What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, March 30, 2019, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 476, 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 March 26; early-bird rates are in effect through March 12.

Are you ready to extend your proofreading skills beyond finding typos and knowing how to mark up copy? This exercise-based workshop focuses on beyond-the-basics proofreading skills. It offers participants the opportunity to examine excerpts from complex documents and learn how to fine-tune their proofreading eye to catch every error. With documents ranging from recipes to journal articles, participants will be challenged to use their judgment to weigh the pros and cons of making changes, querying authors, or making no changes at all.

At the end of this six-hour workshop, participants will

• know what to correct, what to query, and what to leave alone;
• understand how to adapt to and work within different types of production teams;
• learn how to look at a document in different ways to catch all the errors;
• understand the basic procedures and options for PDF markup; and
• exercise sound judgment based on the process, policies—and even politics!

Workshop outline

• The different stages of proofreading and the skills needed for each
• How to adapt proofreading methods for specific jobs
• Skills for applying judgment when proofreading time-sensitive, complex documents
• How to adapt to changing technologies
• What to look for when proofreading layout
• The latest conventions for word breaks
• How successful organizations and proofreaders apply a comprehensive process

This workshop will help anyone wishing to advance their proofreading skills, prepare for job advancement, or study for future offerings of the proofreading certification test offered by Editors Canada. Participants should have some proofreading experience and be familiar with conventional markup. Course material will be supplied, but participants should bring a current dictionary, pencils and pens, a calculator, and a ruler or other measure that they now use on the job.

Note: Participants should be prepared to spend considerable time practising the principles taught by proofreading several document excerpts. This workshop, back by popular demand, is a repeat from 2014 and 2016. It has had some updates, but it is intended for participants who have not previously attended.

Ruth Wilson has more than 30 years’ experience editing and proofreading trade books, professional journals, association publications, and corporate materials. She worked for a number of years with Vancouver book publisher Self-Counsel Press, many as Managing Editor. Since 1998, she has been a partner in West Coast Editorial Associates (www.westcoasteditors.com).

Ruth leads training workshops in all aspects of editing, and for many years was an instructor in the Writing and Communications Program and the Summer Publishing Workshops at SFU. She has served on several national committees of Editors Canada. In 2011 she was honoured by Editors Canada as a recipient of the President’s Award for Volunteer Service, and in 2014 she was recognized as a Certified Professional Editor (Hon) for the work she did in developing and launching the association’s world-class certification program.