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Both Sides Now: Getting Your Book Published (Halifax) with Lesley Choyce

Lesley Choyce will discuss all aspects of getting a book published from both the author’s point of view and from the publisher’s perspective. He’ll offer practical advice for first-time authors and professionals based on nearly 50 years of experience in publishing and some thoughts on the current state of writing and publishing in Canada. The advantages and pitfalls of self-publishing will be discussed, and he will be happy to answer any questions about manuscript submissions and the book publishing process.

About the instructor: Lesley Choyce is the author of over 100 books of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and young adult novels. He teaches Creative Writing at Dalhousie, and his books have been published in Danish, German, Spanish, French, Swedish and Slovenian. He has won The Dartmouth Book Award, The Atlantic Poetry Prize, and The Ann Connor Brimer Award and has been shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award. In 2022, Choyce received The Atlantic Legacy Award his “lasting contribution to the development of the literary arts in Atlantic Canada… through innovation, risk-taking, self-sacrifice, and/or creativity.” He is the publisher of Pottersfield Press and has worked as the editor/publisher of over 200 authors. He lives at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia, where he surfs year-round in the North Atlantic.

Participant cap: 25

Location: BMO Community Room of Halifax Central Library (5440 Spring Garden Rd, Halifax)
     [This library is a wheelchair-accessible venue with all-gender washrooms.]

Date of workshop: Saturday, Oct 11 (11:15am to 12:00pm)

Participation is free

  • Pre-registration (up to 15 per workshop) is open to General Members of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.
  • Walk-in participants (at least 10 per workshop) will be welcomed on a first-come-first-served basis. Stop by the BMO Community Room (2nd floor, Halifax Central Library) to see if space is available.

Pre-registration for this workshop is closed, but more than 10 walk-in seats remain!

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, and others) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca