Interviews

Meet the Instructor: Lana Okerlund

Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Chris Baxter

This photo depicts a headshot of Lana Okerlund smiling.

On Saturday, February 24, Editors BC presents Lana Okerlund’s seminar, “Crunching the Numbers: Using Performance Measures to Manage Your Editing Business.” The seminar will introduce the performance measurement cycle—a widely used concept in the business world—and help participants apply it to the business of editing.

A partner with West Coast Editorial Associates, Lana Okerlund edits, indexes, and writes non-fiction books and teaches editing and business writing courses. In her former career as a business consultant, Lana spent nearly a decade working with clients on business improvement projects, including performance measurement.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Lana about her work on performance measurement.

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Meet the Instructor: Jennifer Landels

Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Maggie Clark

This photo depicts Jennifer Landels in her swordplay outfit with both hands holding onto the sword, making it point downwards.

On Saturday, January 27, Editors BC presents a seminar, “From Slush Pile to Newsstand: Workshopping the Magazine Workflow,” by long-time editor Jennifer Landels. This full-day seminar will walk participants through the typical workflow of a literary magazine, giving an overview of the production flow and various editorial stages, and giving participants hands-on experience in each of them. This seminar will be particularly helpful for editors looking to improve their workflow processes, change roles within their publications, or expand their publishing expertise.

Jennifer is a founding editor and managing editor of Pulp Literature Press. Prior to starting the press, she worked as a freelance editor, writer, and designer.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Jennifer about her work and advice on magazine editing.

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Meet the Instructor: Lesley Erickson

Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Katie Heffring

This photo shows a headshot of Lesley Erickson smiling.

On Saturday, November 25, Editors BC presents Lesley Erickson’s seminar on editing academic works. Designed to promote a better understanding of the needs of academic authors and how editors can help them achieve their goals, this seminar will be useful to editors and writers at all stages of their careers.

Lesley Erickson has more than 20 years’ experience as an author and editor in scholarly publishing. She has worked as a freelance copywriter, substantive editor, stylistic editor, copy editor, and proofreader for individual clients and university presses, and she is currently a senior editor in the Production Editorial department at UBC Press. As a production editor, she focuses on books in history and Indigenous studies. As a substantive editor, she edits trade and trade-crossover titles and is passionate about helping academic authors make their research more accessible to the general public through well-edited, jargon-free prose.

She holds a PhD in Canadian history and is a graduate of SFU’s Master of Publishing program. She is the author of Westward Bound: Sex, Violence, the Law, and the Making of a Settler Society and co-editor of Unsettled Pasts: Reconceiving the West through Women’s History.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Lesley about her advice on academic editing.

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Meet the Instructor: Lisa Manfield

Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Rebecca A. Coates

This photo shows a headshot of Lisa Manfield smiling with a lake backdrop.On Saturday, September 30, Editors BC presents Lisa Manfield’s seminar on the principles and practice of search engine optimization—SEO.

SEO encompasses a variety of tactics to improve a website’s ranking in search results—one of the best ways to attract potential customers to a website. This six-hour seminar, consisting of both individual and group activity, will provide an overview of SEO fundamentals, including strategies to improve search engine rankings, effective use of keywords, and the role of online marketing in boosting visibility. The seminar will help web editors with both their own websites and client web-based projects.

Lisa Manfield is a writer, editor, and content strategist. She has developed print and web content for tech companies, small businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions. She has also been the editor of BCLiving and marketing manager at The Tyee. She has taught Writing and Editing for the Web at SFU for several years and presented a seminar based on that course for Editors BC in September 2015. (Lynn Slobogian interviewed her for West Coast Editor at that time.)

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Lisa about her advice on SEO.

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An Interview with Dania Sheldon, Recipient of Editors Canada’s Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence

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Written by Maggie Clark; copy edited by Meagan Kus

Dania SheldonEvery year, Editors Canada presents the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence to an editor for their outstanding contribution to a work published in Canada. A highlight for Editors BC this year was learning that Dania Sheldon, a member of Editors BC, was the award’s recipient. Dania won this award for her editorial work on Charles Gretton: Clock and Watchmaking Through the Golden Age by Dennis Radage, Warner Meinen, and Laila Radage.

