The beginning of a new year is when we reflect on what we’ve accomplished, but it’s also a time to look ahead to the changes we want (or need) to make. Did you resolve to focus on your career in 2025? In this e-news update, we’ll look at how belonging to Editors Canada can help you achieve your professional goals.
In this issue:
- DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS: Online learning, books and more
- STAY CONNECTED: Network with other editors
- BOOST YOUR RESUMÉ: Get involved
- GET NOTICED: Stand out from the crowd
- GET HIRED: Find work in 2025
- SAVE MONEY: Take advantage of Editors Canada discounts
- PROTECT YOURSELF: Get exclusive resources to protect your business
- NEC: Notes from your national executive council
1. DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS: Online learning, books and more
Learn with Editors Canada webinars
New skills for a new year!
Upgrade your skills to set yourself up for success in 2025! Make the most of your 40% off member discount on Editors Canada webinars with our upcoming new sessions:
- January 30: Diversifying Your Editing Business (Kelly Clancy)
- February 4: Confident Coaching: How to Share Your Skills and Help Learners Level Up [Suzanne (Sue) Bowness]
- February 6: The Power of Positive Self-Talk: The Most Important Conversation You Never Heard Out Loud (Dr. Nadine Robinson)
- February 13: Conscious Language and Copyediting Fiction (Amy J. Schneider)
- March 20: L’IA au service de la revision (Joachim Lépine)
See our webinars page to get started on professional development this year!
Save on Editors Canada’s 2025 Winter/Spring webinars
Our 2025 Winter/Spring webinars are now in session. Are there several webinars from this season that have made your must-watch list? For a limited time, you can save 15% when you purchase five or more webinars from our current lineup. This is an additional 15% off your already discounted member rate.
This package discount is available until February 4, 2025. If you’re interested in purchasing a package of five or more webinars, please email info@editors.ca with the subject line WEBINAR PACKAGE and a list of the titles you’d like to purchase.
Plus, learn the art of clear communication at SFU
Interested in specializing in plain language writing and editing? Our friends at Simon Fraser University Continuing Studies offer a fully online Plain Language Certificate program. Register now for their next courses:
- Plain Language Principles
- Strategies in Audience Analysis
- Plain Graphics and Design
- Writing Plain Language for Law
- Plain Language in Health Literacy
Take part in branch and twig training opportunities
Belonging to Editors Canada means you can attend any branch or twig meeting around the country. Check out the national events calendar to find out what’s happening!
Get help launching your career with our Career Builder
Make launching your career a little easier. The Career Builder provides a roadmap for would-be editors, students and novice editors to improve their chances of successfully launching their editing careers.
Experienced editors created this five-page PDF to help guide new and would-be editors to create a personalized career-development action plan. It provides valuable information the creators wish they had when they started their careers.
Download the Career Builder for free now.
Take part in Editors Canada mentorship
The John Eerkes-Medrano Mentorship Program offers a one-on-one mentor-mentee relationship available exclusively to Editors Canada members and student affiliates.
Mentorship is a method of offering professional development opportunities in a “community of sharing.” Mentors help other members of their profession to enhance their knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in a flexible, responsive and transformational environment. Coaching and confidence-building are important features of mentorship.
Learn more about the John Eerkes-Medrano Mentorship Program.
Learn more about equity, diversity and inclusion in editing
Wondering how equity relates to our work with language? We have a web page for equity, diversity and inclusion resources, as well as a volunteer-compiled list of editing resources related to inclusivity.
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
Professional Editorial Standards clarify what is expected of English-language editors in Canada. Learn what criteria are recommended for knowledge, skills and practice.
The 2024 edition has important additions and expansions, including new material on audience considerations, legal considerations, ethical responsibilities, conscious language, fiction editing and more. The Standards inform professional development, hiring decisions, educational and training curricula, professional certification and much more, and they provide a framework of principles and practices that are crucial to a successful career in editing.
Download your free copy of Professional Editorial Standards today.
Edit Like a Pro
Based on Professional Editorial Standards, the Edit Like a Pro series allows editors to assess and practise their skills on their own time. These books give hands-on editing practice, sample answers and expert commentary on each of four types of editing: proofreading, structural editing, stylistic editing and copy editing.
The first two volumes, Edit Like a Pro: Proofreading and Edit Like a Pro: Structural Editing, are now available. The Stylistic Editing and Copy Editing volumes will follow.
