North Star Writers Group
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North Star Writers Group is a newspaper syndicate and editorial services firm launched in December 2005. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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[edit] History
North Star Writers Group is jointly operated by editor in chief Dan Calabrese and managing editor Darcey Blain.
The syndicate is a successor company to a now-defunct public relations firm called North Star Public Relations, which Calabrese launched in 1999, and which Blain joined in 2001. Although North Star Public Relations enjoyed some early success, it floundered in recent years as the company struggled to maintain financial stability and long-term client relationships.
Calabrese, who began his career as a journalist and opinion writer in various Michigan markets, found himself in 2004 becoming disenchanted with public relations and searching in vain for ways to make it more valuable and better aligned with his own skills.
As Calabrese's growing disinterest in public relations became evident to the rest of the staff, departures accelerated and by early 2006, only Calabrese and Blain remained with the company. But both saw considerable promise in the syndicate, and the two decided to keep the company operating, retire the public relations practice (a move that was completed at the conclusion of 2006) and focus their efforts on the syndication.
As an additional method of generating revenue, North Star formed relationships with advertising agencies who were in need of copywriting services.
[edit] Recruitment of Writers
Calabrese and Blain began recruiting columnists in September 2005 in anticipation of a December 2005 site launch. Their initial efforts focused on recently graduated college writers who showed skill but would likely be overlooked by more established syndicates. This effort helped North Star recruit Lucia Bill of Arizona State University, Nathaniel Shockey of Seattle Pacific University and Paul Ibrahim of Cornell University. When the syndicate launched, it featured 11 columnists.
Soon after the launch, a variety of other writers learned of the syndicate and began offering their services, including formerly self-syndicated parenting columnist Katie Arnold, Dayton Daily News feature editor Bob Batz, Mt. Pleasant Daily Sun reporter Eric Baerren, author and freelance writer Candace Talmadge and author/humor writer Mike Ball.
Calabrese and Blain have done little in the way of formal recruitment of writers since the syndicate's initial launch, with a notable exception being their outreach to radio talk show host, former U.S. Senate candidate and former Godfather's Pizza Chairman Herman Cain, who joined the syndicate one month after its launch.
[edit] Columnists
North Star Writers Group presently syndicates 17 columnists, including eight op-ed writers, seven feature writers and two business writers.
Liberal op-ed writers include Lucia Bill, Alan Hurwitz, Stephen Silver and Candace Talmadge. Conservative op-ed writers include Calabrese himself, along with Herman Cain, David Karki and Paul Ibrahim.
Feature writers include humor writers Cindy Droog and Mike Ball, food writer Eric Baerren (the "Laughing Chef") satirical advice columnist Jim Mitchell, cultural commentator Nathaniel Shockey, parenting writer Katie Arnold and senior life writer Bob Batz.
Business writers include business humor columnist D.F. Krause, who is actually Calabrese writing under a pseudonym.
[edit] Magazine Writing
North Star writers contribute to a wide variety of magazines, including Natural Food Network, 21 Magazine, Crosswalk Magazine, North Bay Biz and Grand Rapids Magazine. The primary magazine writers are Calabrese, Silver, Fretty and Droog.
North Star also offers publishing rights to "Monogamous in the Midwest" a monthly feature written by Melissa Garland.
[edit] External Links
North Star Writers Group (syndicate site)
