National e-news update, July 31, 2023

News, events, tips and updates from Editors Canada

In this issue:

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION: Registration for the 2023 exams is now open
WEBINARS: Learn more, save more and miss out on less
TOOLS: Editors Canada presents the Lignes directrices en matière de révision éthique des travaux étudiants
PROFESSIONAL EDITORIAL STANDARDS: What’s next?
CONNECTING WITH MEMBERS: The Editors’ Vine meeting changes
FEATURED VOLUNTEER: Laura Bontje
GET INVOLVED: Recruiting volunteers for the member services committee
MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
NEC: Notes from your national executive council

1. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION: Registration for the 2023 exams is now open

Registration for Editors Canada’s 2023 Professional Certification exams in Structural Editing and Proofreading is now open!

Is this the year you’ll add your name to the list of trail-blazing certified editors? Register by Monday, September 18, 2023, and save $50 for each exam. And don’t forget, Editors Canada members benefit from additional savings of $100 per exam, so registering early for both exams as a member can save you up to $350.

Preparing for Editors Canada Professional Certification

Watch our interactive video to learn everything you ever wanted to know about the exams, including valuable tips on how to prepare. Click on a topic that interests you, or work through each section in order.

For even more information, visit the Editors Canada Professional Certification web page or email certification@editors.ca.

2. WEBINARS: Learn more, save more and miss out on less

Editors Canada webinar recordings are a great way to keep up with the newest skills, trends and tools in the editing world. They’re a worthy investment to help you stay on top of your game—especially with the 40% discount for members and student affiliates.

Miss a live webinar? No problem! Catch up anytime with Editors Canada webinar recordings. See the full selection on our webinars page.

3. TOOLS: Editors Canada presents the Lignes directrices en matière de révision éthique des travaux étudiants

Editors Canada is pleased to introduce the Lignes directrices de révision éthique des travaux étudiants (the French-language version of the Guidelines for Ethical Editing of Student Texts). Francophone undergraduate and graduate students now have an ethical framework to which they can refer when accessing editing services.

In academia, papers and theses are designed to test students’ ability to communicate ideas and arguments in writing. Consequently, producing a significant text, such as a thesis or dissertation, may require working with an editor.

More than simply a translation of the English, the Lignes directrices were created in consultation with academics and Editors Canada members, who made recommendations in light of current best practices.

There are two versions of the Lignes directrices :

Please feel free to share these resources and contact us if you have any questions. Please note that Editors Canada accepts no liability for the use of these documents or any alterations to them.

Happy reading!

4. PROFESSIONAL EDITORIAL STANDARDS: What’s next?

Thank you for your patience while we worked on the 2016 Professional Editorial Standards (PES) update. Thank you to everyone who joined the committee to share your knowledge and perspectives. We are grateful to the editors who provided insightful feedback when we opened it up for member review. We’re delighted that members voted to adopt the revised PES at the recent annual general meeting.

One main goal was to bring them up to date. The technologies we use in editing have changed and continue to do so. We are increasingly focused on issues that were not covered in the 2016 standards, such as accessibility and conscious language. Changes in our profession, such as the use of AI, means we’ll likely have to update them more often.

So, what happens now? First, we’ll prepare and publish the new PES with the help of the publications committee. We’ll then work with Editors Canada governing groups to devise a plan for how to proceed. Our committee’s task was to update PES but also to continually evaluate and improve it to reflect the realities of editors working in Canada.

Special thanks to Arija Berzitis for her guidance and oversight as the director of standards.

If you have any feedback or questions, or if you would like to join the committee, please email standards@editors.ca.

Berna Ozunal and Greg Ioannou
Co-chairs, Standards Committee

5. CONNECTING WITH MEMBERS: The Editors’ Vine meeting changes

For fall 2023 (September to December), the Editors’ Vine will hold single monthly meetings:

Date: The first Thursday of the month
Time: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., Eastern Time
Meeting style: Sort of like a “Lunch and Learn” (although we recognize the term will not be appropriate for the West Coast)

Please note there are no changes to August 2023 meetings.

In these meetings we would like to feature different editors from across the spectrum of the editing field talking about how they run their editing “business”, whether as a solo-preneur or an employee. We believe that we can learn from recognizing both the commonalities in our work and from the differences in approach. We will adapt the session to the guest’s preference: interview, conversation or presentation. But think fireside chat rather than boardroom report.

