Sessions

Navigating 40 years

Is editing a profession yet?

Presenters: Iva Cheung and Jeanne McKane

Can editors be professionals? This surprisingly controversial topic has resurfaced in bursts over the 40-year history of Editors Canada. Join a guided discussion that explores:

• how professions like medicine and accounting structure organizational activities
• what steps editing organizations elsewhere are taking toward professionalization
• how editing-adjacent groups—like translators, indexers, and designers—have advocated for their professional interests
• whether editing has achieved professionalization—and, if not, whether Editors Canada should keep striving for it

Life begins at 40: The future of editing

Presenters: Wendy Barron, Marianne Ward, Clare Goulet and Heather Buzila (moderator)

Editors Canada is forty years old. What will the future bring? Four editors will look into the crystal ball, considering issues such as new technologies, cultural sensitivity, knowledge transfer, and globalization of editing services. Be prepared to throw in your two cents!

 

Navigating our story

Distressing content and trauma resiliency

Presenters: Kyra Nabeta and Heather Saunders

As mental health becomes less stigmatized, more and more people are telling their stories to assist in the healing process. As an editor, how do you approach subjects that can be deeply disturbing, such as abuse, violence, death, and loss? In this seminar, we will define trauma and discuss normal physiological reactions, as well as learn how to navigate through disturbing material, communication techniques, and self-care in editing.

Mi’kmaq culture – A balance of past and present

Presenter: Theresa Meuse

Learn how the Mi’kmaq use their traditional teachings in today’s modern day. Along with sharing of the teachings, there will be a show and tell of intricate works created by Mi’kmaq crafters.

“Suas i!”: Publishing books in and about Gaelic in Nova Scotia

Presenter: Emily McEwan

Scottish Gaelic was the third most commonly spoken language in Canada at the time of Confederation. The first Gaelic book was published in Nova Scotia 180 years ago. Despite anglophone efforts to erase Gaels from history, Gaelic is still a living language and culture in Nova Scotia. Join Dr. McEwan and guests for a discussion about the challenges of publishing in and about Gaelic—stereotypes, representation, and economics—and how we’re making it work.

Moving beyond nostalgia: Telling Acadian stories today

Presenter: Simon Thibault

There is more to the lives of Acadians than Evangeline, the deportation of 1755, and the french language. So how do you tell stories that live outside of the very large spectre of the past? Editor and author Simon Thibault discusses the importance in telling Acadian stories that go outside of the realm of nostalgia, by respecting the past, chronicling today, and looking to the future.

“Far from a colour-blind utopia”: The contours of enslaved Black agency in early Canada

Presenter: Melissa N. Shaw

The notion of Canada as a “promised land” for enslaved Blacks seeking freedom has led to interesting historical debates. Some scholars of Black Canadian history have acknowledged the complications of this dominant narrative, given that Black enslavement was actively practised and protected in British North American colonies, including in what is now Atlantic Canada. However, discrediting the “haven” narrative only begins to unpack the impact of anti-Black racism in Canada and the spectrum of Black Canadian responses to this violence.

Atlantic editors: Editing from the edge

Presenters: Christine Gordon Manley, Shelley Egan, donalee Moulton, Sandy Newton and Julia Cochrane (moderator)

Whether you live in Atlantic Canada, northern Canada or a little Prairie town, you may be familiar with working as an editor where colleagues and clients are scarce and twig or branch meetings are hours away. In this session, four freelance editors, one from each Atlantic province, discuss how they have created satisfying editorial careers, grown their networks and found professional development opportunities. This session will explore whether, for editors, location matters.

The little region that could: Celebrating—and selling—books in Atlantic Canada

Presenters: Chris Benjamin (moderator), Lisa Doucet, Hilary Drummond and Michael Hamm

Bringing together two of Nova Scotia’s most prominent booksellers and the editor of Atlantic Canada’s publishing magazine, Atlantic Books Today, this informative panel will explore the art and business of bookselling on the east coast—the unique challenges and opportunities of promoting books in this region, and what authors and publishers can do to make this lively literary scene even better.

