editing

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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Rows of desks face a projection screen in a classroom-like environment.
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February 24, 2018: Crunching the Numbers: Using Performance Measures to Manage Your Editing Business

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What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, February 24, 2018, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 420, 4th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $165 for Editors Canada members ($135 early bird), $230 for non-members ($200 early bird), and $100 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes February 20; early-bird rates are in effect through February 6.

Is your editing business successful?

If you’re like a lot of editors, you may have a hard time answering this question with any specifics. You may have a vague sense of how your business is doing, and you might even feel comfortable with that level of uncertainty. But having real, hard data about how much you work, where your work comes from, and how much you earn for different types of projects or clients can empower you to take charge of your business and steer it in the direction that you want it to go.

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Event Review: The Secrets of Syntax by Frances Peck

Written by Eva van Emden; copy edited by Rebecca A. Coates

On April 22, a roomful of editors got together to talk about syntax—the order of words in a sentence. This may seem like an obscure topic to spend a day thinking about, but consider how many memorable sayings stick in your mind because of a magic combination of word order, rhythm, and repetition. Would we be able to quote the sentence “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” if it didn’t use rhythm and repetition—syntactic elements—so effectively?

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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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Rows of desks face a projection screen in a classroom-like environment.
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March 25, 2017: How to Be the Laziest Editor Possible: Maximizing the Tools in Microsoft Word

What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, March 25, 2017, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm (PC) and 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm (Mac)
Where: Room 830, 8th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $105 for Editors Canada members ($85 early bird), $170 for non-members ($150 early bird), and $70 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes March 17; early-bird rates are in effect through March 8.

On Saturday, March 25, Editors British Columbia presents two offerings of the half-day seminar “How to Be the Laziest Editor Possible: Maximizing the Tools in Microsoft Word.” The morning session (10 am to 1 pm) is for PC users and the afternoon session (2 pm to 5 pm) is for Mac users.

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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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November 16, 2016: The Art of Editing Poetry: A Conversation with Shazia Hafiz Ramji

What: Editors BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, November 16, 2016, 7:00 pm (program begins at 7:30 pm)
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Free for Editors Canada members, $10 for non-members, and $5 for students with valid ID. Registration at the door.

All editors must consider the needs of the writer, the reader, and the publisher or client when working on material, but this can be a particularly delicate balancing act for the poetry editor. What is considered? How does the editor navigate issues of poetic licence or the idiosyncratic use of writing mechanics? What are the desirable characteristics of a poetry editor, and what is happening in this publishing sector? Join us for a stimulating conversation about these and other topics as Talonbooks poetry editor and poet Shazia Hafiz Ramji speaks to moderator Lana Okerlund.

Shazia Hafiz Ramji is the poetry editor at Talonbooks and an interviews editor at Canadian Women in the Literary Arts, and she co-edited the “Intersections” issue of Poetry Is Dead magazine. Her poetry has been nominated for the 2016 National Magazine Awards and is forthcoming in The Capilano Review and the “Augmented Reality” special issue of Letters to the Editors. Shazia’s chapbook of poetry will be published by Anstruther Press in 2017, and her first book of poems will be out with Talonbooks in 2018.

Meet the Instructor: Peter Moskos

by Connie Behl

Peter Moskos_CROPPEDEditors BC is pleased to present Peter Moskos and his workshop Plain Language: The Basics, which explores the purpose and key techniques of plain language. The workshop will be held in Vancouver on February 24 and in Victoria on May 14, with the Victoria workshop put on in conjunction with the Professional Editors Association of Vancouver Island.

Peter is a writer and editor who specializes in plain language. He has a passion for simplifying complex documents and making them clear and easy to follow. He has written and edited reports to Parliament, technical reports, manuals, student handbooks, training materials, speeches, legislation, marketing materials, and advertising brochures. Now based in Vancouver, Peter is retired but continues to offer courses in plain language and in how to build a writing and editing business.

Peter played a formative role in the development of Editors Canada’s certification program and for his contribution was designated an Honorary Certified Professional Editor. In the past, Peter taught in Douglas College’s Print Futures program and was an online instructor for Ryerson University’s Diploma in Publishing.

Connie Behl, a member of Editors BC’s professional development committee, recently interviewed Peter about his journey from teacher to editor, his perspectives on plain language, and challenging plain language work he’s faced.

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