast