Optimistic Ambrose brings her enthusiasm -- and her Rolodex -- to The Walrus
There is no question that a certain amount of PR was called for* at The Walrus and opening up to the Toronto Star is not a bad way to get some. In the Sunday Star, writer Leslie Scrivener examines the implications and impact of the arrival of Shelley Ambrose as publisher of the magazine and executive director of the Walrus Foundation.
While acknowledging that she has no direct magazine experience, Ambrose makes a persuasive case for herself as a producer and the owner of a formidable Rolodex, reflective of her ability to get her phone calls returned.
The article is not particularly illuminating on the details of the challenges Ambrose faces -- such as how large a nut she has to to crack in getting the magazine to be self-sustaining. But it gives hints about how she and editor and benefactor Ken Alexander may get along: both of them like to drink and smoke. It notes she has experience dealing with difficult and creative people, like Peter Gzowski, Peter Mansbridge, Pam Wallin...and, now, Ken Alexander. "I've never had a problem. It's always about work. You argue about it and then go and have a beer ... Everybody else is pessimistic. Why not be optimistic?" she said.
*see earlier posts here and here and here.
While acknowledging that she has no direct magazine experience, Ambrose makes a persuasive case for herself as a producer and the owner of a formidable Rolodex, reflective of her ability to get her phone calls returned.
The article is not particularly illuminating on the details of the challenges Ambrose faces -- such as how large a nut she has to to crack in getting the magazine to be self-sustaining. But it gives hints about how she and editor and benefactor Ken Alexander may get along: both of them like to drink and smoke. It notes she has experience dealing with difficult and creative people, like Peter Gzowski, Peter Mansbridge, Pam Wallin...and, now, Ken Alexander. "I've never had a problem. It's always about work. You argue about it and then go and have a beer ... Everybody else is pessimistic. Why not be optimistic?" she said.
*see earlier posts here and here and here.
posted by D. B. Scott at
1:38 pm
1 Comments:
"While at times the magazine has had difficulty in paying its writers, many of them Canada's best, it also has a reputation for paying well: $12,000 for a 10,000-word story is not unheard of."
Funny, that works out to only $1.20 per word.
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