Truth and Beauty Gallery at 698 W. 16th Ave, in Vancouver
From our President, Rick Millikan:
Greetings Travel Writers-
Your Association is again asking you to set aside time for our important Annual General Meeting, to be held on Nov. 22nd, at the Truth & Beauty Gallery. Doors open at 1 pm and the meeting will commence at 1:30.
You’ll be delighted to learn that member Peppa Martin’s photography gallery is conveniently located at 698 W 16th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1S6, about 4 blocks off Cambie, wonderfully accessible by skytrain, bicycle or car. map
Please email me your BCATW concerns, revelations, as well as your interest in further developing our Association as a Board member. If sent before November first, these comments will be happily added to our AGM agenda.
See you at the AGM!
BCATW.org as a Directory Site
Would you like to get more writing assignments without having to hustle for them?
I’m experimenting with a different format on our web site to make it more searchable for editors and publishers. This involves a directory plugin which I installed and implemented a page for myself.
Check out the sample page.Go to any page on the site that has a sidebar to see how the Search tool works.
What I don’t like about this plugin is how it inserts an ID number into the permalink, and that can’t be changed.
My preference is for a plugin that costs $37 and it does not muck up the permalink with extra numbers. You can check it out here.
What can be easily done is move content from your profile page to the listing page, and then redirect the profile to the listing. Or you can reate a new listing page and simply place a link to it on your profile page. This may take a little of your time but who doesn’t need to freshen up their page anyway?
This plugin would kick ass on most of the competition. Please Google “writer directories” to compare.
Here are the Pros and Cons of incorporating a business directory into our site:
Pros
[one_half]Getting found by editors or publishers
Better links and increased visibility to the Search Engines.
More targeted and contextual traffic
Current links will not die after a 301 Redirect is placed to point from your old page to the new listing
Directory listings appear more uniform than the current profile pages.[/one_half][one_half_last]Cons
Plugin cost – $37
Writers need to transfer their profile page information to the directory listing and fill in new fields with required information. Then, they need to set a 301 Redirect on their profile page (easy to do) with the URL of the listing. Requires approximately 30 minutes.[/one_half_last]
In order to generate interest and traffic, the implementation of the directory will be accompanied by a slight rebranding of the site and updated content and search optimization.
Ways that members can help boost our site’s ranking include visiting the site to read Buzz and other content, commenting on posts, and sharing posts in social media.
Please give us your vote for or against the directory plan by commenting in the Leave a Reply section below. Thanks!
October BCATW
Meetup
Come to our next Meetup on Tuesday, Oct 21, from 7-9 6:30 – 8:30 pm when Ricky Shetty will be speaking about Making, Marketing, and Monetizing Your Blog. This will be a content rich, highly practical, and strongly engaging presentation.
Whether you are thinking of starting a blog, are a brand new blogger, or already have an established blog, Ricky will be providing lots of tips for building your readership, creating multiple streams of income, and getting free travel through blogging.
Ricky will share some personal examples of how he has received free first class flights, free stays in luxury hotels, free sightseeing passes, free sponsored trips, and more! If you love to write and love to travel, this is a must-attend event!
To find out more about Ricky, check out his website, Daddy Blogger.
Please RSVP at Meetup.com.
BCATW members receive free admission. Guests pay $10.
BCATW Media Member News
Julie H. Ferguson is reporting from Iceland at the end of a month exploring islands and remote ones at that. Blessed with dry, sunny weather for most of the trip, some highlights included flying into Barra and landing on the beach at low tide, a six-day converted-trawler cruise with ten other passengers in the Inner Hebrides, a week’s fly-drive tour of the Outer Hebrides, and touring the remote countryside in northern and southern Iceland.
Crowd with fumarole. A remote area of geothermal activity in northeastern Iceland with fumaroles and boiling mud pools in a barren landscape above the clouds.
Julie has blogged everyday at Stamps in My Passport and posted a few of her 3000 photos. The natural beauty of the Western Isles is nothing short of breathtaking with the white sand beaches empty of people but populated by sheep and a few cows. September proved to be a good time to visit Iceland too as the tourists were few and she had the good fortune to have two private tours; the other tours had no more than ten fellow passengers. With eight assignments so far, Julie will be writing feverishly for several months.