Looking for savings? We’ve got a bundle discount and additional savings for Editors Canada members and student affiliates!
Get your copies of Edit Like a Pro today.
From Contact to Contract: How Editors Get Clients to Work With Them
From Contact to Contract: How Editors Get Clients to Work With Them offers pearls of wisdom from a group of respected editors who have over two centuries of experience between them. Whether you’re new to the editing business or have a solid client base, finding and contracting work is always of interest. This is one book you’ll refer to again and again.
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.
The ebook contains all of Editing Canadian English and the companion volume, Editorial Niches.
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.
Certification Test Preparation Guides
If you want to be ready for Editors Canada Professional Certification, 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.
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.
Download Principes directeurs en révision professionnelle for free now.
2. STAY CONNECTED: Network with other editors
Connect with other editors
The Editors’ Vine and la Vigne des réviseurs
For those who don’t know, the Editors’ Vine was established in 2020 in response to member requests for an online meeting to complement in-person twig and branch meetings. The world is a different place today, but the Vine continues, currently meeting the first Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m., eastern time.
Topics are varied: emergency planning to AI, website design to plain language, and everything in between. We try to include information of relevance to all types of editors.
If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive notice of each month’s meeting, please send an email to vine@editors.ca. Or check the Editors’ Vine web page for precise dates and topics (added as confirmed).
The current moderators, Nicola Aquino and Lenore Hietkamp, are looking for a third member of the team. Drop us a line for more information.
If you’re interested in participating in our monthly French-language online meeting, la Vigne des réviseurs, please contact Badou Bousso.
Editors Canada Google Groups
We’re pleased to offer Google Groups exclusively for Editors Canada members and student affiliates to connect.
- Editors Canada Forum
- Food Editors
- Forum francophone de Réviseurs Canada
Subscribers participate in courteous and respectful discussion by email, a web interface, or both.
Visit the Editors Canada Google Groups page to learn more about each forum and to join today.
Our members-only Facebook groups are private places 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.
Are you an in-house editor? Join the Editors Canada in-house editors Facebook group today.
Of course, you can also like and follow the official Editors Canada Facebook page.
X (Twitter)
Get the latest Editors Canada news by following us on X @EditorsCanada.
Many of our branches and twigs and our national conference have their own accounts on X as well. You’ll find all of these accounts on our Editors Canada groups list.
Looking for Editors Canada on LinkedIn? Follow our company page.
We’re on Instagram, too! Follow @EditorsCanada.
YouTube
Looking for expert videos on editing? Visit the Editors Canada YouTube channel to subscribe for free webinars, our Meet an Editor series and past Editors Canada conference sessions!
3. BOOST YOUR RESUMÉ: Get involved
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, and 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.
Marketing and communications committee
Want to start the new year off with a tick in the professional development box? Join the marketing and communications committee! At marcom you’ll get to work with very cool people, increasing your professional network, while strengthening your skills in social media, content creation, promotional campaigns and more.
No experience? No worries! All are welcome. Reach out to committee chair Sarah Higgins if you’re interested. Looking forward to working with you!
Visual metaphor campaign
As announced in the November 2024 e-news update, the marketing and communications committee is working to design visual images that would be at the forefront of the organization’s communications approach.
We’re looking for a volunteer with graphic design skills to create these visual images with us! For reference, an example of the style of image that we could consider is below. The image of a key and a book would help to convey the message that “Editing is the key to a good book.”
If you’re interested in helping out—or if you have a metaphor suggestion—reach out to committee chair Sarah Higgins. Thank you!
VolunteerConnect
If you want to volunteer for Editors Canada, check out VolunteerConnect, our resource for matching volunteers to tasks. You can use this searchable tool to
- find opportunities of interest to you
- list yourself as a potential volunteer
Volunteering lets you give back to your organization, but you also receive so much in return: experience, skills, contacts, friendships and a wonderful sense of accomplishment. Volunteer today!
For more information about volunteering in Editors Canada, email the chair of the volunteer management committee.
4. GET NOTICED: Stand out from the crowd
Get certified
Make 2025 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.
Visit the Professional Certification section of our website for more information on preparing for the exams.
Get your Editors Canada Editing Essentials qualification
Are you a recent graduate or new editor ready to launch your editing career? Wondering how to let employers know you’ve got what it takes?
Editors Canada Editing Essentials is a test to assess knowledge of the basics of editing and to provide a qualification for entry-level editors.
