EAC: National e-news update, August 17, 2010

News, events, tips and updates for members of the Editors’ Association of Canada

In this issue:

1. CERTIFICATION: Take the test that proves your editing skills
2. PUBLICATIONS: Get the edge on EAC Certification
3. NETWORKING: Simcoe-area BBQ
4. CONFERENCE 2011: Theme, dates, venue and committee announced
5. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
6. MEMBER SERVICES: Affordable insurance products now available for EAC members
7. EDITING EAC: Join the discussion
8. FRANCOPHONE AFFAIRS: Report on Gatineau Town Hall now available
9. YOUR ASSOCIATION: FAQ writers wanted
10. TRAINING: Discount on PWAC video workshops available to EAC members
11. GET INVOLVED: National committee chair positions still available


1. CERTIFICATION: Take the test that proves your editing skills

If you want to enjoy the benefits of official recognition of your excellent editing abilities and a marketing advantage, register now to take an EAC certification test—or even two.

EAC is offering certification tests in proofreading and copy editing on Saturday, November 20, 2010, in major centres across Canada.

This year, candidates will be writing certification tests based on the professional editorial standards that came into effect on January 1, 2010.

What’s new?

  • One test in each skill area. Now each test includes questions on relevant publishing knowledge. From 2006 to 2009 you had to pass a skill area test and a publishing knowledge test.
  • Standalone certification study guides. Everything you need to prepare for a test is in one volume. You can order the Proofreading Study Guide or Copy Editing Study Guide now.

See EAC’s certification website for more information on the benefits of certification and preparing for the tests.

Don’t forget: Registration closes on October 25, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT).


2. PUBLICATIONS: Get the edge on EAC Certification

Our revised publications are the perfect study companions to help you prepare for EAC Certification.

Certification Study Guides
EAC’s revised Proofreading Study Guide and Copy Editing Study Guide are the primary resources for anyone who wants to become certified. Whether you use these guides for independent study or in a workshop setting, you will learn about the knowledge, skills and judgment required to earn your certification credentials.The new Proofreading Study Guide and Copy Editing Study Guide are available now through our distributor, Captus Press.
Certification Study Guides 
Meeting Professional Editorial Standards
The second edition of Meeting Professional Editorial Standards (MPES) is a hands-on resource that covers the range of core editorial skills you need to work as an editor. This unique self-teaching and self-testing package goes beyond the rules of the craft to address the art of editing—as well as the discipline required—and it’s filled with tips on knowledge of the publishing process, proofreading, copy editing, stylistic editing and structural editing.Proofreading: Meeting Professional Editorial Standards and Copy Editing: Meeting Professional Editorial Standards are available now through our co-publisher, Captus Press.
Meeting Professional Editorial Standards 

BONUS! Order a subscription for the new Certification Study Guides or Meeting Professional Editorial Standards and you’ll be eligible for a 20% discount on Meeting Editorial Standards. This previous edition of MPES contains valuable study materials on knowledge of the publishing process, proofreading, copy editing, stylistic editing and structural editing.

Get on the path to excellence today! Visit Captus Press to order your revised EAC publications.


3. NETWORKING: Simcoe-area BBQ

Members in Ontario’s Simcoe region are invited to join the national executive council for a pay-as-you-go BBQ. Located one hour north of Toronto in scenic Horseshoe Valley, Carriage Ridge Resort will provide a lovely outdoor setting for an evening BBQ and bonfire.

Date:Saturday, September 11, 2010
Time:6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Place:Carriage Ridge Resort Pavilion
90 Highland Drive
Oro-Medonte, ON
Cost:$28.95 plus HST
RSVP:Online by Friday, August 20, 2010

There has been interest in developing a twig (which you can think of as a branch-to-be) in the Simcoe area for some time now. We’d also like to extend this invitation to other emerging twigs and branches-to-be in the surrounding area. If you live in Mississauga, Oakville, Guelph, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, Oshawa, Pickering, Muskoka or anywhere else near enough to make the trip, please join us and invite other local editors. The more the merrier and the more ideas we’ll generate as we explore how to help each other get started.

