News, events, tips and updates from Editors Canada
In this issue:
1. EDITORS IN REAL LIFE: Registration is now open for our national conference
2. TRAINING: Stay at the top of your game with Editors Canada webinars
3. MEMBER SERVICES: Get popular resources from The Canadian Press at no additional charge
4. CLAUDETTE UPTON SCHOLARSHIP: $1,000 award for a promising student editor
5. EQUITY FELLOWSHIP: Supporting editors who have traditionally been excluded by the publishing and editing industries
6. PRESIDENT’S AWARD: Recognizing Editors Canada’s stellar volunteers
7. GET INVOLVED: Have you checked VolunteerConnect lately?
8. STUDENT RELATIONS: Websites for editors
9. CAREER BUILDER COMMITTEE: Update
10. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
11. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
1. EDITORS IN REAL LIFE: Registration is now open for our national conference
Registration is now open for Editors Canada’s first in-person conference since 2019, Editors 23: Editors in Real Life. The conference takes place June 17 and 18, 2023, at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Editors 23: Editors in Real Life is an in-person conference that follows local health and safety guidelines. Editors Canada is focused on hosting a safe and healthy conference and is adhering to all provincial health mandates, as well as providing sanitation stations outside of session halls and at group events. We will have hand sanitizer and masks for attendees. For those who cannot attend in person, we will be uploading all sessions to PheedLoop after the conference. They will remain available for purchase for three months.
What’s in store
- Network with editors, writers, communication professionals and small business owners from a wide range of fields.
- Don’t miss a thing! All conference sessions will be recorded, so you won’t have to choose between sessions during the conference weekend. Until September 30, 2023, you’ll be able to watch the recording of any conference sessions.
- If you can’t make the in-person conference, we will be selling access to the conference recordings. Details to come.
Act fast because registration is strictly limited!
To accommodate a cautious return to in-person events that take place indoors, as well as any attendee hesitance about gathering sizes, this will be a smaller conference with strictly limited capacity. Just 150 conference registrations will be sold.
Early-bird savings and additional discounts for Editors Canada members
Editors Canada members always register at discounted rates, but if you register before April 24, 2023, you can take advantage of the early-bird discount to save even more.
Visit the conference website to register now!
2. TRAINING: Stay at the top of your game with Editors Canada webinars
Just like any other professional domain, the editing field is always changing and evolving. Training with Editors Canada can help you stay on top of industry developments and keep your skills sharp. Our selection of webinars is a good place to start if you’re looking to learn something new. Don’t miss these upcoming sessions:
- March 28: La vulgarisation scientifique : principes et techniques (Al Hassania Khouiyi)
- April 5 and 12: Series Secrets: How to Edit Sequels and Companion Books (Emily Stewart)
- April 19: Persuasion Wins: Creating a Persuasive Website for Your Freelance Business (Erin Brenner)
See our webinars page for registration details and many more training topics to choose from!
3. MEMBER SERVICES: Get popular resources from The Canadian Press at no additional charge
The Canadian Press Stylebook and Caps and Spelling are now free for Editors Canada members and student affiliates.
An individual subscription to the Canadian Press (CP) Online Stylebook and Caps and Spelling Bundle costs $76.50/year, but you can now access it free of charge via the Editors Canada website.
All the advice on writing, editing and commonly misspelled words in the print editions of The Canadian Press Stylebook and Caps and Spelling are available as a web-based, fully searchable version.
Visit the members’ area to start using the Online Stylebook and Caps and Spelling for free now.
4. CLAUDETTE UPTON SCHOLARSHIP: $1,000 award for a promising student editor
Calling all Editors Canada student affiliates! The application deadline for the Claudette Upton Scholarship is fast approaching.
This is a $1,000 scholarship to help support continuing professional development in editing. The recipient is encouraged to use the scholarship to attend our national conference, purchase Editors Canada publications, or attend association seminars and webinars.
How to apply
Visit the Claudette Upton Scholarship page for this year’s essay topic and other application requirements. The deadline for applications is Thursday, April 6.
Spread the word
If you know a student who is not an affiliate of Editors Canada and who would be interested in this opportunity, please pass along this message and encourage them to join us.
5. EQUITY FELLOWSHIP: Supporting editors who have traditionally been excluded by the publishing and editing industries
We are now accepting applications for the 2023 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+, neurodiverse 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.