Unlike Editors Canada Professional Certification, which recognizes highly experienced editors who have achieved a level of excellence in their craft, Editing Essentials is intended for editors at the beginning of their careers.
Editing Essentials is a timed, multiple-choice test that’s offered online. Take the test anywhere, anytime. There are no membership, education or experience prerequisites.
Pass the Editing Essentials test and you’ll receive an official letter from Editors Canada confirming you’ve earned the Editors Canada Editing Essentials qualification. It’s that simple!
Learn more about Editing Essentials, including how to take the test now.
Get a national byline
Are you looking for a byline on a national platform and published pieces for your portfolio?
The Editors’ Weekly and l’Hebdomadaire des réviseurs, the official blogs of Editors Canada, have room for new authors. 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 X (Twitter) accounts. You do the writing, and Editors Canada will do the promoting through its social media channels.
Interested? Submit your proposals to the managing editors:
- The Editors’ Weekly: Laura Bontje
- L’Hebdomadaire des réviseurs: Gaby Balan
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.
What have our accomplished members and student affiliates been up to lately?
Suzanne Bowness (Editors Toronto) has published a book with Dundurn Press called The Feisty Freelancer: A Friendly Guide to Visioning, Planning, and Growing Your Writing Business.
Janis Cleugh (Editors British Columbia) received the King Charles III coronation medal on November 9, 2024, for her service to community and country. Janis has been a reporter, editor and paginator for news outlets in Canada and Britain for 30 years.
Wayne Jones (Editors Atlantic) is a volunteer with the Samuel Johnson Dictionary project, coordinated by Prof. Beth Rapp Young at the University of Central Florida. He currently is assisting with “quotation matching” for Johnson’s dictionary (1755). Johnson’s dictionary was the first in English to use quotations from writers to illustrate each definition. Part of the goal of the project, which is partially funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities in the U.S., is to verify the accuracy of the quotations and to ensure that each one is attributed to the correct author.
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.
Be nominated for an Editors Canada award
Each year, Editors Canada presents several awards recognizing excellence in editing and service to the organization.
Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence
It’s our time to shine!
Editing might be an invisible art, but that doesn’t mean great editors should hide in the shadows. Help us shine a spotlight on editing excellence by submitting a nomination for the 2025 Tom Fairley Award.
The 2025 award recognizes an outstanding editor on a project published in the 2024 calendar year.
The award will be presented during Editors Canada’s online awards ceremony in spring 2025. The winner will receive the $2,000 grand prize and, in recognition of their outstanding editorial performance, the finalists will also receive cash awards of $500 each. These cash prizes are made possible by Editors Canada and its generous donors.
The deadline to submit your completed nomination form is February 14, 2025.
Please spread this message far and wide. Nominees don’t have to be members of Editors Canada and self-nominations are encouraged.
For complete nomination instructions and other information about the award, visit the Tom Fairley Award page.
Karen Virag Award
We are now accepting nominations for the 2025 Karen Virag Award. This award was created in memory of long-time association member Karen Virag, and in recognition of Karen’s many contributions to the profession. The Karen Virag Award recognizes the efforts of an editor or an organization to raise the profile of editing in their community.
The award will be presented during Editors Canada’s online awards ceremony in spring 2025. A cash award of $400 is made possible by Editors Canada and its generous donors
The deadline for nominations is April 4, 2025. Visit the Karen Virag Award page for more information.
Claudette Upton Scholarship
The applications period for the 2025 Claudette Upton Scholarship is now open. This annual national award of $1,000 recognizes a promising student affiliate from Editors Canada.
If you’re a student affiliate, or if you know someone who should be, visit the Claudette Upton Scholarship page for more information.
Equity Fellowship
This annual fellowship is designed to support editors who have traditionally been excluded by the publishing and editing industries, including editors who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour), 2SLGBTQIA+, neurodivergent and disabled.
The Equity Fellowship provides the following to up to three successful applicants each year:
- membership in Editors Canada for one year;
- registration for the annual conference or the congrès des langagiers et langagières (in French only) of Editors Canada;
- three Editors Canada webinars;
- one copy of the book Editing Canadian English (and Editorial Niches);
- one copy of the ebook From Contact to Contract;
- one copy of each of the four Certification Test Preparation Guides; and
- a listing in the Editors Canada Online Directory of Editors for one year.