Register online now!

Please note this is a BYOB event.


4. CONFERENCE 2011: Theme, dates, venue and committee announced

The conference committee is pleased to announce the theme, dates and venue for EAC’s 2011 conference!

Theme:Editing in the Age of e-Everything / La revision à l’ère du tout-électronique
Dates:May 27–29, 2011
Location:Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre
Vancouver, BC

Please welcome our Vancouver 2011 conference committee: 

Co-chairs: Theresa Best, Naomi Pauls
Communications coordinators: Marlene Dong, Wael Elazab
Vancouver Experience Coordinator: Juliann Krushen
Volunteer coordinator: Chantal Moore
Speaker coordinator: Holly Yoos
Member-at-large: Jacqueline Dinsmore (co-chair, Conference 2010 Montreal)
Chair, Conference 2012 Ottawa: Christine LeBlanc
EAC professional development coordinator (staff): Helena Aalto

See you next year in Vancouver!

Volunteer conference translator needed

The Vancouver 2011 conference committee is looking for a volunteer to translate conference communications into French.

Interested? Please contact Helena Aalto.


5. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!

Dawn Hunter’s (Toronto branch) book, Adventures on the Ancient Silk Road, is a finalist for the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction through the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. It was also a 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist.

Sharon Crawford (Toronto branch) has two stories, “Cemetery Circle” and “My Brother’s Keeper” in the Gathered Streams anthology published by Hidden Brook Press. An electronic version of Sharon’s novella, Fire Underneath the Ice, which she co-authored with Irene Gargantini under the pseudonym R.S. Natanevin, has also been published by Rogue Phoenix Press. The print copy is due out soon with a book launch in September in Waterloo, Ontario.

Paul Cipywynk (BC branch) has completed the copy editing and proofreading of Desperate Times, a trilogy of Ukrainian short fiction translated into English. The three volumes—Brother against BrotherBetween the Trenches and Conflict and Chaos—were translated by Paul’s aunt, Roma Franko, and edited by his late mother, Sonia Morris. The trilogy will be published by their award-winning Ukrainian literature publishing company, Language Lanterns Publications Inc., later this month. 

Member news is a new component of the EAC website and is designed to not only applaud EAC members’ successes but also let visitors to the website know that EAC members win awards, publish books and make their mark on the communications world in other important ways.

If you have member news to share, contact member news coordinator, Marguerite Watson.


6. MEMBER SERVICES: Affordable insurance products now available for EAC members

We’re pleased to offer several affordable insurance options for EAC members. Whether you want to protect your business, your home, your family or your ability to earn an income, these plans have you covered.

The general business insurance I was getting through my broker was costing $2,600 a year. The new EAC coverage—the exact same insurance—is $1,000 a year.
– Greg Ioannou, Colborne Communications

Errors and omissions insurance

Professional risks go hand-in-hand with the editing industry. E&O insurance protects you against lawsuits arising from allegations of negligence or wrongdoing, thereby protecting your assets. For a client who has suffered damages, E&O insurance ensures there are adequate funds for compensation.

Health and dental insurance

These enhanced health-care plans can supplement your provincial government’s coverage and help protect you against unexpected health and dental expenses.

With a complete product package that spans term life insurance, permanent participating life, universal life, disability, critical illness and long-term care, these plans can offer you personal peace of mind, regardless of what the future might bring.

Automobile and property insurance

This new program offers you competitive group rates and quality insurance coverage for your car, home, home-based business, condominium, apartment, cottage, seasonal home, jewellery, fine art and other valuables.

For more information about these exciting benefits of membership, visit EAC’s member services page.


7. EDITING EAC: Join the discussion

Before the annual general meeting we invited all members to download and review the discussion paper,

PDF icon <em>Editing EAC</em>

. Although in a lot of ways EAC really has its act together, some things aren’t working very smoothly. Some of these problems can be addressed by simply changing how we organize things. This document looks at those issues.

