News, events, tips and updates from Editors Canada
In this issue:
1. WEBINARS: Back to training for the back-to-school season
2. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION: Show the world you’re at the top of your editing game
3. FIND WORK: Have you checked the national job board lately?
4. EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: Join the conversation
5. STUDENT RELATIONS: Next student social Sunday, October 2
6. WEB: Update on the new Editors Canada website
7. FEATURED VOLUNTEER: Adrineh Der-Boghossian
8. GET INVOLVED: VolunteerConnect update
9. MEMBER NEWS: Tell the world about your accomplishment
10. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
1. WEBINARS: Back to training for the back-to-school season
Whether you’re a student heading back to school this fall or not, learning is a vital and lifelong pursuit for any editor. Editors Canada webinars provide learning opportunities for every stage of your career. Here’s the selection for October:
- October 14: Getting Into In-House Research Grants Editing (Letitia Henville)
- October 21: Introduction to Academic Research Grants (Letitia Henville)
- October 25 and 26: Techniques de rédaction pour les médias sociaux (Al Hassania Khouiyi)
With your member discount, you get 40% off the above and all the other webinars we offer, including recordings of past sessions you may have missed. Find them all on our webinars page.
2. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION: Show the world you’re at the top of your editing game
Don’t miss your chance to showcase your editing skills! Registration for the 2022 professional certification exams is now open!
Editors Canada Professional Certification enables editors to find new opportunities and demonstrate to employers and clients that they provide immense value.
Testimonials
“[Editors Canada] certification has opened many doors for me. Presenting myself as a Certified Professional Editor gives me credibility, confidence and a steady stream of clients.”
Anne Louise Mahoney, CPE
Certified Professional Editor
Freelance Editor
“Certification earned me extra points when bidding on a federal government standing offer for English editing services. Believe me, every point counts! I eventually won the standing offer.”
Marion Soublière
Certified Copy Editor and Certified Proofreader
President, M.E.S. Editing and Writing Services
2022 exam info
Exam date:
Saturday, November 19, 2022
Exams offered:
Copy editing (10 a.m. to 1 p.m., local time)
Stylistic editing (2 p.m. to 5 p.m., local time)
How to prepare
Already registered? It’s time to start studying! Visit the Preparing for Certification page for resources to help you get ready. Here are some tips from certified editors to improve your chances of passing:
Do:
- Familiarize yourself with the reference books you plan to use. You’re allowed any major dictionary, Editing Canadian English, and up to three more style guides.
- Order and work through the updated Certification Test Preparation Guide for copy editing and/or stylistic editing.
- Practise your test-taking skills, including speed (time yourself).
- Ensure you’re familiar with the track changes and comments features in Microsoft Word.
- Budget your time. Look at the marks allotted per question, and spend more time on the ones worth the most.
- Follow the instructions!
Don’t:
- Assume you don’t need to practise because you’re a professional editor.
- Wait until the last minute to begin studying.
- Begin the test late, flustered, hungry or tired.
- Stray outside the scope of the skill being tested. If you’re taking the copy editing test, don’t start rewriting or reorganizing the text.
- Leave questions unanswered. Keep an eye on the time so you don’t run out.
November will be here before we know it! In the meantime, get in test mode by trying this sample copy editing question:
If you were developing a style sheet for a cookbook, which of the following would you be unlikely to include?
a. Endnotes style
b. Metric conversions
c. Treatment of headings
d. Treatment of foreign words
3. FIND WORK: Have you checked the national job board lately?
Your next editing gig could be just a click away! The Editors Canada national job board is where you’ll find notices of full-time, part-time and freelance opportunities for members across the country.
Over the summer, the board featured listings for the following positions:
- Freelance copy editor and proofreader
- Technical content and publications manager
- Éditrice-traductrice ou éditeur-traducteur
- Thesis editor
- Publication coordinator
- Content editor
- Magazine editor
- Editor-in-chief
- Indexer
- Research grant editor
New ads are posted as the national office receives them. Application deadlines can be tight, so it pays to check often! Looking for more Editors Canada employment resources? Check out the Find work section in the members’ area.
Do you know someone looking to hire an editor? Encourage them to post their ad free of charge on the national job board to reach editors across Canada. Instructions for submitting an ad can be found in the Hire section of our website.
4. EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: Join the conversation
Amber Riaz, our equity adviser for 2022–23, invites members and non-members to get in touch and open conversations about matters related to equity, diversity and inclusion at Editors Canada and beyond. How can an equity adviser help? What needs to change? You can contact Amber via LinkedIn, Twitter or email.
5. STUDENT RELATIONS: Next student social Sunday, October 2
The student relations committee is hosting a virtual student social via Zoom on Sunday, October 2, 2022, at 4 p.m., EDT. The theme is “Show & Tell” and we invite attendees to share their favourite editing resource. Share a website, book or even a fun editing meme—anything you think fellow students may appreciate!
Save the date and join us for some networking and fun! Please keep an eye on the Editors Canada Student Affiliates Facebook group for further details.
6. WEB: Update on the new Editors Canada website
The website task force is on track to deliver a new website this fall. Our old website is reaching end-of-life in November, and the new website will be taking its place. The task force has been hard at work, preparing to move content from the old website to the new website, beginning to restructure the sitemap, and assessing what changes need to be prioritized. We hope to bring you a new site that addresses many technical, organizational, and functionality issues and improves the overall experience of Editors Canada’s website! Once the new website has launched, we’ll turn our attention to the association’s blogs and subsites.
New volunteers are welcome! If you’re interested in joining the website task force, please email Julie Kay-Wallace.
7. FEATURED VOLUNTEER: Adrineh Der-Boghossian
What better way to become involved with a national organization, asks Adrineh Der-Boghossian, than to volunteer? Having done so for the Canadian Red Cross and Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada, Adrineh happily offered her services as a greeter for Editors Toronto after she joined Editors Canada in 2016. Soon she became editor-in-chief of BoldFace, the Editors Toronto blog. Two years later, she was the proofreader and social media coordinator of The Editors’ Weekly, the Editors Canada national blog. “It was a nice break not having to source content while still being involved with the association and gaining further experience in editing,” she says.
Extensive volunteer work isn’t all Adrineh brings to the page as an editor. She holds multiple degrees: a BA in psychology (York University), an MA in communications (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), an editing certificate (George Brown College) and a publishing certificate (Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson University). “I love being a student and am constantly learning,” Adrineh says.
Working in communications for not-for-profit organizations prompted her pursuit of an editing certificate and a move abroad. In Armenia, she translated articles for a media advocacy organization, taught Freshman English at the American University of Armenia and met her spouse. Now back in Canada, Adrineh works as a project manager for a book publishing company while also proofreading and copy editing as a freelancer for other publishers.
As a member of Editors Canada, Adrineh enjoys being part of a community of like-minded people willing to help newcomers to editing. In her spare time, she loves riding her motorcycle. She encourages newer editors to look to their interests and see how they can apply their editing skills there. “We all have things we do besides editing—why not combine your passions?”
~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.
8. GET INVOLVED: VolunteerConnect update
We’ve added a new field to our volunteer database! When you register to volunteer, you can now specify your branch or twig. This will help volunteer leaders target local volunteers and better connect you with suitable opportunities. Have you already registered? Simply go to your entry and update your profile.
See you on VolunteerConnect!
9. MEMBER NEWS: Tell the world about your accomplishment
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.
10. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
I hope you all enjoyed a safe and wonderful summer in whichever part of the country you live. After taking the summer off from meetings, the national executive council (NEC) is looking forward to meeting regularly again. We already held our first meeting back on Sunday, September 11, 2022 (members will receive a report of this meeting in the October e-news update), and will meet again on Saturday, October 22, 2022. The Zoom link and agenda will be posted on our website before the meeting.
In June 2022, Editors Canada hosted its first ever virtual awards ceremony—and its first awards ceremony since 2019! It was a fabulous opportunity to recognize the distinguished editors who were Editors Canada awards recipients and nominees. A video recording of the ceremony is now available online for those of you who missed it or would like to share it with friends or family. Watch the ceremony on YouTube now.
Thank you to the members and student affiliates who completed the questionnaire about the 2023 conference. The conference is for you, so your input was invaluable. The survey is now closed and our conference organizers and the NEC will take your responses into account. We hope to host a great conference that satisfies as many members as possible.
Maria Frank
President
Answer
b. Metric conversions
The national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.