Happy New Year!
It’s 2020 and it’s a great time to take stock and plan for the future. This year, perhaps you’ll take a look at your career and set realistic and measurable goals you can track. If you do, you’ll want to make the most your Editors Canada membership to achieve the success you’re after. In this e-news update, we’ll show you how.
In this issue:
1. DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS: Webinars, seminars, books and more
2. GET HIRED: Find work in 2020
3. BOOST YOUR RESUMÉ: Get involved
4. EXPAND YOUR NETWORK: Connect with editors and people who hire editors
5. GET NOTICED: Stand out from the crowd
6. SAVE MONEY: Take advantage of Editors Canada discounts
7. BOOKMARK IT: Find Editors Canada benefits and services in one place
8. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
1. DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS: Online learning, books and more
GOAL: Train online with Editors Canada
Want to get your training from the comfort of your own home? We’re happy to announce that the first two webinars of 2020 are now open for registration!
Thursday, January 23: Editing for Engineers and Scientists
Tuesday, January 28: Book Formatting Using Word Styles
Don’t forget: Editors Canada members and student affiliates save an average of 40% on the registration fee.
Catch up on demand: Webinar recordings are available
Did you miss an Editors Canada webinar? Many of our webinars have been recorded and are now available for purchase (and some are even free). When you buy a webinar recording, you’ll receive a video file to watch at your leisure on your computer or mobile device. The file is yours to keep, so you can watch it again and again.
Visit our webinar recordings page to see what’s available now. We’re adding new recordings regularly and some are available for a limited time only, so be sure to check often.
GOAL: Take part in local training opportunities
Give your skills a boost by taking part in seminars or workshops offered by your branch or twig. Expert instructors help new editors build foundational skills and experienced editors develop expertise.
Want some insight into querying, editing government reports and inclusive editing (in French)? With Editors Canada workshops, there’s something for everyone.
For more information about workshops in your area, visit your branch or twig page.
GOAL: Hit the books
Whether you’re en route to becoming a certified editor or you’re brushing up on your skills, having the best resources is key. Editors Canada publications will help you on the path to excellence.
Professional Editorial Standards
What is editing? What do editors do? Professional Editorial Standards clarifies what is expected of Canadian editors and defines the criteria against which their knowledge, skills and practice can be measured.
- It sets out what editors should do when performing various stages of editing.
- It tells employers what to expect from the editors they hire.
- It shows new editors the range of skills and knowledge they should aspire to.
- It helps post-secondary institutions and other training providers to design material, seminars and courses on editing.
- And it’s the foundation on which Editors Canada’s Professional Certification of editors is built.
Download Professional Editorial Standards for free now.
Editing Canadian English and Editorial Niches
What do expert editors from Editors Canada and beyond say about Canadianization, spelling, the editor’s legal and ethical responsibilities, copyright, bilingual text and more? Find out in Editing Canadian English, 3rd edition. It’s a reference guide you can depend on.
Some of the common questions addressed by Editing Canadian English include these:
- What are the differences between proofreading, copy editing, stylistic editing and structural editing, and how do I know which role is required?
- When is it appropriate to adapt Canadian words that an international audience might stumble over?
- What are the biases common in Canada and how do I correct for them?
- How do I settle on a Canadian spelling when even our dictionaries can’t agree?
- What punctuation issues are specific to Canada?
- How do I reconcile the metric versus imperial mix that characterizes Canadian usage?
- How do I work with French text in English documents?
Get Editing Canadian English and Editorial Niches in the same eBook
The eBook contains all of Editing Canadian English and the companion volume, Editorial Niches.
Explore key roles and requirements for editors today, such as the fundamentals of editing, Professional Editorial Standards for structural editing, stylistic editing, copy editing and proofreading, professional development, fact checking, indexing, email etiquette and software for editors.
Learn about a wide variety of editorial niches from editors who are experts in their field. Niches include online materials, corporations, not-for-profits, associations, government, educational materials, poetry, plays, screenplays, cookbooks, magazines, science, technology, medicine and more.