Maggie Clark, West Coast Editor’s new managing editor, asked Dania about her experiences with editing and publishing.

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Meet the Instructor: Joy Gugeler

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Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Maggie Clark

This photo shows a headshot of Joy Gugeler.On Saturday, May 27, Editors BC will present Joy Gugeler, who will give a six-hour seminar on structurally editing literary fiction. In this seminar, participants will learn how to understand reader expectations, work with authors, and assess and structurally edit fiction.

Joy has more than 25 years’ experience as an acquiring and substantive editor, including acquiring and editing over 80 books for Beach Holme Publishing, Raincoast Books, and ECW Press. She has also worked as editor-in-chief for three online magazines and as an editorial board member for Arc Poetry, Quarry, Portal, and Room publications. Currently, she edits the Ralph Gustafson Distinguished Poet’s Lecture Series and up to 10 titles annually for her freelance firm, Chameleon Consulting.

Joy teaches editing in Ryerson University’s Certificate in Publishing program and SFU’s Master of Publishing program and summer publishing workshops, and at Vancouver Island University. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism and a master’s degree in Canadian studies from Carleton University, and is completing a PhD in communications at SFU.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, talked to Joy about her work and her advice on the intricacies of editing fiction.

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Meet the Instructor: Frances Peck

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Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Meagan Kus

On Saturday, April 22, Editors BC will present Frances Peck, who will give a full-day seminar called “The Secrets of Syntax.” In this seminar, participants will look at syntax from various angles and explore how to shape it for different kinds of texts, styles, and readers.

Frances is a Certified Professional Editor (Hon.) and writer who has worked with words for over 25 years. She prepared the Canadian edition of The St. Martin’s Workbook, a grammar exercise book; co-authored the popular HyperGrammar website; and wrote Peck’s English Pointers, a collection of articles and quizzes available on the Language Portal of Canada. A partner with West Coast Editorial Associates, Frances teaches at Douglas College and UBC and gives workshops across Canada. She is also a sometime blogger and a fiction writer.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Frances about her work on language and syntax.

 

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Meet the Instructor: Trena White

Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Meagan Kus

Trena White

On Saturday, February 25, Editors BC will present Trena White, who will give a three-hour seminar on editing non-fiction book proposals. In this session, participants will learn how to help authors assemble book proposals that will open doors with agents and publishers.

Trena is co-founder of Page Two, a Vancouver-based publishing agency specializing in non-fiction books, and an associate agent of Transatlantic Agency. Before launching Page Two, Trena was publisher of Douglas & McIntyre and Greystone Books, and a non-fiction editor at McClelland & Stewart. She is an adjunct professor in publishing at SFU.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Trena about her advice on book proposals.

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Meet the Instructor: Heidi Turner

by Carl Rosenberg

On Saturday, January 28, Editors BC will present Heidi Turner, who will give two related half-day seminars for editors and writers. The two seminars, Business Planning Your Way to Success and Finding and Managing Good Clients, will offer practical advice and tools for freelancing from two different angles: using a business plan, and building and maintaining a client base.

Heidi is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years’ experience. She has given courses as part of SFU’s editing program and regularly presents workshops and one-day courses for people in the writing industry. She has served as the BC regional director for the Professional Writers Association of Canada and founded its Fraser Valley chapter.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Heidi about her advice for editors and writers on business planning and finding and managing good clients.

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Meet the Instructor: Jessica Somers

by Erin Parker

On Saturday, November 26, Editors BC will present local accountant Jessica Somers and her full-day workshop “Tax and Finance for Freelancers.” Jessica’s workshop will help to demystify the basic tax and finance issues facing freelancers, including GST/HST registration, bookkeeping and record retention, and building financial stability without a salary.

Erin Parker, co-chair of Editors BC’s professional development committee, recently spoke to Jessica about her advice for editors who are just embarking upon the freelancing life and her unique perspective on a topic that many of us find intimidating.

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