Canadian literary agents form a professional association

Samantha Haywood,
literary agent with Transatlantic Agency
and President of PACLA

Here’s the letter (slightly condensed) from the newly formed association of Canadian agents to all the stake-holders in the Canadian publishing industry….

To our valued publishing industry partners: 

We are very pleased to announce the formation of the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents (PACLA). As you may know, similar organizations of agents have existed in the other major English language territories for years.

The agents of PACLA collectively represent more than 1,000 writers and illustrators, and we trust you will see the benefit of communicating with the majority of agencies through one officially designated group when it comes to industry issues, whether they be informational, contractual, structural or economic.

Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative
Artists and Vice President of PACLA 

We intend to work closely not only with book publishers but also with federal and provincial governments, prize granting organizations, writers associations, booksellers, literary festivals, review media, and educational institutions.

To start, PACLA will add our Canadian voice to the global Fair Contract (for authors) Initiative. We will also meet with government representatives to ensure that a greater number of authors have a stronger voice in policy and legislation that has an impact on the lives of creative artists and on the health of the book publishing sector. 

We have already established a Code of Practice for member agents, and intend to work with our publishing partners to develop Best Practice guidelines for our mutual benefit. And we will provide a forum for professional development for agents at all stages of their careers.

Hilary McMahon of Westwood
and Treasurer of PACLA

The Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents looks forward to working with our valued publishing partners across the country in our shared goal of promoting, supporting, and continuing to build a vibrant Canadian publishing industry. 

We sincerely believe that acting as an association will benefit all of us and help to preserve the hard won place of our own literature in our own country.

Regards,

Samantha Haywood, President

Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents

http://www.pacla.ca/

Marilyn Biderman of Marilyn Biderman
Literary Management of Secretary of PACLA

Executive Committee, PACLA:

Samantha Haywood, Transatlantic Agency, President

Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists, Vice President

Hilary McMahon, Westwood Creative Artists, Treasurer

Marilyn Biderman, Marilyn Biderman Literary Management, Secretary

Other members of PACLA:

Rick Broadhead, Rick Broadhead & Associates

Dean Cooke, The Cooke Agency

Sally Harding, The Cooke Agency

Rachel Letofsky, The Cooke Agency

Suzanne Brandreth, The Cooke Agency International & The Cooke Agency 

Ron Eckel, The Cooke Agency International & The Cooke Agency

Stacey Donaghy, Donaghy Literary Group

Robert Lecker, Robert Lecker Agency

Amy Moore Benson, Meridian Artists

Morty Mint, Mint Literary Agency

Chris Bucci, McDermid Associates

Monica Pacheco, McDermid Associates

Martha Webb, McDermid Associates

Curtis Russell, P.S. Literary Agency

Literary agent and PACLA member Stacey Donaghy 

will the the guest speaker at How to Get Published, 

April 22, in Midland. See here.

Carly Watters, P.S. Literary Agency

Olga Filina, The Rights Factory

Sam Hiyate, The Rights Factory

Kelvin Kong, The Rights Factory

Ali Macdonald, The Rights Factory

Lydia Moed, The Rights Factory

Robert Mackwood, Seventh Avenue Literary Agency

David Bennett, Transatlantic Agency

Shaun Bradley, Transatlantic Agency

Marie Campbell, Transatlantic Agency

Jesse Finkelstein, Transatlantic Agency

Stephanie Sinclair, Transatlantic Agency

Amy Tompkins, Transatlantic Agency

Trena White, Transatlantic Agency

Carolyn Forde, Westwood Creative Artists

Michael Levine, Westwood Creative Artists

John Pearce, Westwood Creative Artists

Bruce Westwood, Westwood Creative Artists

Honourary/Emeritus Members:

Bella Pomer, Bella Pomer Agency

Linda McKnight, Westwood Creative Artists

A Darkness Absolute by Kelley Armstrong
guest speaker for How to Write a Bestseller

Brian Henry will lead a How to Write a Bestseller workshop on Saturday, Feb 18, in Guelph, with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong (see here), and Writing and Revising, Saturday, Feb 25, in Burlington (see here), Saturday, March 4, in London, (see here), and Saturday, March 25, in Toronto (see here).

Also, Brian will  be leading Writing for Children & for Young Adults workshops on Saturday, April 1, in Windsor (see here), on Saturday, May 13, in Caledon at the Bolton Library with Yasemin Uçar, senior Editor at Kids Can Press (details to come) and on Saturday, May 27, in St. Catharines with Anne Shone, senior editor at Scholastic Books (see here). Brian will also be leading a weekly Kid Lit class, Monday afternoons, April 10 – June 19, in Mississauga (here).

Note: For updated listings of Writing for Children & for Young adult workshops and for weekly Kid lit classes, see here (and scroll down).

Brian Henry will be leading a How to Get Published workshop on Saturday, April 22, in Midland, again with Stacey Donaghy (see here).

Note: For updated postings of current How to Get Published workshops here (and scroll down).

For more information or to reserve a spot in any Saturday workshop or weekly course, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

And don't miss the June in Algonquin Writing Retreat, June 2 – June 4 or 5, 2017. Details here.

To move closer to publication, your best bet may be a weekly course. One winter class still has space:

Writing Personal Stories, Tuesday mornings, Feb 9 – March 30, Oakville. Details here.

In June, be sure to join us for the
Writing Retreat in Algonquin Park

In the spring, Brian will be offering a full range of classes from beginner to advanced:

Welcome to Creative Writing, Monday evenings,  April 10 – June 19, Burlington Details here.

Writing Personal Stories, Thursday afternoons, April 27 – June 15, Burlington Details here.

Writing Kid Lit, Monday afternoons, April 10 – June 19, Mississauga. Details here.

Intermediate Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings April 12 – June 14, starts by email April 5, Burlington. Details here.

Intermediate Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, April 13 – June 15, starts by email April 6, Georgetown. Details here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, April 11 – June 13, starts by email April 4, Burlington. Details here.

Extreme Creative Writing, Wednesday afternoons, April 5 – June 21, starts by email March 29, Burlington. Details here.

Details of all seven classes offered this spring here.

For more information or to register for any of the above, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Navigation tip: For many more literary agents seeking authors, click on the Literary Agents button at the top of the page, just below the banner. To see only Canadian agents, click on the button in the right-hand column under More Content. To see only agents representing kid’s lit, click on the Children’s/YA agents button in the list of Labels below.