Each fellowship is valued at $1,250.
Editors Canada will begin accepting applications soon. Visit the Equity Fellowship 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.
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.
5. GET HIRED: Find work in 2025
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 Online Directory of Editors 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. Visit our Findjoo member portal to purchase a listing and create or edit your profile today.
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 association Google Groups and Facebook groups. The bigger your network, the better your chances of finding job opportunities.
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.
6. SAVE MONEY: Take advantage of Editors Canada discounts
Did you know belonging to Editors Canada gives you access to discounts on many of the resources editors use most?
Get popular resources from The Canadian Press at no additional charge
Did you know that The Canadian Press Stylebook, Caps and Spelling, and the Guide de rédaction en ligne are included with Editors Canada membership?
Individual subscriptions to the Guide de rédaction en ligne and the Online Stylebook & Caps and Spelling Bundle cost more than $125/year, but these terrific Canadian Press resources are available to you at no additional charge through the Editors Canada website! All you need is your editors.ca member login.
Visit the member resources section of our website to start using these Canadian Press tools at no additional charge now.
Stop paying for that CMOS subscription because it’s included with your membership
Access to The Chicago Manual of Style Online (CMOS Online) is included with Editors Canada membership!
Ready to check out this reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers and publishers? Visit the member resources section of our website to start using CMOS Online now.
Explore the history of the English language at no charge
A personal subscription to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Online costs US$100/year, but you can access it via the Editors Canada website at no additional charge.
Ready to start using this renowned resource? All you need is your editors.ca member login. Visit the member resources section of our website to start using the OED Online now.
Access over 500 Oxford titles through the Editors Canada website
Oxford Reference Online is one of the world’s most trusted reference products, featuring the contents of Oxford University Press’s Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias. And it’s available at no additional charge via the Editors Canada website.
Visit the member resources section of our website to start using the Oxford Reference Online Premium Collection at no additional charge.
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 member services section of our website to take advantage of exclusive discounts.
7. PROTECT YOURSELF: Get exclusive resources to protect your business
Get a free basic contract template
A contract can protect both you and your client. These tools are invaluable for establishing your legal relationship with a client. Editors Canada offers a free Agreement Template for Editing Services that you can tailor to suit your needs.
Learn about the ethics of editing student academic papers
In academia, papers and theses are one way to test the ability of students, especially graduate students, to use written words for communicating ideas and arguments. Yet students sometimes ask editors to provide a full gamut of editorial services.
What are the ethics of editing student academic papers? If you work in this field, you owe it to yourself and your client to read Editors Canada’s Guidelines for Ethical Editing of Student Texts.
Protect your business
Did you know that Editors Canada members have access to affordable professional liability through APOLLO Insurance? Through APOLLO, you will have access to the best rates for your business insurance, including coverage for:
- Errors and Omissions (E&O) up to $2 million
- Privacy Breach up to $2 million
- Optional Commercial General Liability (CGL) up to $5 million
- Contents coverage up to $100,000
- Free legal advice
Download the product flyer to learn more.
Purchase your business policy today through our easy-to-use online platform and get coverage in minutes. It’s professional liability insurance made effortless!
Visit APOLLO’s site for Editors Canada members to get a free custom quote.
This product is available in all Canadian provinces and territories, except Quebec. Editors Canada will continue to look for a product for members in Quebec.
Resolve conflicts
Are you having a conflict with a client over your services? Experiencing difficulty resolving a dispute with another member?
Free mediation support is available to members of Editors Canada and their clients who wish to resolve an issue with the help of a neutral third-party mediator. Contact our mediator, Monica Gill, for information.
8. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
I hope you had all a restorative and rejuvenating holiday season and are ready for a fabulous 2025!
The national executive council (NEC) had its first meeting of 2025 on January 12, 2025. A summary of the meeting will be included in the February e-news update.
The NEC will be meeting via Zoom on the following dates in 2025:
- Sunday, February 9, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EST)
- Sunday, March 9, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (EDT)
- Sunday, April 27, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (EDT)
- Sunday, May 25, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (EDT)
- Sunday, June 22, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (EDT)
Meeting dates for September, October, and November will be determined in the summer. Zoom links will be posted on the website, along with the agenda for members, before each meeting. All Editors Canada members are welcome to attend any NEC meeting.
I look forward to another exciting year at Editors Canada!
Kaitlin Littlechild
President
The national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.
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