If you would like to be one of the featured editors, please email Nicola and Lenore and include a link to your website, LinkedIn profile or other online presence, if you have one. It is not necessary to be a regular attendee of the Editors’ Vine to be featured.

Visit the members’ area for more information about the Editors’ Vine.

6. FEATURED VOLUNTEER: Laura Bontje

For Laura Bontje, there was no question: if she was going to build a career as a professional editor, then the natural first step was to join Canada’s professional editing association. That said, even though she had been long interested in editing, she came to it in a roundabout way.

After completing a BA in English and Drama (2011), Laura declined admission to an MA in Publishing and Writing, only to spend the next decade wondering “What if?” She worked as an English teacher and library assistant, then moved into fundraising support and non-profit communications. It wasn’t until she was laid off in 2020 that she finally jumped into freelance editing. “I’ve never looked back,” Laura says. “Freelancing isn’t easy, but I’m truly doing what I love.”

Based in London, Ontario, she still edits and writes for non-profits, but works mainly with fiction. “I specialize in children’s literature, and it is such a joyful field to work in.” Laura’s own debut picture book, Was It a Cat I Saw?, will be released in 2024.

Soon after joining Editors Canada, Laura began volunteering for The Editors’ Weekly, first as proofreader and now as managing editor. In 2022, Laura brought her grant writing experience to the Editors Canada group working on the creation of a new Canadian English dictionary. “I’ve always had an amateur interest in linguistics,” Laura says. “It’s such a thrill to listen to experts discuss lexicography and Canadian English.”

A parent of two, Laura finds her biggest challenge as an Editors Canada volunteer is time. “It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement and desire to take on more. I have to be mindful of my existing commitments,” Laura says. “But freelance editing is a solitary role, and belonging to an editing association helps ground me in a community of my peers.”

~S. Robin Larin

The featured volunteer recognizes the contributions of our dedicated people who keep Editors Canada going. Volunteers are the backbone of the association, and we are grateful for the many members and affiliates who answer the call when help is needed.

7. GET INVOLVED: Recruiting volunteers for the member services committee

Editors Canada is looking for volunteers to join the member services committee, effective immediately.

The role of committee member provides a good overview of the entire Editors Canada organization and has lots of opportunity to network with other editors. The member services committee meets once every two months, and the time commitment for this position is no more than 10 hours per month (usually much less).

Do you have ideas about how we can improve member services and benefits? Contact Heather Buzila for more information about this position.

8. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!

Editors British Columbia member Frances Peck was a finalist for the 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize (Literary Fiction) for her first novel, The Broken Places, about a major earthquake rocking Vancouver. The novel was also named one of the best books of 2022 by The Globe and Mail. Frances’s second novel, Uncontrolled Flight, out September 1, 2023, is about a pilot who dies fighting fires in the BC Interior, leaving behind a traumatized colleague, a grieving widow and an accident investigator whose role in the incident is increasingly unclear. Keep an eye on Frances’s website for more on the new book, including launch dates.

Former Editors Canada president Gael Spivak (Editors Ottawa–Gatineau) was a guest on The Word Chat in February. She talked about her work on the ISO plain language standard and the international committee she chairs to help countries localize, adopt and implement the standard. That Word Chat posted the interview on June 20, 2023, the day the ISO standard was published. You can also read a 2021 interview with Gael about the standard for The Editors’ Weekly blog. You can read up on the standard on the website for the International Plain Language Federation. And you can purchase the English standard on the ISO website. There is also a version in French.

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.

9. NEC: Notes from your national executive council

The national executive council (NEC) met on Sunday, June 11, to discuss some of these topics:

The NEC voted to approve all the incoming committee chairs and co-chairs. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to volunteer!
Submissions for webinar proposals have ended, and the training and development committee will decide on webinars for the remainder of 2023. We received many submissions this spring and look forward to offering members some fantastic webinars. Thank you to those of you who submitted proposals!
The website task force is hard at work transitioning to a new website. This is a very large project, and we are grateful to the task force members for their dedication!
Danielle Anderson, chair of Editors Kingston, joined us to update the NEC on some in-person events the twig has been up to.

In July, the directors will decide on NEC meeting dates for September, October and November 2023.

Editors Canada’s AGM was held on Saturday, June 24, via Zoom. Thank you to those members who were able to join. Results of the meeting were shared in a standalone email to members on July 5.

I hope you’re all enjoying a lovely summer!

Maria Frank
President

The national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.