Spilling the ink: Atlantic authors on their editors

Presenters: Stephanie Domet (moderator), Carol Bruneau, Evelyn C. White and Stephen Laffoley

What do these authors really think of their editors? Let’s hear tales from the trenches, good and bad, funny and sad. What have these authors learned about editors that we need to know? What would they like editors to understand? How do we work together toward everyone’s ultimate goal—the best manuscript possible?

 

Navigating our markets

Be bold! Making your own opportunities (advanced)

Presenter: Laura Poole

In this session, you'll learn how to identify and take advantage of opportunities to build your freelance business--and how to create your own opportunities. We will explore how direct, bold questions and offers can propel you into new career opportunities. This is specifically for people who may have reached a plateau in their business and would like to continue growing but aren't sure how to go about it. Learn how public speaking, writing, and more can lift your business to new levels! Don't wait for someone to hand you the keys to the kingdom--start making things happen yourself!

Winning contracts with the government of Canada

Presenter: Marion Soublière

The Government of Canada spends about $20 billion yearly on goods and services. Even sole proprietors can sell directly to the feds—no matter where they are in Canada or whether they offer bilingual services. This workshop offers tips on sales approaches, marketing, getting security clearance and more. You’ll also learn about a new e-commerce site that will let all levels of government in Canada, plus others, buy from federal lists of suppliers.

Navigating funding proposals: Editors adding value

Presenters: Cathy McPhalen, Rhonda Kronyk and Becka Barker

The need to write proposals for grant funding permeates the worlds of the arts, not-for-profit organizations, academic research, and even business. We’ll cover the topics you most want and need to know about, including: how editors can bring added value to proposal writers and support funding success, the expertise editors need to flourish in this market, and how this work can combine your career with your personal passions. Bring your questions to our round-table discussion of this challenging and rewarding editing niche.

Publish or perish: Editing scholarly papers for ESL authors

Presenter: Glenna Jenkins

Many of the world’s top scholarly journals publish only in the English language. Graduate students and university lecturers who are non-native English speakers (and writers) often need assistance with English-language usage. Others need more in-depth assistance in manuscript preparation, journal choice, and submission. There is a huge market for this type of work; however, specific skills are required to assist clients who are experts in their field yet struggle with English and consequently have difficulties getting published.

Speed mentoring

Need editorial or career advice? Speed mentoring offers editors of all experience levels an opportunity for advice and feedback from someone who’s been there. Sign up for speed mentoring, an hour of 15-minute one-on-one consultations with some of Editors Canada’s most highly regarded editors. Reserve your spot at speedmentoring@editors.ca.

 

Navigating our business

How to find and work with the right mentor—A workshop for editors

Presenter: Virginia McGowan

Most freelance editors are solopreneurs, solo proprietors of a small editing business; as such they have a mindset, aspirations and attitudes, and business practices that differ from those of other entrepreneurs. Yet, as with all small-business owners, having a mentor is critical for their success. This session is designed to help the solopreneur editor find and work with the right mentor to build a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship.

Using business information to increase your profits

Presenter: Erin Brenner

Do I charge enough? How many more clients do I need to make the money I want? Your editing business has a black box of information that will help you answer these questions and more. In this session, you’ll learn how to decode your business’s black box and what to do with the information to earn more while maintaining your sanity. And the math isn’t hard!

From the failure files: Learning from (big) mistakes

Presenter: Laura Poole

This session is in a “campfire discussion” style: I begin with two of my own stories of major failures and lessons learned. Then I invite attendees to discuss their own failures, mistakes, lessons and takeaways. This session will be about freelance business mistakes (a referral gone bad, a demoralizing project).

GST/HST—Ask an accountant!

Presenters: Michelle Waitzman, Michael Brown and Lori Messenger

Charging, collecting and remitting sales taxes is just another administrative nightmare for many self-employed editors. In this session, a freelance editor and a tax professional will tell you what you need to know about registering to collect GST/HST, which clients you need to bill for which taxes, what you need to pay and when, and how to pay as little as possible. Get your question ready!

