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Leslie C. Smith (www.smithleslie.com), BA, principal of Just Write, is an award-winning freelance writer/ editor/ instructor based in Toronto, Canada. She has been a regular contributor to several national and international publications, and her by-line has appeared in virtually every major Canadian newspaper, including The Globe & Mail, where she was a weekly columnist for several years.

Leslie’s extensive magazine credits comprise associate editor and columnist status for periodicals as diverse as enRoute, Canadian Retailer, Dogs in Canada, and Canadian Interiors. Television appearances include CanadaAM, Global News and TVO’s Studio 2. She has also co-authored and edited nearly two dozen books, ranging from children’s stories to memoirs to architectural treatises.

On the corporate side, her editorial services encompass all aspects of business communications – writing and editing everything from page-long letters to book-length special reports, creating web content and advertising copy, penning press releases and ghost-writing. She also creates and presents customized writing workshops for staff at private corporations and organizations.

As well, for the past decade Leslie has taught regular courses in copywriting and business writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. She also occasionally guest lectures at York University.

Professional Writing Experience – Selected Periodical Credits

  • The Globe & Mail, weekly columnist
  • Ottawa Citizen, weekly columnist
  • Staten Island Advance, weekly columnist
  • Financial Post
  • National Post
  • Financial Times
  • Montreal Gazette
  • Edmonton Journal
  • Vancouver Sun-Province
  • New York Daily News
  • En Route, contributing editor
  • Elle Canada

 

  • Today’s Parent
  • Award
  • The Address
  • Les Ailes de la Mode
  • More
  • Homemaker’s, contributor, regular columnist
  • Reader’s Digest
  • Dogs in Canada, contributor, regular columnist
  • Dimensions
  • Canadian Interiors, contributing editor
  • Design Lines
  • Building

Professional Communications Experience – Selected Corporate Clients

 

  • Zenergy Communications, Senior Writer
  • Hudson’s Bay
  • Harry Rosen
  • Jamieson Labs
  • Holt Renfrew
  • Hazelton Lanes

 

  • Square One
  • Information & Communications Tech. Council
  • Assoc. of Workers’ Comp. Boards of Canada
  • Canadian Parks and Recreation
  • Public Works and Government Services Canada

Professional Publishing Experience – Selected Publications

 

  • Edit Copywriting That Works, Paul Lima (2009)
  • Edit Frank’s Rules, Frank Schipani (2009)
  • Edit Relevant Recreation™ Tool Kit, CPRA (2007)
  • Co-author, Toronto Wallpaper City Guide, Phaidon Press, 2006
  • Contributor, Harbrace Reader for Canadians, Joanne Buckley, ed. (2001)
  • Co-author, These Kids are Impossible! (1991)

Professional Teaching Experience – Adult Education

 

Instructor, School of Continuing Education, University of Toronto

  • The Business Approach to Writing
  • The Corporate Communicator
  • Tackling the Periodical Market
  • Copywriting That Sells

Instructor, In-house Corporate Seminars

  • Private Client (major provincial political party)
  • CanWest Global
  • Private clients from several companies (including a major Toronto sports organization)

Awards

 

2015                    First Place; Third Place, AASCIF Communications Awards
2013                    Nominated Best Issue of the Year, KRW – Canadian Interiors editorial team
2007-2008           Nominated Best Magazine Feature, DWA
2006-2007           Double nomination Best Magazine Column, DWA
2002-2004           Winner three Suburban Newspaper Awards of NA
1999-2000           Nominated Best Humour Article, NMA

    • Winner four Aldo Awards, TFA

Affiliations

 

  • Professional Writers Association of Canada – Toronto Chapter, president emeritus
  • Editors’ Association of Canada, former member
  • Burton Charitable Foundation, director