Editors Canada Mentoring Program Task Force

When you began as an editor, did you have great editors who showed you the ropes? Have you helped new editors with their editing and career questions? Mentoring can be a formal or informal relationship that helps newcomers to our profession hone their skills and make positive career moves. Building on a successful mentoring program in the Toronto branch and an inspiring session at last spring’s global conference, Editors Canada has struck a mentoring program task force to establish a national mentoring program. The task force is looking for seasoned editors who have taken formal or informal mentoring roles, as well as those with expertise in professional development and learning, to work toward this goal.

If you’re interested in joining the task force, please respond to the task force leader, Carolyn Brown, by January 4, 2016.

Meet the Instructor: Caroline Adderson

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by Erin Parker

Caroline Adderson - Credit Cassandra MatichukWe’re thrilled to announce that Caroline Adderson will be teaching Editors BC’s January seminar, Editing Fiction! Caroline is the acclaimed author of four novels (A History of Forgetting, Sitting Practice, The Sky Is Falling, Ellen in Pieces), two collections of short stories (Bad Imaginings, Pleased to Meet You), and many books for young readers. She also teaches in SFU’s Writing and Publishing Program. In this hands-on workshop, Caroline will share valuable techniques to help editors collaborate effectively with writers and bring out the best in their fiction manuscripts.

Erin Parker, a member of Editors BC’s professional development committee, recently had a conversation with Caroline about her writing journey, some of the biggest mistakes editors and authors can make when they start working together, and her appreciation of good books and savvy editors who take their writers out to lunch.

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Call for Presenters: An Evening of Show and Tell

Have you recently completed a project that you found particularly noteworthy or challenging?

Share your experience with fellow editors!

Editors BC is hosting An Evening of Show and Tell at our February 17, 2016, meeting, and we’re looking for people to participate. Contribute to an exciting conversation about the many aspects of working as an editor by sharing a little bit about one of your projects. Big or small, dull or quirky—we want to hear about it!

If you’re interested in participating, please contact bcprograms@editors.ca.

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Event Review: A Matter of Style

Written by Eric Damer; copy edited by Karen Barry

Review of seminar Stylistic Editing: Beyond the Basics with Nancy Flight (offered by Editors BC on October 31, 2015)

When the manuscript you’re editing has sound structure, good grammar, and perfect punctuation, is there anything left to fix? If the manuscript remains awkward, dull, or confusing, then perhaps it is time for some stylistic editing. Our “Halloween” workshop on October 31 with Nancy Flight explored ways to “clarify meaning, improve flow, and smooth language.”

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Meet the Instructor: Barb Adamski

Written by Lynn Slobogian; copy edited by Erin Parker

Barb AdamskiBarb Adamski, a freelance writer and editor for over a decade, will be teaching Editors BC’s November seminar, Freelance Editing 101. The seminar will cover what to consider before setting up shop; how to find and keep good clients; and the benefits, pitfalls, and not-so-fun (yet necessary!) aspects of freelancing.

Lynn Slobogian, Editors BC’s professional development chair, recently chatted with Barb about her path into freelance editing, how the profession might evolve over the next 10 years, and overcoming some of the challenges new freelance editors face. Continue reading →

A Rave Report from the Vancouver Writers Fest 2015

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Written by Nancy Tinari; copy edited by Meagan Kus

I recently had the privilege of attending three events at the Vancouver Writers Fest on Granville Island. Editors BC has for many years been involved with the Writers Fest. Our team of volunteer editors does all the fact-checking and proofreading of the Festival’s program guide.

Like most of my fellow editors, I’m an avid reader and an aspiring writer, and I never fail to be amazed and inspired by the panels of writers at each event. I’ve chosen to write here about the True to Form session, which focused on short stories. The writers on this panel were David Constantine, Steven Hayward, Greg Hollingshead, and Irina Kovalyova; the panel was expertly moderated by book critic, editor, and writer John Freeman. All of the authors are seasoned short story writers, with the exception of Kovalyova, who has just published her first book (please refer to the program guide to find out more about these writers and their books). Continue reading →

Meet the Instructor: Nancy Flight

by Lynn Slobogian

Nancy Flight is associate publisher of Greystone Books. She has been editing books for more than 40 years, both as an in-house editor and as a freelancer, in Canada and the United States. She has worked with such authors as David Suzuki, Evelyn Lau, and Wade Davis, among many others. She received the 1988 Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence for her work on Genethics: The Art of Engineering Life, by David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson.

In addition, she has taught in the SFU Master of Publishing program, the Banff Book Editing Workshop, the SFU Book Editing Workshop, and the SFU Book Publishing Workshop, and has taught writing at SFU.

Nancy is also a past president of Editors Canada and of the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia, and has served on the executive council of the Association of Canadian Book Publishers. She was responsible for revising the standards for stylistic editing during Editors Canada’s review of professional standards in 2009. She currently sits on the Langara College Publishing Advisory Committee.

Nancy will be teaching Editors BC’s October seminar, Stylistic Editing: Beyond the Basics, on October 31. Lynn Slobogian, professional development chair, chatted with Nancy about her extensive editing career, her predictions for the future of publishing, and choosing one’s battles while editing. Read on.

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Editors BC at Word Vancouver 2015

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by Roma Ilnyckyj

On September 27, Editors BC made our annual appearance at Word Vancouver, joining local literary organizations, publishers, writers, and other word lovers in a celebration of all things written.

Luckily it was sunny, although chilly, for our volunteers outside at the Editors BC booth. We handed out information about the organization and chatted to people about what editors do. Our booth was next to the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia, which provided a great opportunity to meet some people we’ve only ever communicated with through email and to strengthen our ties with like-minded organizations. I got some good ideas for promotional materials to think about for the future and picked up the adorable postcard pictured above (far right).

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Meet the Instructor: Lisa Manfield

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by Lynn Slobogian

Lisa-7Lisa Manfield is a writer, editor, and content strategist. She has developed print and online content, marketing collateral, and courseware for small businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions. Currently a digital writer at tech start-up Chimp, she has also been the editor of bcliving.ca, managing editor at orato.com, and marketing manager at thetyee.ca. She also teaches Writing and Editing for the Web at SFU.

Lisa will be leading Editors BC’s September seminar, Creating Compelling Web Content, on September 26. Here, she talks with professional development chair Lynn Slobogian about her career path and the evolving world of online content.

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