Challenges of managing a translation process

Presenter: Alana Chalmers

If you edit in Canada, there’s a fair chance that the next stop after editing is translation. This session will look at what it’s like to manage the translation process, how to build a good relationship with your translator or agency, and some considerations when editing for translation (and maybe some bonus #TranslationFail).

Building and maintaining a successful in-house editorial team

Presenter: Christine Beevis Trickett

This interactive session will discuss the evolution of the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s editorial services team; the challenges in convincing a science-based organization to adopt a style guide, plain language and storytelling culture; the services offered by the editorial team; our integration with the French services and translation team; and the benefits of staffing an in-house editorial services team. Participants will have the opportunity to share their struggles and successes.

Les hauts et les bas de la vie de pigiste

Animatrice : Pauline Côté

Qui dit pigiste dit affaires. Comment dynamiser sa fibre entrepreneuriale? Comment éviter les écueils et atteindre plus facilement les sommets? Y a-t-il des secrets pour bien réussir? Lors de cet atelier, vous en apprendrez plus sur l’aspect « entreprise » du travail à la pige et sur les façons de mieux tirer votre épingle du jeu.

La révision à l’ère de l’optimisation Web

Animatrice : Beverly McLaughlin

De plus en plus, les entreprises établies en ligne (agences de voyage, moteurs de recherche, etc.) et les commerces plus traditionnels investissant dans leur présence sur le Web se tournent vers un modèle de traduction où la révision est la principale composante. Dans le cadre de cet atelier, vous en apprendrez plus sur le flux de travail type de tels projets, sur les textes à réviser et la communication entre les intervenants.

Making smart choices: Which freelance projects are right for you?

Presenters: Michelle Waitzman and Jess Shulman

How do you decide which freelance projects to accept? Do you feel the need to say “yes” to every job you’re offered? Do you always say “no” if a job doesn’t fit neatly into your niche or expertise? Do you just go with your gut? Two experienced freelancers discuss ways to methodically evaluate new opportunities so you can move your career in the direction you want and avoid projects you’ll end up regretting.

Canadian copyright: Keeping up with the rules

Presenter: Christene Hirschfeld

Canadian Copyright: Keeping up with the Rules will allow participants to hear what’s new (and what’s interesting) in copyright law, and discuss how to indicate copyright on electronic sources, including how editors should advise academic and non-academic authors on the use of social media content.

The new reality: Online news

Presenter: Tim Bousquet

Tim Bousquet, editor and publisher of the Halifax Examiner, in his usual insightful and entertaining style, will explain why “legacy” print news media is failing and how new online news sites will fill the void. Using examples, Tim will tell the sad tale of failed business models for local news, and explore how new enterprises are experimenting, financially and editorially, with ways to deliver the news and survive.

 

Navigating language and diversity

Translating medicalese into everyday English

Presenter: James Harbeck

Doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals use wordings designed to say “This is medical!” Some of it increases accuracy for those with the necessary background, but much of it keeps non-professionals from understanding it. And articles on medical information in news and other media often skew or misrepresent data. Find out how to help ordinary people understand medical information accurately and effectively.

Using plain language principles to improve your editing practice

Presenter: Nicole Watkins Campbell

This one-hour workshop will introduce editors to using plain language to improve non-fiction documents intended for specific adult audiences, like people with no technical background who need technical information (people with wills, for example). The session will introduce how to assess audience information needs, review top techniques to make documents more readable (with reference to EC substantive and stylistic editing standards), and opportunity for participants to practise their new skills.

Negotiating the truth: Drawing the line in creative nonfiction

Presenter: Dean Jobb and Kim Pittaway

In an age of fake news and truthiness, where can—and should—editors draw the line on fact versus fiction in working with authors of narrative or creative nonfiction? In this panel, we’ll explore trends and best practices in historical nonfiction, investigative journalism and memoir, using examples from recently published works and drawing on our experience as writers and educators.

