Canadian Writers Group Launched

Derek Finkle, an award-winning Canadian freelance writer, has successfully and officially launched the Canadian Writers Group, a first-of-its-kind agency for freelance writers in Canada.

“Even for the most talented and productive magazine and newspaper writers, freelancing in Canada hasn’t been a profession with a sufficiently viable career arc in my lifetime,” Finkle said in a recent press release.

The agency will represent freelance writers in their negotiations with magazines, newspapers, and online publications, as well as marketing writers to corporate and editorial employers and liaising with other agencies. Along with Derek Finkle, one of the agency's greatest resources is media lawyer Ian MacKinnon, who will provide legal advice on the negotiation of rights and other issues on behalf of the group's writers.

The CWG website reports that in 35 years, the rates that consumer magazines pay their freelance writers have increased very marginally, if at all. The CWG intends to reverse the devaluation of Canada's freelance writers, and will work to reconcile these long-standing problems by negotiating fair fees and rights for all stories, blogs, columns, and corporate projects written by CWG members.

The Canadian Writers Group has held two preliminary meetings in Toronto so far, and has signed more than 80 of Canada's most talented and renowned writers, and they hope to sign at least 70 more this fall. The agency will open for business in February 2009.

For more information, details, or to join the group, please visit their website at:
www.canadianwritersgroup.com