Couldn’t attend EAC-BC’s April 17, 2013, panel discussion on subcontracting? Listen to the audio recording.
Couldn’t attend EAC-BC’s April 17, 2013, panel discussion on subcontracting? The discussion featured editors Patricia Anderson, Amelia Gilliland, and Eve Rickert, who discussed what works and what doesn’t in the subcontracting relationship, no matter which side of the contract you find yourself on. The discussion was moderated by Frances Peck, EAC-BC programs co-chair.
Register now for EAC Conference 2013 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
This year, conference will feature sessions built around five themes: arts and sciences; business and government; career building; language and culture; and techniques and technologies. Four pre-conference workshops are also being planned.
The Lord Nelson overlooks the Halifax Citadel. It is within walking distance of pubs, cafés, restaurants, jazz clubs, cinemas, and theatres. Photo courtesy of The Lord Nelson.
The Lord Nelson is EAC’s official conference hotel: pre-conference workshops, conference sessions, Welcome Reception, and Saturday-evening banquet will be held there.
To qualify for a reduced EAC guest-room rate, book your room by April 12, 2013. Rates range from $119/night for a “Petite Room” to $189/night for a “Premiere Room.”
Reserve by phone: call 1-800-565-2020 (room code: Editors’ Association of Canada). Reserve online (room code: 37015126).
Editor Joy Tataryn reviews Marcia Riefer Johnston’s new book of writer- and editorcentric essays.
Word Up! How to Write Powerful Sentences and Paragraphs (And Everything You Build from Them) is delectable candy for those who love to chew on the English language. It is not a handbook, style guide, or manual, despite what its subtitle might suggest. Rather, it is a collection of brief essays adapted from author Marcia Riefer Johnston’s Word Power blog.
Word Up! is like a travel guide, with many destinations and much to explore. As with Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, it is one of those books the very reading of which inspires improvement. Reading any portion of this book satisfies; readers can consume it in bite-sized pieces or remain at the banquet and sample it all in one sitting.
Johnston addresses readers directly, using the first- and second-person voice, in a confident display of wit and erudition as well as a showy blend of idiom (e.g., “I’m not caving [to the use of ‘they’ as a gender-neutral pronoun stand-in]”) and formality (e.g., “The day approacheth fast wherein the singular they shall pain the ear of humankind no more”). She parks herself squarely in the prescriptivist camp (while lauding evident descriptivism in sharp-eared dialogue penned by Mark Twain in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), and goes forth to prescribe, to opine, to advise—and to awaken and stimulate a joy all writers and editors will recognize but may have forgotten in the crush of earning a livelihood.
Journey of three legs
This book takes readers on a journey of three legs, grouping essays under the headings “Up with words,” “Up with sentences and paragraphs,” and “Up with writing.”
At the starting gate of her word-fueled joyride, Johnston greases the wheels with an epigraph by Thomas Mann (Essays of Three Decades, 1935): “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”
Readers will find snippets of cultural commentary throughout the book (e.g., “Dropping the m [from ‘whom’] has become a form of cultural sensitivity, an expression of democratic values, a way of saying ‘We’re in this together’”). They will also find many an artful phrase, which, by providing an example of itself, reads like a tiny, nested story-within-a-story (e.g., “the lowly hyphen—that dinky half-dash, that barely there conjoiner of words”).
Gearshifting
Pragmatism carries the day: Johnston substantiates her prescriptions on grammar and usage with examples and clear logic (e.g., “Try this test: say each adjective (true and blue) with the noun [friend] separately … Call on the hyphen’s unifying force, and you’ve got a true-blue friend”). In similar fashion, she sets out simple tests to assist readers to determine when to use whom, how to avoid pronoun misuse, and how to avoid misplaced and dangling modifiers.
In the midst of all this common sense, however, she occasionally shifts gears. Discussing prepositions, she writes, “Open yourself to a discussion unlike any other in this book: a deep exploration of one aspect of grammar to which few people will ever give much thought.” I won’t say more and rob you of Johnston’s guidance on the deep exploration—though I will tell you she delivers on her promise to provide “nothing less than the exhilaration of a new way of seeing language” and the ability “to write with more confidence and freedom.”
Depths and realms
In some of her essays, Johnston drifts into linguistics, first wading in the shallows, distinguishing form from function to teach parts of speech. She also dives into an ocean of sentence diagramming to illustrate employment of a tool called, variously, “anthimeria,” “grammatical shift,” and “enallage.” She keeps her sense of humour, though—tacking on a folksy fourth label, “twisty yankiness.”