How to buy the eBook
The eBook comes in .epub and .mobi formats and is available for purchase on Kindles, Kobos and Nooks, and on Amazon, Indigo, Barnes & Noble and many other places eBooks are sold.
Print edition
Looking for print copies of Editing Canadian English and Editorial Niches? Purchase your copies now from UBC Press. You can also order them from your favourite bookseller.
Certification Test Preparation Guides
If you want to be certification-ready, you’ll need the most current prep tools available. Editors Canada’s Test Preparation Guides are the go-to resources for anyone who wants to become a certified editor.
Each volume of the test preparation guides contains useful information to help you get ready for professional certification. You’ll also get a practice test (Microsoft Word format), an answer key, a marking sheet, and two sample tests—a passing test and a failing test—so you can compare your answers and see how you do.
The Test Preparation Guides are available for purchase directly from Editors Canada.
Principes directeurs en révision professionnelle
These French-language editorial standards are a tool for anyone just starting in the field and for established editors. They’re also a reference for anyone who hires editors. Available as a free download.
2. GET HIRED: Find work in 2020
GOAL: Use Editors Canada’s services and learn how to use them well
Looking for work? Editors Canada offers members and affiliates a number of services that can help with your job search.
Online Directory of Editors (ODE)
The ODE is one of the most popular services Editors Canada offers. A listing in the ODE is a benefit available only to Editors Canada members for an annual fee of $80. Many members with an ODE listing generate enough income from their listing to pay for their membership and the listing itself many times over. Learn more about listing in the ODE.
Write a profile that gets noticed
What’s the secret to writing an online profile that attracts clients? Watch our free webinar Getting work with the Online Directory of Editors on YouTube now.
Tell the world about findaneditor.ca
Telling clients and employers about the ODE is a cinch thanks to our snappy URL. If you know someone who’s looking for an editor, send them to findaneditor.ca.
National Job Board
The National Job Board is where you’ll find notices of full-time, part-time, contract and freelance opportunities.
Posting on the National Job Board is free!
If you know someone who’s hiring an editor, invite them to post their job ad on our National Job Board and reach editors across Canada. It’s free!
Networking
Networking is one of the greatest benefits of membership. Editors will often subcontract work to or recommend a colleague if they can’t take a job. Get involved in the association and get to know your fellow members: attend online meetings, volunteer, and sign up for the email forum and association Facebook groups. The bigger your network, the better your chances of finding job opportunities.
GOAL: Get more resources for in-house editors
Don’t forget, networking isn’t just for freelancers. In-house editors need to network to stay on top of their game, too. Learn more about Editors Canada benefits for in-house editors.
And be sure to check out The Editors’ Weekly for features about in-house editing.
GOAL: Become a Peerwith expert
If you edit any kind of scholarly text—health sciences and medicine, natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities, earth and planetary sciences—there are researchers around the world looking for experts like you. A partnership agreement between Editors Canada and Peerwith.Expert will make it easier for them to find you.
3. BOOST YOUR RESUMÉ: Get involved
GOAL: Add work experience and achievements to your resumé
Want to stand above other contenders? Consider volunteering for Editors Canada. Volunteering has many benefits for the association, but it can be beneficial to your career as well. Engaged members and affiliates work with influential members of the publishing and communication industries, learn new skills (at any experience level), expand their portfolios and enhance their career options.
Here are some of the opportunities that are currently available.
The certification steering committee wants YOU!
As the certification steering committee (CSC) moves into the second year of its “refresh,” we’re making great strides in reviewing our procedures for administering the professional certification exams. Our goal is to make the process more cost-effective, more agile, and more accessible to candidates. We’ll continue this project through 2020, while simultaneously preparing and running the Stylistic Editing certification exam in November 2020.
To pull all this off, our small but mighty team is looking for help! Do you have expertise or interest in any of the following areas?
