Compiled by Amanda Goldrick-Jones and copy edited by Dana Sorensen and Rainer Zhang
As we begin the new season, we would like to introduce you to your 2024–2025 Editors BC executive.
We asked the new executive a few questions. Click on any executive to jump to their responses.
Tara Avery
Chair, Editors BC branch
Why did you get into editing?
From childhood, I was very serious about writing and being a writer. Editing terrified me; I saw it as cold and destructive. About twenty years ago, I sat down and did (what I realize now) baby’s first developmental edit on one of my own books. The process taught me that editing isn’t about destruction or criticism; it’s about working hard to transform a story into the best possible version of itself. Editing is a perfect way to marry my love of helping others and my love of storytelling.
What’s your favourite word, and why?
This is like asking me to choose a favourite child. It’s very cruel. Murmuration, susurrus, petrichor, incarnadine, and tintinnabulation are all favourites. I think they both look and sound beautiful.
What’s your favourite book?
Well, I have a cat named Mr. Darcy, and a dog named Miss Lizzy, so I’ll let you fill in the blanks. Alas, Darcy has never warmed to Lizzy’s fine eyes, though they do find each other tolerable (I suppose).
Mahima Bhagwat
What type of editing do you do?
I am primarily a structural and stylistic editor for fiction and non-fiction narratives—books, audio-dramas and podcasts, and games. I also occasionally edit content to help train and develop different AI models.
Why did you get into editing?
I love storytelling and the transmission of ideas through creation, whether the format is written text, video, or games. However, I find shaping the creation rather than creating itself to be more enjoyable. So, I edit because I love to enhance narratives in a way that will resonate and entice the intended audience.
What’s something cool, unusual, or fun about you?
I like to think that if I had been born centuries ago, I’d have found success as a philosopher and would have spent my days endlessly pondering the nature of humanity and existence with other like-minded people. (I do this now, too, but it would be more fun doing it dressed in robes and eating grapes.) Whether this is cool, unusual, or fun, I leave it for you to determine.
Judith Doyle
Programs co-chair
Why did you volunteer for the Editors BC executive team?
I attended the Editors Canada conference and enjoyed meeting fellow editors and (gasp!) networking. I also suffer from volunteeritis.
What’s your favourite word, and why?
My favourite word is discombobulated because it captures that fizzy, confused feeling while being fun to say.
What’s something cool, unusual, or fun about you?
I learned to snorkel in the Baltic Sea in Denmark.
Amanda Goldrick-Jones
Communications & social media (CSM) and publications co-chair
Why did you volunteer for the Editors BC executive team?
After serving for two years as program co-chair and chair for Editors BC, I wanted to stay on but this time in a different volunteer role. As co-chair (with Kyle Hawke) for publications and CSM, here I am—learning as I go!
What type of editing do you do?
Primarily academic writing—books, articles, theses—and more informal pieces like blog entries, profiles, and other forms of client-centred professional writing. My favourite areas are education, art education, communication, and the social sciences in general. (Ask me anything about APA style!)
What’s the best advice you can give to emerging editors?
I moved into editing after a career teaching academic writing and working in university writing centres. But just because I could teach or coach writing didn’t mean I knew how to edit—or even how to get started as a freelancer.
So, my best advice is to enroll in reputable editing courses or a recognized certificate program and learn the skills and strategies to make editing a successful choice. It’s the best possible investment you can make in your editing future.
AJ Gordon
Treasurer
What type of editing do you do?
My focus has been digital content editing: i.e., substantive editing for online communications, from copy-editing blog posts to revising corporate white papers. Recently, I’ve begun stylistic editing for fiction e-books and really enjoy this more creative aspect of editing.
Why did you get into editing?
Sometimes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. I was writing for a start-up web magazine whose editor left, and I was the one with the time and inclination to learn the trade. Then discovered I love helping other writers polish their work.
What’s your favourite book?
We’re going to pretend that all of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is one long book published in parts so that I don’t have to choose between various stories about Granny Weatherwax and Sam Vimes.
Merielle Kazakoff
Professional development chair
Why did you volunteer for the Editors BC executive team?
I don’t have co-workers or company social activities, so it’s great to be a part of something that brings others in this profession together, whether it’s to learn or have fun.
What type of editing do you do?
I primarily work with self-publishing authors in all aspects of their publishing journey, which means I do a lot of encouragement editing—and I love it.
Is there another publishing-related skill you’d like to try?
With my background in journalism and publishing, I’ve used a lot of different skills, but now I’d like to try writing a book and becoming a published author (and, yes, I have started writing my manuscript).