She even wanders into musical and dramatic realms as she shows how to vary sentence and paragraph lengths like a composer and how to explore and heighten like a playwright (or comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus) for effect.
Johnston explodes the myth that writing for mobile devices means writing short and argues instead for economical writing, the challenge facing all writers at all times; she then provides tips for minimalist writing—both cutting and adding—for the small screen. She also provides a tutorial in procedure writing, right after deconstructing (and reconstructing) a passage from the Amazon Kindle Fire User’s Guide.
Finish line
The final section of Word Up! is devoted to additional writer’s tasks such as “re-vising,” using the creative mind, developing a brand, and understanding an audience. Johnston also analyzes one of her own essays to enumerate and comment on the many decisions made by a writer and—in “Up with human-crafted indexes”—makes the case that indexing is writing and that readers deserve indexes created and cued by brains—not bots.
Finally, Johnston pulls readers across the finish line with a 23-page glossary and 3 indexes (topics, names, and titles)—providing all the navigation readers need to repeat the journey and explore new signposts every time.
No plans before the April 17, 2013, EAC-BC meeting? Drop by the Elephant & Castle for a pay-as-you-go meal or drink. It’s a great chance to meet, mingle, network, gossip, debate, or just plain catch up with other editors. Members and non-members welcome.
Time: 17h00–18h45
Location:Elephant & Castle, 385 Burrard Street (Marine Building), Vancouver
EAC-BC has teamed up with SFU Publishing Workshops to organize PubPro 2013, an unconference for BC-based managing editors and publication production specialists happening on Saturday, April 13, 2013. With PubPro just around the corner, West Coast Editor checked in with organizer Iva Cheung to find out what’s going on behind the scenes.
WCE: What prompted you to organize PubPro 2013?
Iva Cheung: I’ve been wanting to do this kind of event for quite some time. A few years ago, when I worked in house at D&M Publishers, I created an editorial wiki, which ended up being enormously useful to and popular with our in-house and freelance staff. I’d been thinking of creating quality-control checklists as well, when I found out that Grace Yaginuma, an editor at Whitecap at the time, had already developed a brilliant checklist for proofreaders. I asked if I could adapt her checklist for our own purposes. She responded, “Of course!” and in turn asked if she could see my wiki; I was only too happy to share the link. At that point, we discussed how frustrating it was that those of us who develop and implement in-house editorial systems didn’t really have a forum to compare notes about these kinds of issues.
I took a first stab at filling this void at the 2011 EAC conference in Vancouver, where I led an open discussion group for in-house editors. Our group had an hour to talk about a massive list of potential topics, which, as one of my colleagues pointed out, could have filled an entire retreat. The feedback I got from that session was that we need more opportunities for in-house editors to brain share.
Ironically, it’s only now that I no longer work in house that I finally have the flexibility to plan something like PubPro. I decided to limit the event to production and project-management issues, because those are the ones that are most lacking in professional-development opportunities and that are best suited to the kind of peer-to-peer learning you get with an unconference format.
WCE: Why did you decide to make PubPro 2013 an unconference?
Iva: A few reasons, actually. First, I really wanted to keep the event affordable for everyone. Having worked in book publishing, I know how tight the purse strings can be for editorial and production staff. At an unconference, the participants are the speakers, so gone are the costs of speakers’ fees, as well as speakers’ transportation and accommodation costs. We’re keeping things simple and low key: no pre-printed name badges, no branded conference swag—just a good venue, a solid logistical plan, and a great team of volunteers.
Second, I knew that a lot of publication-production professionals have been at their jobs a long time, and they’re experts at what they do. They’ve each jury-rigged their own systems at their own organizations—some of which work better than others. There’s no one production guru who has all of the answers; the best way for people in managing editors’ roles to develop professionally is to hear what others are doing and learn from one another. An unconference fosters that kind of cross-pollination.
Finally, I wanted this event to be useful for the participants. Being a managing editor or production manager is so multifaceted that I didn’t want to be the one dictating what topics would and wouldn’t be discussed. With an unconference, the participants set the agenda, and they get to steer the sessions in the directions that they feel will be the most productive.
Oh—and I also want to mention that in addition to running the unconference sessions, we’re inviting freelancers to join us for the networking tea portion of the afternoon. If we’re going to have a gathering of managing editors, we certainly can’t pass up the opportunity to put them in the same room as those of our members who might want to work for them!
PubPro 2013 volunteers Lara Kordic (left) and Grace Yaginuma (centre) help Iva Cheung sort through materials for unconference goodie bags. Photo by Viola Funk.
