Interview by Marta Orellana; copy edited by Holly Sawchuk
Editors BC is pleased to welcome Rhonda Kronyk as a presenter for our October 20, 2021, monthly meeting, “Indigenous Editing.”
As an Indigenous editor (Tsay Keh Dene, northern BC), Rhonda helps foster a respect for Indigenous perspectives in the world of writing and editing.
Read on to learn about the important work that Rhonda does, how she got started, and how editors can take an active role in reconciliation.
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Interview by Marta Orellana; copy edited by Katie Beaton
Laura Poole will be teaching and sharing her wisdom with us during the Editors BC seminar “Freelance 201” on October 16, 2021.
Let’s get to know Laura a bit before her exciting session!
Continue readingWritten by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Merel Elsinga
On Sunday, June 13, 2021, at the Editors Canada conference, Letitia Henville will host a networking session on “Developing content marketing opportunities.”
Content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy that involves giving away your knowledge for free to potential clients, and thereby establishing their trust. This session will bring together editors with shared expertise to collaborate on content marketing opportunities. It will be grounded in the ethos that editors are not in competition with one another, and that raising the profile of the profession and of Editors Canada creates more business for all of us. Participants are invited to see their fellow editors as supportive colleagues and potential collaborators—not as competition.
Letitia is a freelance academic editor at shortishard.ca and the advice columnist behind “Ask Dr. Editor,” published monthly at University Affairs. Letitia edits grant applications for artists and academics, and also edits journal articles, book chapters, monographs, and promotion and tenure dossiers, with a special emphasis on the health sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer with Editors BC, spoke to Letitia about her forthcoming session.
Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Meagan Kus
On Saturday, March 28, Editors BC will present a full-day seminar by Lisa Manfield on how to write effective web content.
This seminar will give you an understanding of what readers want from your copy, how to apply the latest web writing best practices, and how to optimize for search.
Lisa is a writer, editor, and content strategist with 20 years’ experience creating print and web content that engages a variety of target audiences. Currently the senior editor at Forge and Spark Media, Lisa has also been the founding editor of BCLiving and marketing manager at The Tyee. She has developed print and web content, marketing collateral, and courseware for tech companies, small businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions. She also teaches web writing principles at SFU and Capilano University.
Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Lisa about her work and forthcoming presentation.
Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Katie Beaton
On Saturday, February 29, Editors BC will present a full-day seminar by Frances Peck on usage woes and myths. For anyone intent on preventing (not avoiding) word errors and avoiding (not preventing) usage myths, this seminar will be of great help. People attending will get an up-to-date look at some of the most misunderstood and contentious points of English usage, and identify helpful guides and other resources.
Frances Peck is a Certified Professional Editor (Hon.) and writer who has worked with words for nearly 30 years. She has taught at the University of Ottawa, Douglas College, SFU, UBC, and dozens of organizations across Canada. She prepared the Canadian edition of The St. Martin’s Workbook, a university 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. Frances lives in North Vancouver and is a partner with West Coast Editorial Associates.
Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Frances about her work and forthcoming presentation.
Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Lydia du Bois
On Saturday, November 30, Editors BC presents Lana Okerlund’s professional development seminar, “Do the Work You Want (and Earn More Doing It): A Guided Strategic Retreat for Editors.”
This six-hour seminar is designed as a guided strategic retreat to help you envision your ideal editing career, understand your current situation, and develop a plan to close the gap. Through stimulating discussion and hands-on activities, you will:
Whether you’re an experienced editor or new to the editing world, you will come away from the seminar with a draft strategy for taking charge of your business or career so you can steer it in the direction that you want it to go. Freelance editors will find this seminar most useful, though in-house editors can also benefit from thinking about career goals in a more strategic way.
For this seminar, Lana draws on her experience as a freelance editor and as a former business consultant, when she spent nearly a decade working with clients on strategic visioning, business planning, performance measurement, and other business improvement projects. She has found tremendous value in applying these business concepts while building her own editing career. A partner with West Coast Editorial Associates, Lana edits, indexes, and writes non-fiction books and teaches editing and business writing courses.
Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Lana about her forthcoming seminar.
Continue readingWritten by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Malvika Kathpal
Are you ready to extend your proofreading skills beyond finding typos and knowing how to mark up copy? On Saturday, March 30, Editors BC presents a six-hour seminar by Ruth Wilson on advanced proofreading.
This exercise-based seminar 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.
This seminar will help anyone wishing to advance their proofreading skills, prepare for job advancement, or study for future offerings of the proofreading certification test given by Editors Canada. Participants should have some proofreading experience and be familiar with conventional markup. See the registration page for more details.
Ruth has more than 30 years’ experience editing and proofreading trade books, professional journals, association publications, and corporate materials. She worked for many years with Vancouver book publisher Self-Counsel Press, several as managing editor. Since 1998, she has been a partner with West Coast Editorial Associates.
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 also 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. In 2014, she was recognized as a Certified Professional Editor (Hon.) for her work in developing and launching Editors Canada’s world-class certification program.
Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Ruth about her work on advanced proofreading.
Continue readingWritten by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Kristin Lathrop
On Saturday, February 23, Editors BC presents Frances Peck’s seminar, “Getting the Message Across: Clear Writing Tips.” So if you want to improve your ability to quickly convey a clear message to your audience, you’re in luck.
The ability to be concise when dealing with reports, briefings, emails, or any other documents is crucial for an audience to get your message. But too often that message gets buried by weak organization, unnecessary detail, abstract language, and other barriers to readability.
Whether you’re a writer or an editor, this seminar will show you how to create documents that meet readers’ needs and get the message across. Topics include writing faster and better (a four-step process); understanding what your readers want (and don’t want); highlighting your key messages; making ideas flow; and eliminating wordiness, abstractions, and jargon. (See the registration page for more details.)
Frances Peck, a partner with West Coast Editorial Associates, is a writer and Certified Professional Editor (Hon.) who specializes in editing and rewriting for clarity. She has taught for the University of Ottawa, Douglas College, SFU, UBC, Editors Canada, and many public and private sector organizations. Frances wrote Peck’s English Pointers, a free collection of articles and quizzes available on the Language Portal of Canada, and is a co-author of the HyperGrammar website.
Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Frances about her work on writing.
Continue readingWritten by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Katie Beaton
So, are you thinking of writing about your childhood memories? Or maybe someone has asked you to edit a childhood memoir? In either case, on Saturday, January 26, 2019, Editors BC will present a seminar just for you. This six-hour seminar on writing and editing childhood memoirs will be presented by Carolyn Redl. She will introduce memoir writing and editing, with a mix of conversational learning, hands-on training, and practising a variety of memoir writing techniques.
Throughout the day, you’ll complete exercises that will make your own childhood experiences come alive. You’ll explore ways to organize events into stories using description and dialogue. You’ll hear editing hints for developing themes, settings, and personalities associated with childhood. By the end of the day, you’ll have written a draft chapter of your memoir! Continue reading
Interview by Erin Parker; copy edited by Meagan Kus
On Saturday, September 17, Editors BC will present Ruth Wilson and her full-day workshop, “Advanced Proofreading,” which teaches participants how to take their proofreading skills to the next level, navigating the “process, policies, and even politics” of a manuscript with ease.
Erin Parker, co-chair of Editors BC’s professional development committee, recently picked Ruth’s brain about the wonderful world of proofreading, the work she’s done on Editors Canada’s certification committee, and the books she took on vacation this summer.
West Coast Editor 