"I certainly never write a review about a book I don't think worth reviewing, a flat-out bad book, unless it's an enormously fashionable bad book." --
says, John Gardner in Conversations with John Gardner
Quoted from 'Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations'     Edited by Mohamed Taher & L S Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423 (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) p.150. Available @ Amazon.com

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Classifying The Canadian Writer's Market by Professions

The Canadian Writer's Market, 19th Edition: The Essential Guide for Freelance Writers
Heidi Waechtler

What is good about this guide is the classification of (periodicals in chapter one) and categorization (business / professions in chapter three), listed below.

The types of users could be freelance writers, or librarians or others. Interestingly, one blog states: "Sandra McKee at the Thessalon Library ordered the Canadian Writers’ Market, and I’ll be going through it this week with an eye to agents and publishers." Is the guide ready for any type of users? You can guess.

The Canadian Writer's Market needs a detailed indexing of the content. An index of a printed 'reference tool as a guide' basically has to accommodate needs of every type of audience--be it from known or unknown background of writer's, publishers, printers, etc. One finds in the guide only one type of navigational tool, viz. index of periodicals (i.e., Indexing Consumer, Literary, & Scholarly Magazines). A detailed analysis for an exhaustive index, will be made available upon request from this reviewer.

A 14th edition's reviewer had pointed another concern: "Fundamentally The Canadian Writer's Market is a near-complete list of Canada's magazine, periodical, newspaper, and book publishers. (There are omissions. Where, for example, are Geist, B&A, Gutter Press, Coach House Books, and Malcolm Lester Books?)." --source: Tooze, Sandra, and Shaun (R E. V. I. E. W. E. R. ). Smith. "[the Canadian Writers' Market: The Essential Guide for Freelance Writers. 14th Ed]." Quill & Quire 66.6 (2000): 42-. CBCA Complete; CBCA Reference & Current Events. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

As for the 19th edition, except for Coach House Books, none others are visible to a browser. How does one find. You can imagine.

The Table of Contents' gives an overview of the categorization by chapters in the guide:
1. Consumer Magazines
2. Literary & Scholarly Publications
3. Trade, Business, Farm, & Professional Publications
4. Daily Newspapers
5. Book Publishers
6. Literary Agents
7. Writing Awards & Competitions
8. Provincial & Federal Writer Support Program
9. Professional Development
10. Writers' Organizations & Support Agencies
11. Resources

Given below are the sub-categories of the Chapter One and Chapter Three (only these two chapters find detailed listing in the Table of Contents):
Chapter One, Consumer Magazines
  • Arts & Cultural
  • Business
  • City & Entertainment
  • The Environment
  • Feminist
  • General Interest
  • Home & Hobby
  • Lifestyle
  • News, Opinions, & Issues
  • Special Interest
  • Sports & Outdoors
  • Travel & Tourism
  • Women's
  • Youth & Children's    
Chapter Three, Trade, Business, Farm, & Professional Publications:
  • Advertising, Marketing, & Sales
  • Architecture, Building, Engineering, & Heavy Construction
  • Automotive (see also Transportation & Cargo)
  • Aviation & Aerospace
  • Business, Commerce, Banking, Law, Insurance, & Pensions
  • Computers & Data Processing
  • Education & School Management
  • Electronics & Electrical
  • Energy, Mining, Forestry, Lumber, Pulp & Paper, & Fisheries
  • Environmental Science & Management
  • Farming
  • Food, Drink, Hostelry, & Hotel & Restaurant Supplies
  • Health, Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy, & Nursing
  • Industrial
  • Landscaping & Horticulture
  • Media, Music, & Communications
  • Miscellaneous Trade & Professional
  • Printing & Photography
  • Science
  • Transportation & Cargo
  • Travel
On the same shelf:

Links to various Canadian small press book fairs, info courtesy: (Canadian) small press book fairs:

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