- Exam-setting: developing exam questions and bringing the new Foundations of Editing entry-level test to life
- Technology: exploring new, secure solutions for administering exams online and/or on personal computers
- Partnerships: liaising with other editing organizations to trade new ideas and best practices
If so, drop us a line at certification@editors.ca! You don’t need to be a certified editor to join the CSC. We just ask that you not take any exams while you’re serving on the committee, and you wait through another full administration of an exam after your tenure is up before taking it yourself.
The professional certification program, which has been going strong for 14 years, is the only one of its kind. Join us to help make it even better!
Have an influence on the next set of Professional Editorial Standards
The national executive council is looking for volunteers for a new standards committee. We’re reviving the committee approach because the task force model wasn’t working. The association needs a constant committee that is looking at the current editing landscape and that has some continuity.
In addition to verifying the usefulness of the current standards, the new committee will do the following:
- look at editing outside the book publishing industry
- suggest changes but also be deferential to what is there now, if need be (in other words, be flexible and willing to have back-and-forth conversations)
- listen to editors with different experiences and points of view
- consult members and incorporate suggestions (or present logical arguments about why the suggestions cannot be used)
If this opportunity interests you, contact the chair of the nominating committee.
Meet Editors Canada’s Volunteer of the Month: Jess Shulman
After 17 years in the corporate world, Jess Shulman was ready for a change. Her experience with business writing and editing prompted her to join Editors Canada in 2013 and—after serious study—to tackle the challenging certification exams. Emerging as a certified professional editor (CPE), Jess volunteered as a session host at the first international conference of editors and joined the certification steering committee in 2015. Her confidence buoyed, Jess began her own freelance business in 2016 and hasn’t looked back.
As a volunteer, Jess has been an exam marker and a “test shepherd” overseeing the creation of the Proofreading exam. Now co-chair of the CSC, Jess is helping to “rethink” the certification program “to find ways that we can make it run more efficiently, attract more candidates and modernize it.”
In her freelance work, Jess says, “I like to keep my options way open.” She happily edits, at all levels, everything from corporate documents to textbooks to novels by indie authors. She also enjoys writing web copy, social media posts, marketing materials and reports for corporate clients.
Beyond editing, Jess keeps busy with her family, yoga, hiking, travel, and singing and playing mandolin in a band. “It’s really just for fun,” she says, “but we do one or two gigs a year as charity fundraisers.” Fitting volunteer work with Editors Canada into her active life can be a challenge, but Jess “blocks out time for it to make sure things get done.” Anne Brennan, director of publications for Editors Canada, sums up Jess’s attitude of commitment succinctly: As a mother, singer, CPE and “very capable committee member,” Jess, she affirms, “is amazing.”
– S. Robin Larin
The volunteer of the month highlights the dedicated people who keep Editors Canada going. Volunteers are the backbone of the association. We are grateful for the many members and affiliates who answer the call when help is needed.
4. EXPAND YOUR NETWORK: Connect with editors and people who hire editors
Making connections is essential for building and maintaining a successful career and for keeping up on industry news. Editors Canada is a national hub where members come together to support and assist one another, and to share professional insights and opportunities. Whether you work in-house or freelance, and whether you’re a student or a veteran editor, your community is here.
GOAL: Attend the International Editors Conference 2020
#EDITORS20: The countdown is on!
Have you ever attended an international editing conference? If not, 2020 is the year to scratch that goal off your list!
Join editors from around the world in Montreal from June 19 to 21 for the International Editors Conference 2020, From Papyrus to Pixels: International Editing Trends. Editors Canada will host this premier international event that includes three full days of professional development, networking and fun! Early-bird rates are in effect until April 6, 2020.
Register now!
On Friday, June 19, Editors Québec will also present four premium seminars, which you can register for separately on the conference registration form.
Volunteer photographers wanted
The conference committee is looking for a couple of experienced amateur photographers to join our team! If you have a good camera (and a good eye!) and would like to help us document the conference in photos, please send an email to conferencevolunteers@editors.ca.
Getting to Montreal
We’ve arranged travel discounts with Porter Airlines, WestJet and VIA Rail. Visit the conference travel page for the promotional codes and all the details.