The deadline for applications is Thursday, April 6. For complete application instructions and other information about the fellowship, visit the Equity Fellowship page.
6. PRESIDENT’S AWARD: Recognizing Editors Canada’s stellar volunteers
Editors Canada does a lot of amazing work. We work on branch and twig activities, a national conference, publications, services, professional certification and so many other important things. And these are conceptualized, organized, coordinated and implemented by volunteers.
The Editors Canada President’s Award for Volunteer Service is one way we thank our volunteers for outstanding service to the association. Such service may include
- volunteering over a long period of time,
- identifying and solving a critical problem,
- meeting a specific need, or
- organizing an activity that advances our goals or inspires others to get involved.
Any member or student affiliate in good standing may be nominated for their contribution. From the nominations received, one outstanding volunteer will receive the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award.
The deadline for nominations is Thursday, April 6. For complete nomination instructions and other information about the award, visit the President’s Award page.
7. GET INVOLVED: Have you checked VolunteerConnect lately?
Here are just some of the valuable volunteer opportunities on VolunteerConnect this month:
- Seminars chair for Editors Toronto
- French proofreader and editor for L’Hebdomadaire des réviseurs
- Co-chair and recruiting manager for the certification steering committee
- Members for Editors Québec’s web page update committee
- Committee members for most of our national committees
- English and French webinar hosts
Your new volunteer role is just one click away!
8. STUDENT RELATIONS: Websites for editors
The student relations committee will be running a “Websites for Editors” discussion series in the Editors Canada Student Affiliates Facebook group throughout the month of April. We’ll be posting information each week about how to plan and create your website, how to make it accessible and keep it current, and other tips and tricks. Please join us and participate in the discussion!
9. CAREER BUILDER COMMITTEE: Update
The career builder committee has been working on a framework and content for its hub on Editors Canada’s new website. The committee has also been working with the marketing and communications committee on a plan for the association’s LinkedIn page. This plan is now being reviewed by the national executive council. The next steps are to assist members in updating and managing their own LinkedIn pages. We are also recommending that Editors Canada update its own LinkedIn page and that this could include showcasing its members’ newly updated pages. Webinars and blog posts on this topic could help our organization and its members accomplish this. The model we are basing this on comes from the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), an organization that makes effective use of its LinkedIn page to promote itself and its members and to help them find work.
The Academic Editing special interest group, a collaboration between Editors Canada and the EFA, has been going well. Our committee member has stepped down from this group, but has written a summary about how to set up a special interest group if members are interested. The committee is also looking for in-house editors to volunteer to sit on our committee or to work on individual projects. If you’d like to get involved, please email the committee chairs.
10. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
Thanks to her entry in the Editor’s Canada Online Directory of Editors, Editors Atlantic member Virginia (Ginny) McGowan was headhunted and offered a position with a unique enterprise at the University of Guelph: she is now the lead editor of The Groundwater Project. This project is part of the Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute, a global initiative.
The GW-Project’s mandate is to democratize knowledge about groundwater by publishing—free, online and in multiple languages—books written by the world’s foremost groundwater experts. The contributors represent more than 1,000 volunteers from across the globe. There are dozens of books already published and hundreds more in preparation.
Ginny is still working with her private clients, specializing in non-fiction, mostly academic works.
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.
11. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
The national executive council (NEC) met on Sunday, February 26, 2023. The committees, task forces and advisers are all hard at work on a multitude of projects, including ongoing work on the Editors Canada Professional Certification exams, webinars, branch and twig toolkits, the conference and the much-anticipated new website.
We were joined at the meeting by Jacqui Woods-Powell and Adrienne Huston, who are co-chairs of Editors Barrie. Editors Barrie had a lot of interesting activities to share with the NEC, including their creation of a lending library among members, which was an initiative spearheaded by JJ Wilson. Editors Barrie has hosted in-person and online events and has also invited other communities to attend these events. For example, the twig invited members of the military to attend an event with a military historian and author.
On behalf of the NEC, I would like to welcome Ruth Pentinga, the new director of marketing and communications. I would also like to welcome Badou Bousso, Editors Canada’s new Francophone adviser. We had the pleasure of meeting both Ruth and Badou for the first time at the February meeting, and we look forward to working with them both!
The next e-news update will include a summary of the Sunday, March 19, NEC meeting. The NEC will meet next on Sunday, April 23.
Maria Frank
President
The national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.