Written by Janis Cleugh; copy edited by Meagan Kus
The email came at the right time.
Membership
September 16, 2020: September Wine and Cheese
What: Editors BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, September 16, 2020, 7:30–8:30 pm
Where: Online through Zoom
Cost: Free for Editors BC members, non-members, and students.
Welcome back, members!
Join us virtually on Zoom at 7:30 pm PDT, and don’t forget to BYOWAC (Bring Your Own Wine and Cheese). Meet our 2020–2021 executive and learn more about our plans for this fall’s programming and professional development as we adapt to today’s online reality. Mingle with other members in our Zoom breakout rooms and test your skills in an online game of STET! Dreyer’s English.
Greetings from Our Member Services Chair
Written by Lucy Kenward; copy edited by Maggie Clark
Welcome to a new executive term with Editors BC. As the executive’s newly elected member services chair, I’m looking forward to connecting with many of you over the coming months. I’d like to hear your ideas about how we can improve your Editors Canada membership experience in this province.
Editors BC Is Going Live!
Written by Roma Ilnyckyj; copy edited by Maggie Clark
As the executive of Editors BC, we know that we have members all across BC, as well as in Yukon, and we know that this geographic range means that a lot of our members don’t get the same access to Editors BC benefits as those who live in or near Vancouver. To address this gap, we have some initiatives in the works. For a start, we’re making our monthly meetings accessible to all our members through live streaming.
Seven Mistakes Many First-Time Editors Make (and How to Avoid Them)
Written by Lindsay Vermeulen; copy edited by Maggie Clark
So, you’ve decided to become an editor.
If you’re quitting a job to go freelance, the prospect of changing careers can be intimidating. And yes, there are plenty of opportunities to mess up. Never fear! They are all part of the learning process, and they will all make you better at what you do. But you don’t have to make all the mistakes on your own, because I’ve already made a bunch of them (or known others who have made them). Read on to learn how to avoid seven mistakes many new editors make.
Editing with a Disability
Written by Sarah Boon; copy edited by Karen Barry
I struggle with chronic mental health issues and have only recently accepted that this is a legitimate form of disability. Once I made the first step in acknowledging it, the next step was to decide how it defines me. Am I a “disabled editor” or an “editor with a disability?”
Meet Our Volunteers!
By Amy Haagsma and Maggie Clark
Behind Editors BC’s programming is a team of amazing volunteers who make it all happen. Our volunteers put on our branch meetings and professional development seminars and support our participation in blue pencil sessions and events like Word Vancouver. We would like to express a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributes to our branch and tell you a little about the people behind the scenes.
Unsurprisingly, most of our volunteers love to read, with 80% preferring fiction and 20% choosing non-fiction. Collectively, our favourite genres are literary fiction, science fiction, and fantasy, with an honourable mention for mystery/thriller. We may be a little too fond of the semicolon, with 37% of us choosing this pleasing symbol as our favourite punctuation mark. As Emma Caplan says, “I often use the semicolon; it is quite useful.” We have similar feelings about proofreading marks, with 33% of us choosing the delete symbol as our number one. Also mentioned were the caret and the transpose symbol, with the latter noted for the enjoyment of “drawing that fun little curve.” Chocolate ranked high among our guilty pleasures, and most of us are quite content with where we live, choosing a location in BC as our favourite place in Canada.
Technically Editing
by Amy Haagsma
Editing offers a wide variety of career avenues. And as technology makes it easier to distribute content, the demand for well-written, professionally-edited material continues to rise. Enter technical editing: a growing specialty that brings with it a diverse and rewarding career path.
BC Book Prizes membership drive
Your book club may win a visit from author J.J. Lee, 2012 BC Book Prize finalist. Photo courtesy of BC Book Prizes.
FROM: Maureen Nicholson, former EAC president and honorary life member
There’s never been a better time to join the West Coast Book Prize Society.
Until the end of the year, every new and renewing member will receive a mystery book (it could be an art book, a cookbook, or even a signed first edition!) worth $20 or more in a canvas book bag. You’ll also be entered to win an exciting grand prize (even more books!).
With the holidays upon us, a book prize membership could make a wonderful gift for the book lover in your life.
Do you belong to a book club?
