Once a week, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, publishing, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus—and share them in Off the Wire. Who needs a water cooler?

From Canada:

• Magazine editor and writer Jocelyn Laurence has died [Canadian Magazines]
• CBC host Evan Solomon fired after Star investigation finds he took secret cut of art deals [Toronto Star]
• Fired editor-in-chief sues Tyee online magazine for wrongful dismissal [The Province]
• 2015 National Magazine Awards Winners [Magazines Canada]

From The U.S. and beyond:

• Three Ways to Weather a Freelancing Dry-Spell [Huffington Post]
• Why policy makers need to pay attention to the freelance movement [Fast Company]
• To Get Better Gigs, What Should I Do This Week? This Month? This Year? [The Freelancer]
• Winning at the new freelance life: how to be a brand and be happy [Mashable]
• Spring Clean Your Writing Business And Boost Your Income: 7 Ways [Write To Done]
• Perfection is the enemy [Freelancers Union]
• Always Get Dressed in the Morning, and 6 Other Rules Successful Freelancers Break [The Freelancer]
• Infographic: Are You Charging the Right Hourly Rate as a Freelancer? [Ryan Robinson]
• Reporters announce conference in Lousiville to unionize digital media [Capital New York]
• The Beginner’s Guide to Freshbooks: How to Create an Invoice [The Write Life]
• Kickstarting a books revolution: the literary crowdfunding boom [The Guardian]

Last week on Story Board:

• The Born Freelancer Applies for a Line of Credit, Part 2: It seems to me that as more and more individuals become self-employed the banks really need to step out of their 19th century paradigm and wake up to the fact that a growing number of their clients in the 21st century are going to be freelancers...
• How I learned to 'bend time' and put in an honest workday: This writing assignment is a blessing: after years of preaching about the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method that supports the practice of willpower, I get to fully dive in and tell you about it...

Spot a story you think we should include in next week's Off the Wire? Email the link to editor@thestoryboard.ca or tweet us at @storyboard_ca.