Door prizes to be awarded at PubPro 2013 include “Book Production,” by Adrian Bullock and International Paper’s “Pocket Pal.” Photo by Iva Cheung.
Iva: I don’t want to jinx it, so let’s just say that I’m taking it one step at a time! I’d love for it to grow into an annual tradition and for it to prompt publication-production professionals to come together as a community. Of course I want the first year to be a success, but at the same time I recognize that these kinds of events often take a couple of years to build momentum.
If this year’s event works out, I’d not only like to run it again in BC but also consider offering a similar event as a pre-conference workshop at the 2014 EAC conference in Toronto. EAC-BC chair Peter Moskos has encouraged me to go that route, and that’s what I’m aiming for.
Iva: Response has been very positive so far; many people I approached about attending have said something like, “This is so needed,” or “This is the first time I’ve seen a professional development event for someone doing my kind of work.” Then again, I suppose only the final registration numbers will tell whether this enthusiasm translates into participation!
We are really fortunate to have the support of our sponsors—Friesens, Hemlock Printers, Ingram, and West Coast Editorial Associates—which allowed us to lower our event fees and to book an additional room to offer more options for sessions. And I’ve had a really supportive network of colleagues help with all aspects of planning.
WCE: What has been your biggest challenge in organizing PubPro 2013?
Iva: I’d say the most challenging part has been marketing the event to the right people. Publication project managers have all sorts of titles—managing editor, production editor, editorial coordinator, publishing director, and so on—but they all play basically the same role. I’ve found it hard to reach out to people, especially those in organizations that aren’t focused specifically on publishing necessarily but who still have to hire freelancers and create schedules and work to project budgets. In essence, I’m in a bit of a Catch-22: this event is needed precisely because there’s no established community of these kinds of professionals, but because there’s no established community, there isn’t one place I can go to promote PubPro.
WCE: How will you be spending the last few days before the event?
Iva: Obsessively checking the registration page to see how many participants we have! Seriously, though, we’ve booked the rooms, set up the registration infrastructure, and told as many people as we could about it. Until registration closes and we have the solid numbers to finalize catering and get our last-minute supplies and printing done, our efforts will be on getting as many people out to this event as we possibly can.
Katherine discussed the program’s goals and time lines as well as what the new certificate will mean for editors. She also talked about the latest on this year’s PLAIN (Plain Language Association International) conference, coming to Vancouver October 10–13, 2103, where IC Clear hopes to launch its first pilot course.
No plans before the March 20, 2103, EAC-BC meeting? Drop by the Elephant & Castle for a pay-as-you-go meal or drink. It’s a great chance to meet, mingle, network, gossip, debate, or just plain catch up with other editors. Members and non-members welcome.
Time: 17h00–18h45
Location:Elephant & Castle, 385 Burrard Street (Marine Building), Vancouver
Couldn’t attend EAC-BC’s February 20, 2013, presentation, Editing Books in Translation? Listen to the audio recording.
Couldn’t attend EAC-BC’s February 20, 2013, presentation, Editing Books in Translation? The presentation, given by Iva Cheung, winner of the 2011 Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence, covered big-picture issues—such as copyright and the all-important editor–translator relationship—as well as the nuts and bolts of working with a translated manuscript. Iva also gave audience members an insider’s look into the pleasures and pitfalls of editing books in translation and tips for finding work in the field.
Yikes! Have stressed-out copy editors turned to violence?
The copy editor’s lot is not an easy one. The work is exacting, even stressful. But is the work so stressful that editors have taken to the streets to settle their differences—over style guides, open compounds, and serial commas—once and for all?
Not yet.
Except, of course, in the strange and wondrous minds of The Onion satirists in the article “4 Copy Editors Killed in Ongoing AP Style, Chicago Manual Gang Violence” (January 7, 2013).
Here’s an excerpt:
“‘At this time we have reason to believe the killings were gang-related and carried out by adherents of both the AP and Chicago styles, part of a vicious, bloody feud to establish control over the grammar and usage guidelines governing American English,’ said FBI spokesman Paul Holstein, showing reporters graffiti tags in which the word ‘anti-social’ had been corrected to read ‘antisocial.’”
This sign has a lot going for it, including eye-catching colour and easy-to-read typeface. It also features not one, but two spellings of “appliances”: the Canadian Oxford-approved spelling, in the second line, and an exotic European spelling—“applicances”—in the final line. Photo by Cheryl Hannah.