Billeting hosts needed
Our Beds for Eds program will soon be looking for billeting hosts in Montreal. If you have a spare room, please consider offering accommodation for an out-of-town editor.
Stay informed
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest information about the conference, including contests and announcements about sessions and speakers.
GOAL: Connect with other editors online
Our members-only Facebook group is a private place where we can talk, share information, and ask and answer questions about editing and whatever else people want to discuss.
We also have a student affiliates Facebook group to support the next generation of editors.
Join the conversation about issues we encounter in our daily practice in the Editors Canada in-house editors Facebook group!
Of course, you can also “like” the official Editors Canada Facebook page.
Get the latest Editors Canada news and other lively information and discussion by following us on Twitter. Find us @editorscanada.
Many of our branches and twigs and our national conference have their own accounts on Twitter as well. You’ll find all of these accounts on our Editors Canada groups list.
Looking for Editors Canada on LinkedIn? Join the Editors Canada LinkedIn group and follow our company page.
Flickr
Who says editors are just about words? Pics from recent conferences and national executive council meeting photos can be found on the Editors Canada Flickr page.
We’ve dipped our toe into insta waters, too! Follow Editors Canada on Instagram.
Editors Canada email list
Many freelancers and in-house editors think of our email list as a fast and convenient way to learn from others, and as a virtual water cooler.
Editors Canada membership list
Trying to get in touch with a fellow member? Want your fellow editors to be able to find you? Stay connected with the Editors Canada membership list (in the members’ area of the association website).
Not listed in this opt-in service yet? Why wait? Visit your Online Profile to list yourself in the membership list for free today (select the option to “Update my ODE profile”). The more of us who opt in, the more valuable this list becomes.
Learn more about creating or updating your membership list profile.
GOAL: Attend more regional meetings and social events
If you resolved to get out and do more face-to-face networking, commit to attending more of the regular meetings and socials hosted by your branch or twig. Each branch and twig offers a variety of local programs for members and non-members alike.
5. GET NOTICED: Stand out from the crowd
GOAL: Get certified
Make 2020 the year you join the ranks of editors certified by our landmark professional certification program. Certified editors benefit from official recognition of their high level of knowledge and skill, and a marketing advantage.
For more information visit the certification website.
GOAL: Get a national byline
Are you looking for a byline on a national platform and published pieces for your portfolio?
The Editors’ Weekly, the official blog of Editors Canada, has room for new authors. Blog articles are typically 300 to 500 words, but they can be longer or shorter. We welcome one-off opinions, mini-series or regular (monthly or bimonthly) series. If you have your own blog you can cross-post to it, and you can link to your own website and Twitter accounts. You do the writing, and Editors Canada will do the promoting through its social media channels.
Interested? Submit your proposal to the blog’s managing editor.
GOAL: Tell the world about your accomplishments
Editors Canada Member News is where we share information about members and affiliates who win awards, publish books and make their mark in other important ways.
Do you have an achievement you’d like to share? Are you excited about a new project or opportunity that has come your way? Let us tell the world all about it! Please send your stories to the member news coordinator.
GOAL: Be nominated for an Editors Canada award
Each year, Editors Canada presents several awards recognizing excellence in editing and service to the organization.
Karen Virag Award
We are now accepting nominations for the 2020 Karen Virag Award. The association’s newest award was created in memory of long-time association member Karen Virag, and Karen’s many contributions to the profession. This award recognizes the efforts of an editor or an organization to raise the profile of editing in their community. The recipient will receive a cash award of $400 and a commemorative plaque.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, February 14. Visit the Karen Virag Award page for more information.
Claudette Upton Scholarship
The applications period for the 2020 Claudette Upton Scholarship is now open. This annual national award of $1,000 recognizes a promising student affiliate from Editors Canada.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 3. If you’re a student affiliate, or if you know someone who should be, visit the Claudette Upton Scholarship page for more information.
President’s Award for Volunteer Service
The President’s Award recognizes outstanding service by member and affiliate volunteers to the organization, at the branch, twig or national level. From among the nominations received for the President’s Award, one volunteer is selected to receive the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award. Nominations open soon. Visit the President’s Award page for more information.