A very special editor-author relationship

Presenters: Jen Powley, Lorri Neilsen Glenn, Ben DuPlessis, Kira Daube and Brenda Conroy

Jen Powley, author of Just Jen, Winner of the Margaret and John Savage First Book Nonfiction Award, and some of her team members discuss how they edited a book with her, a quadriplegic woman. Editing an author who composes orally, rather than on the page, is an experience that presents new challenges.

Two-Eyed reading: A Mi’kmaw approach to sensitivity-reading praxis

Presenter: Tiffany Morris

The Mi’kmaw concept of etuaptmumk, or two-eyed seeing, was brought forward by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall as a model of intercultural collaboration that prioritizes the coexistence of Indigenousand non-Indigenous worldviews. In this session, we will explore how etuaptmumk can inform the process of sensitivity reading and influence the representation of marginalized communities in publishing.

Funny words: Editing sketch comedy

Presenter: Mike Allison

Sketch comedy aims to squeeze a lot of laughs into a short time. The head writer of This Hour Has 22 Minutes discusses the writing and rewriting that goes into making a great sketch.

"How to be both knife and spoon": Five essential approaches from the (poetry) editor’s editors

Presenter: Clare Goulet

This session distills key editorial approaches, gleaned from work with five leading poet-editors and press founders (now loosely known as the Thinking & Singing group):Don McKay (attention), Jan Zwicky (truth), Dennis Lee (generosity), Tim Lilburn (listening), and Robert Bringhurst (knowledge). Experience collaborating with this group serves in this workshop as a simple bridge between generations of poetry (or any!) editors: passing on 5 core approaches that carry into attitude, ethics, and practical technique.

 

Navigating techniques and technologies

Antidote 10: What’s new?

Presenter: Louise Saint-André

A new version of Antidote was launched in November 2018. Come discover its exciting new features, including its translation component, readability indices, synonym-sorting capacity, and gender-neutrality filter. It may even help shorten your tweets!

Bad graphs: Editing graphs for readability, fairness, and impact

Presenter: Robin Marwick

A good graph or chart is readable, accurate, and fair—and it tells a compelling story in support of the text around it. Editors who can recognize the elements of a good graph, analyze a bad graph, and propose improvements that turn a bad graph into a good one are in a strong position to provide more value to their clients. This hands-on session will help you learn to tackle graphs with confidence.

Smooth sailing through citations: Tips and techniques for copyeditors

Presenter: Leslie Saffrey

For copyeditors of non-fiction, dealing with source citations can be daunting. In this session, learn how to break the task into manageable chunks and discover ways to make it easier. We’ll look at identifying major citation styles, applying a style, converting from one style to another, styling in-text citations and checking them against a reference list, editing footnotes and endnotes, and editing reference lists and bibliographies.

Macros 201: The shell game

Presenter: Amy J. Schneider

Editors familiar with macro basics will learn how to “power up” their macros with “shells” that automate processes even more. Attendees will learn to (1) run a macro through an entire document, (2) automate turning off tracking as needed, and (3) set up a dialog box to access and categorize their favorite macros. Attendees should be familiar with creating and editing macros, using the Visual Basic Editor, and creating keyboard shortcuts in Word.

Once upon an editor: Editing children’s picture books

Presenter: Whitney Moran

In this session, Nimbus Publishing’s managing editor and in-house children’s book editor, Whitney Moran, draws from experience working with some of Canada’s most celebrated authors to introduce the process behind children’s picture book editing. Through case studies of real projects, attendees will learn the process behind a successful children’s picture book, from acquisition and manuscript development, to art direction and production, to the final product.

Are you certifiable? Preparing for the Editors Canada certification exams

Presenter: Jess Shulman

Learn everything you ever wanted to know about the Editors Canada certification exams from a certified professional editor and co-chair of the Editors Canada Certification Steering Committee, who will provide valuable tips on how to prepare for the exams. You’ll also have the chance to test your mettle with sample questions and discuss your answers with other editors.

Revised Editors Canada guidelines for editing student texts

Presenter: Virginia McGowan and Gael Spivak

This session will introduce you to the revised guidelines and permission form for editing graduate and undergraduate student texts. We will tell you why the changes were made, how they were made, how editors can use them, and what Editors Canada did to get the word out about them.