Magazine Writing from the Boonies

Dean Tudor is a journalism professor at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and founding editor of the CBRA.

This book is full of tips and advice on filing, interviewing, selling,
keeping business records, and the like. As the authors correctly note,
“magazine writing” is wider than just writing for magazines. It also
embraces tangental (and profitable) activities such as government work,
advertorials, copywriting, freelance commissions, workshops, and so on.
Indeed, many Canadian writers survive by also taking on assignments such
as consultantships based on their interaction with the media and the
trade.

This is a pretty standard book—a mixture of good and bad. The good
includes advice to rural writers on how to live with the problems of
isolation (and how to stay in touch with other writers and
associations); how to tailor or slant local stories for national
publications; and how to find magazine categories that look for regional
coverage.

The bad includes a chapter on research that is negative and an insult
to gatherers of information. For example, computers are not discussed
when it comes to searching for data. There are several errors, such as
“profitable magazine market” (I think not), RFD defined as rural
fire district (it means rural free delivery), and “Bonzo” journalism
instead of “gonzo.” The bibliography is dated and full of American
books. Where is The Canadian Writer’s Market or McLaughlin’s book on
interviewing? Since U.S. books are included, then where is Brady’s
book on interviewing? This seems to reflect the authors’ own distaste
for research.