Fendi Liu
Volunteer coordinator
Why did you volunteer for the Editors BC executive team?
I am an early-career editor and attended the 2024 Editors Canada conference this year to meet others in this profession. I was amazed by the knowledge, creativity, and grace exhibited by all the editors I met there. That is why I decided to volunteer for Editors BC—to be a part of this incredible community!
What’s your dream editing job?
I would love to work as a developmental editor for fantasy novels at a Big Five publishing house. (Yes, I’m a firm believer in dreaming big.) If that doesn’t work out, however, working on manuscripts at home with my cats is a dream in and of itself.
What’s something cool, unusual, or fun about you?
Everyone I meet always asks about my name. Yes, it’s Fendi, like the brand; and no, I (sadly) don’t receive any discounts because of this. My parents chose this name because it matches my Mandarin name phonetically.
The bright side of having a unique name is that no one would ever forget you. But the downside is that you can never buy a keychain with your name at a tourist attraction.
Ceileigh Mangalam
Secretary
Why did you volunteer for the Editors BC executive team?
I love editing in part because I’m an introvert. But being alone in front of a computer screen is a good way to go insane, so I wanted to meet other people in the same profession who know how to do this job without losing their grip on reality!
What’s your dream editing job?
I would love to get into editing text in comics, especially a multi-season, hyper-convoluted online saga.
What’s something cool, unusual, or fun about you?
The Meg and The Martian have been my most-watched comfort movies for the past four years. I could say something about the emptiness of space mirroring the dark horror of the deep sea, but really, I blame the pandemic.
Cordula Quint
Member services
Why did you volunteer for the Editors BC executive team?
First off, volunteering is a great way to give back! As a newly emerging editor, I enjoy meeting others to learn more about the profession and craft. Freelancing can prove somewhat isolating.
What type of editing do you do?
Academic and non-fiction editing, in general. My specific focus is on developmental, stylistic and copy-editing. In future, I hope to bring my expertise as a theatre studies scholar and dramaturge to editing screenplays.
What’s something cool, unusual, or fun about you?
Not sure whether this is cool, unusual, or fun … but I recently discovered that a certain US former president and the Oxford comma have something essential in common: they love to hog most of the attention.
Eva van Emden
Hotline coordinator
Why did you volunteer for the Editors BC executive team?
I started volunteering for the executive team in 2011 in the role of professional development coordinator. I wanted to get more involved in Editors BC as a way of networking with other editors. It worked!
What’s your dream editing job?
I’ve been lucky to work on some great projects, and I’d say my dream editing job is one where I’m excited about what the client is doing. Maybe they’re a charity doing work that I think is important, or they’re writing a great book about inclusivity in sport. Perhaps it’s a trade magazine supporting a professional community that does an essential job. My dream job also has an author or managing editor who is very competent and appreciates my work. And of course, they pay on time.
Is there another publishing-related skill you’d like to try?
I’ve put some time into learning indexing, a skill I’m interested in developing.
Stephanie Watterson
Webmaster
Why did you volunteer for the Editors BC executive team?
I wanted to be part of a community of like-minded humans. Originally, I was asked to be part of the board by Kyle Hawke, but only because I kept lingering after general meetings and started networking with other editors that I found myself connecting with the board.
What’s your dream editing job?
I would love to be able to sit in the sunshine and edit children’s books. Either that or spend a day with another neurodivergent author and work on telling their fantastic story.
What’s the best advice you can give to emerging editors?
Look to others when things prove challenging or difficult. Tap into the community as there are a lot of resources and knowledge. Querying is an art.
What’s something cool, unusual, or fun about you?
I did not grow up in Vancouver, and my heart will always be in Montreal.
Missing: Kyle Hawke, CSM and publications co-chair
This article was compiled by Amanda Goldrick-Jones, publications co-chair for Editors BC, and copy edited by Dana Sorensen and Rainer Zhang.
Dana Sorensen is an equity trader and editor. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Calgary and certificates in Professional Editing and Writing and Editing for Business from Mount Royal University. She volunteers in various areas with Editors Canada and acts as a co-moderator for several editing groups on Facebook. She recently worked with teenage writers during a special Blue Pencil session.
In her spare time, she is an avid reader and marathon runner. She is in training for her fifteenth marathon.
Rainer Zhang is a lifelong writer and early-career editor. Their work has been previously published by Bright Flash Literary Review.
Their favourite pastime is watching their partner play soulsborne games for hours on end.