This fall, EAC president Michelle Boulton and vice-president Greg Ioannou will be taking the Editing EAC show on the road to get your feedback. Michelle or Greg will visit each of the branches in September or October to discuss the association’s structural options and to get your opinions about where EAC should be going with this. There was not a lot of negative feedback at the conference in Montreal, so we hope that means we are on the right track. However, much still remains to be worked out, primarily in the areas of revenue sharing and branch representation. Greg is taking the lead on the financial side of Editing EAC, while Michelle is starting the Editing EAC discussion with the branches and twigs.

In the meantime, if you would like to comment on the Editing EAC discussion paper, or make some interesting new suggestions, we welcome your participation on Interactive Voice.

Michelle Boulton, president
Greg Ioannou, vice-president


8. FRANCOPHONE AFFAIRS: Report on Gatineau Town Hall now available

Last March, EAC members were invited to attend a francophone affairs town hall in Gatineau. Attendance at the town hall was lower than expected, so the national executive council has written a four-page summary (in French) on the town hall, which is now available in the reviseurs.ca Members’ Area. A full report will be available soon. Please take a moment to review both documents, which should prove useful in furthering the Editing EAC discussion.

English translations of the full report and summary will be available in the editors.ca Members’ Area soon.


9. YOUR ASSOCIATION: FAQ writers wanted

The francophone affairs committee would like to create a bilingual association FAQ (for members and for non-members who would like to know more about the association) that will be published on the EAC website. Would you like to be a part of this project? We’re looking for writers who can provide simple and concise answers. If you can only commit a small amount of time, you can still have fun formulating potential questions that might be useful in the FAQ. If this project interests you, contact Carolyne Roy, EAC’s director of francophone affairs.


10. TRAINING: Discount on PWAC video workshops available to EAC members

Professional development sessions by Marion Soublière and Paul Lima at “Communicating for Cash,” the two-day workshop series presented by the Atlantic Chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC Atlantic) and the Canadian Freelance Union, are now available on demand at discounted rates for EAC members.

Marion Soublière wrote the book on cracking the $20 billion federal government market—Getting Work with the Federal Government: A guide to figuring out the procurement puzzle. Her two-and-a-half-hour session provides a detailed tour of the process.

Meanwhile, everyone’s talking about how to use social media to market their work. But is it right for you? Writer/trainer Paul Lima reveals what he calls the five marketing arrows—arrows any business can access to effectively market their product of service, no matter what their marketing budget.

The cost of the two sessions—consisting of more than five hours of professional development by expert presenters plus their handouts—is $50 for EAC members ($75 for the general public)

For more information, or to view video workshop samples, visit the PWAC Atlantic site.


11. GET INVOLVED: National committee chair positions still available

Wondering how you can enrich your EAC experience? Consider chairing one of the association’s national committees. The following positions are still available.

Membership Committee Chair

The Membership Committee monitors, reviews and makes recommendations about EAC’s services, benefits, membership categories and membership fee structure in light of the association’s aim to attract, serve and retain a diverse range of members (including editors who work in-house and freelance, in various media, in various sectors, in either official language and at all levels of experience). The committee also develops and proposes methods of acknowledging members’ contributions and enhancing the experience of EAC volunteers.

Training and Development Committee Chair

The Training and Development Committee oversees policy and programs for training and professional development at the national level of EAC. The committee investigates new options for programming and delivery, bearing in mind the diverse needs of association members; makes recommendations; and initiates program development.

Website Committee Co-chair

The Website Committee is responsible for overseeing the development of the EAC websites (English and French) and ensuring their quality and effectiveness for the many communication purposes they serve.

The Website Committee develops and circulates clear guidelines on site policies and procedures, and also offers guidance and support to EAC members who provide or update content.

By getting involved, you can enhance your resumé and portfolio, make valuable professional contacts, develop and apply professional skills in an area of special interest, work with other editors from across the country and raise the profile of the editing profession.

If you’re interested in one of these positions, contact EAC executive director Carolyn L Burke today.


The EAC national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.

To top