Here’s an offer your club might enjoy. If every member of your book club becomes a member of the West Coast Book Prize Society, you’ll all receive a mystery book and be entered to win the grand prize. Your book club may also win an author visit from 2012 BC Book Prize finalist J.J. Lee plus copies of his book The Measure of a Man.
To become a member, mail in your membership form and a $20 cheque payable to BC Book Prizes, or bring them to our office and pick up your mystery book on the spot.
EAC-BC chair: what’s in store for 2012-2013
EAC-BC chair Peter Moskos talks about what’s in store for the coming year: West Coast Editor moves online; programs and professional development committees announce their monthly-meeting and Saturday-seminar programs; PR Committee shares its plans for fall 2012; changes to branch executive; Iva Cheung wins Tom Fairley Award.
Back in 2002, when I still lived in Ottawa, I came to Vancouver to lead workshops for Douglas College and EAC-BC. At that time, I first saw an issue of West Coast Editor (WCE). I was so impressed that I asked the wonderful Jean Lawrence, then BC Branch administrator, to put me on the WCE mailing list. Ever since then, I’ve been a faithful reader. By the time I moved to Vancouver, Cheryl Hannah, with the help of Hugh Macdonald, had taken over and elevated WCE to a true magazine. With beautiful layouts, themed issues, terrific articles, great photos, and important BC-centric editing news, WCE had become, without question, the best of all EAC branch organs. As a member of the BC Branch, I couldn’t have been more proud.
West Coast Editor moves online
If you’re reading this article, then you know that WCE has taken another giant leap forward. With this issue, it has moved online. Once again, the driving force is Cheryl Hannah. She realized that producing WCE as a paper publication formatted in Adobe InDesign was too labour intensive to sustain as a volunteer effort for much longer.
But as a Web publication, it can be produced in fewer hours without losing the qualities that have made it an outstanding print publication. Watch for email notices each month telling you when new content is waiting for you online.
EAC-BC monthly meetings: exciting program
A newly revamped WCE is not the only thing that we have to look forward to this year—we have an exciting program of monthly meetings. Iva Cheung and Frances Peck have joined Micheline Brodeur on the Programs Committee, and this dynamic team has come up with presentation topics that include ebooks, forensic linguistics, subcontracting, and editing books in translation.
The first monthly meeting of our 2012-2013 year starts on Wednesday, September 19, at 19h00, with a Learn From My Fail reception. During the evening, you’ll be encouraged to tweet your most memorable “editing lessons learned”—using hash tag #LFMF. The Twitter feed will be displayed for us all to read as we enjoy wine, cheese, nibbles, and good conversation.
EAC-BC Saturday seminars: returning favourites and new topics
The Professional Development Committee, chaired by Tina Robinson and Eva van Emden, also has an exciting program planned. On September 22, 2012, Ruth Wilson will be leading her popular Advanced Proofreading seminar, and on October 27, 2012, Yvonne Van Ruskenveld will be leading her equally popular Structural + Stylistic = Substantive Editing seminar. Both seminars offer fundamental training that every editor needs.
For the spring-seminar series, Tina and Eva are looking at a range of possible topics, including editing fiction; ethics and copyright; and estimating and proposal writing. Keep an eye on WCE for updates.
Public Relations: Word on the Street and Blue Pencil
Thanks to PR chair Jessica Lowdon, our publicity program is off to a good start. We’ll be at Word on the Street on September 30, 2012, in downtown Vancouver. Stop by our table at Library Square between 10h00 and 17h00 to learn how you can help raise the profile of EAC-BC editors. Jessica is also hard at work planning a Blue Pencil event, where fiction and narrative writers submit their work to EAC-BC editors for critique. Once again, keep an eye on WCE for updates.
Changes to branch executive
We’ve had three more changes to our branch executive this year: Stefania Alexandru has taken over from David Harrison as branch secretary (David is now on the national executive council), Dee Noble has taken over from Carey Ditmars as membership chair, and Eve Rickert has taken over from Barbara Dominik as branch treasurer.
Iva Cheung wins Tom Fairley Award
There is one other BC Branch honour that I must mention. Iva Cheung won the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence for her work on Cow: A Bovine Biography (2011). Iva joins a long tradition of BC winners of the prestigious award, and it’s great to know that editorial excellence continues to thrive in our province.
With our dynamic branch executive in charge, we have an exciting year coming up. Make sure that you’re part of it.