GOAL: Get a free editors.ca email address and helpdesk support
Do you want an email address that will not change no matter how many times you switch Internet Service Providers? Show people what you do with an editors.ca email address, available exclusively to Editors Canada members.
An editors.ca email address is a free benefit of membership. Sign up now for your own branded email address and dedicated helpdesk support at no charge.
GOAL: Get your own Editors Canada logo
Want to promote yourself as a member or affiliate of the association? Download the Editors Canada member logo or student affiliate logo for your website, business card and other promotional material.
6. SAVE MONEY: Take advantage of Editors Canada discounts
GOAL: Stop paying for that CMOS subscription because you get it free with your membership!
We’re proud to offer The Chicago Manual of Style Online (CMOS Online) as a free benefit of membership. CMOS Online features the 17th and 16th editions of the Manual. It is completely searchable and easy to use.
Ready to check out this reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers and publishers? All you need is your editors.ca member login. Visit the members’ area to start using CMOS Online now.
GOAL: Save money on products, services and training opportunities
Looking for savings on products like PerfectIt, University of Chicago Press titles, scholarly journals and registration for partner conferences? Editors Canada is pleased to offer many great discounts to members and affiliates.
Visit the Members’ Area to take advantage of these discounts.
7. BOOKMARK IT: Find Editors Canada benefits and services in one place
GOAL: Remember where to find all these benefits and services
Your Editors Canada membership comes with so many benefits that it can be difficult to keep track. Fortunately, we have resources that organize our benefits and services in useful ways to help you get all the info you’re looking for quickly.
Welcome Kit
The Welcome Kit for new members was recently updated and is available for download.
The Welcome Kit provides a brief overview of our services and resources, with links to the relevant pages on our website. It is a useful guide for existing members as well, and can be used as a quick reference for information on the website.
Special thanks to the member services committee for producing this wonderful resource and to Ellen Keeble for her design.
Pathways to Success with Editors Canada
Once you’ve plotted yourself on our bilingual Pathways to Success infographic, you’ll see what Editors Canada benefits and services are available at your career level so you can continue on the path to the next level.
Download Pathways to Success now.
8. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
GOAL: Take part in Editors Canada mentorship
Mentorship is an important part of many editors’ lives. Many of us have been mentored, whether formally or informally, and this has contributed to our choice of career, our editing skills, and our sense of being part of an editorial community. When I first began editing almost 13 years ago, I would have been lost without the support and guidance of my in-house editorial colleagues.
The mentorship committee has been reevaluating how they can best serve members, and they’re making some exciting changes. The committee will be offering shorter mentorships for a reduced cost in order to attract more student affiliates, in addition to the longer mentorship the committee originally proposed. These sessions can be in person or over the phone, email, Zoom or Skype, etc.
There are many possible topics to discuss during a mentorship: Is editing right for me? How do I develop editorial skills? How do I find work? How do I establish a freelance editorial business? How do I find and apply for in-house editing positions?
If you are interested in learning more about the program or in becoming a mentor or a mentee, visit the mentorship page on the Editors Canada website.
Heather Buzila
President
Welcome to Editors Canada!
Editors British Columbia
Jaclyn Arndt, Jessica Kaplan
Editors Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph
Dennis Lewis
Editors Manitoba
Kelsey Hutton
Editors Ottawa-Gatineau
Amélie Alrifaee, Céline Desaulniers, Sarah Miller
Editors Québec
Marie-Eve Allard, Isabelle Côté, Alison Fyfe, Jacinthe Giguère, Penelope Kerr, David Reneault, Valérie Thériault-Deschênes, Elisabeth Tremblay
Editors Toronto
Emily Dontsos, Jolanta Drozd, Rachel Freedman Stapleton, James Hilborn, Charlie Huang, Ruth Pentinga, Laura Roebuck, Laura Tanguay, Jessica Taylor, Gustavo Vieira
The national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.