Joan Boxall is presenting ‘Thanks A Lot Express-OH!’ through the North Shore Writers’ Association at North Van City Library as part of Culture Days, an interactive cross-Canada initiative. Opus Art Supplies have supplied the collage materials, and participants will co-create poetic prose and turkey feathers, inspired by Joan’s array of Thanks-giving prompts. October 1, Joan presents ‘From Bayeux, Normandy to the D-Day Beaches’, a slide show and account of her trip to Normandy in 2012, at Capilano University’s Elder College ‘Incredible Journeys’ series.
Irene Butler’s “Where Gringos Roost” article on retiring in Ecuador is in the September issue of Senior Living.
“Meeting Trash People” in Luxembourg
During the month of September, Irene and her husband Rick visited Belgium, Luxembourg Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia. Find their experiences in these countries at Global Trekkers.
Ruth Kozak has been enjoying a successful book launch trip, first to London where she attended the Historical Fiction Writer’s conference in early September, and since then in Greece where she has received enthusiastic reviews on her recently published novel SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON (volume 1 of a 2 volume story about the fall of Alexander the Great’s dynasty.
Ruth’s first book signing
She visited Macedonia (Greece) and managed to see the site of the new tomb find. Then, in Athens, she did a presentation at the Athens Centre that was well attended including members of the Canadian Archaeological Institute. On Sept 27 she was invited to present at a World Poetry conference in Larissa. And she is waiting to hear from the American School, Athens, regarding a reading to students. Meanwhile, she has done research for the Athens Guide e-book she is working on for Hunter Publishing, US, and researching more travel articles.
One year after Barb and Dave Rees arrived home from their 4 1/2 month adventure across Canada, spending a month in Newfoundland, her next book has gone to print. “RV Canada An Exotic Land” is the fifth in the RV Canada series, which started with their first working holiday across the country in 2003. Barb will launch this newest addition November 4th at Magpies Restaurant in Powell River with a travel show. The book will be available through her site .
She’s back to writing for “Snowbirds and RV Travellers” with the launch of their national magazine. They are no longer a free magazine and thus they pay their writers. In the October issue are four of Barb’s stories complete with her photos. Puffins on a full page spread never looked so good! The stories cover Ontario, PEI, Newfoundland and Cape Breton with two more on hold for another issue.
Darlene Foster presented her latest book, Amanda in Alberta – The Writing on the Stone, to a lively group at Y’s Books on Main Street. Vancouver fans were pleased she was finally in their area.
Darlene’s final day of work at her day job was September 26. She is now busy preparing to move to the coast of Spain where she plans to write full-time. She has a good start on Amanda on the Danube, book five in the series, and has plans for more Amanda adventures. Her next report will most likely be from sunny Spain. She wishes everyone at BCATW adios and best of luck!
BCATW Industry Member News
Peter Loppe of Lotusland Tours has announced the winners of his writing contest for the kayak & beach barbecue. The objective was to focus on a specific aspect of the trip.
“We had some great submissions and it was hard to determine the winner,” he says. “Randi Winter fulfilled these objectives best. Her article is on Tripadvisor.
The runner up is Megan Kennedy who quite expertly captured the mood of the trip on a rainy day. Megan’s story can be found at WanderlustMegan.com. A big Thank You to all of the applicants for their submissions!”
Summer Dhillon wants to remind us that on November 15th and 16th, the Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival (FVBEF) will celebrate the beauty and biodiversity of the Harrison Mills region by honouring the “Harrison Mills Season of the Eagles and Cycle of the Salmon”.
The Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival promotes all of the designated eagle viewing sites, in addition to exhibitors, displays, activities and boat tours with Fraser River Safari. The second weekend, November 22-23, hosts the Sts’ailes Salmon Celebration at Pretty Estates Resort. The third weekend, November 29-30, features a photo workshop (Harrison Photo Salon) at Pretty Estates Resort and, during the entire season, visitors can see the eagles at Kilby Historic Site and Pretty Estates Resort For further details, and to see the complete Schedule of Events, visit www.fvbef.ca or the Mission Tourist Centre.
Thanks for reading and don’t forget to leave comments below. Happy Writing!
-Mari Kane, Communications Director
“Just as a painter paints, and a ponderer ponders, a writer writes, and a wanderer wanders.” ― Roman Payne
Since it is optional to participate or to not participate in the directory, I vote “yes” for the directory. I am not savvy in the pros and cons of such a directory, but we are a varied lot in our genres and expectations resulting from our writing, therefore members can choose if they feel it will be beneficial to them or not.
Just casting a “no” vote for the directory as currently planned. Cheers.
Ok, thanks Christine. The other thing is that those not in favour of the directory can simply not participate.