Participating in a book club offers a low-cost (or free! thank you, libraries!) opportunity for editors to engage in ongoing professional development and community-building. It’s not just the reading of the book that’s relevant: it’s the opportunity to discuss it with colleagues, debate its finer points and determine whether or not you want to integrate its lessons, ideas or approaches into your own editing practice.
This year, I invite you to join the Academic Editing SIG’s book club.
About the academic editing book club
In the Editors Canada and EFA joint Academic Editing Special Interest Group (SIG), I’ve been co-organizing regular book club meetings since the SIG started in 2022 (first with my co-host Bailey Harrington, and now with Jenn Rossiter). We host five meetings each year and regularly invite book authors to participate in Q&As with attendees.
Some of the books we read are general editing books, and so we discuss how their guidance might apply in the diverse contexts of academic editing; sometimes the books are about academic writing, and so we discuss whether and to what extent their guidance translates into the editing context.
To promote accessibility, our rotating cast of meeting hosts pre-circulate discussion questions via email. This gives book club attendees the chance to think through what they’d like to talk about in advance.
The benefits of a book club
Personally, I’ve benefited substantially from reading and discussing these books. I’ve integrated guidance from previous selections like Helen Sword’s Stylish Academic Writing in my practice, and I’ve drawn on Amitava Kumar’s Every Day I Write the Book in critically reflecting on my approach — and even on the norms of academic genres. I wrote about the latter on my blog in an attempt to bring my thoughts together.
But it’s not just my editing practice that has benefited from participating in this book club. In the November 2023 book club meeting, while discussing Written/Unwritten: Diversity and the Hidden Truths of Tenure, I met Kate Vacek of Compass Academic Coaching. I was fascinated by some of Kate’s comments during the meeting, so I DM’d her in the Zoom chat, and pretty soon we were connecting outside the meeting.
Last May — only six months after we first met — Kate and I co-authored “A Primer for Prepping for Tenure Review” for the online magazine Inside Higher Ed. We’re now at work on additional marketing resources that we anticipate publishing next year. (I promise, marketing is more fun — and easier to push to completion — when you have a friend and accountability buddy to regularly report to!)
Upcoming book club meetings
The Academic Editing SIG’s book club meetings are free and casual — a good way for both experienced and newbie editors to enrich their knowledge and think through their options.
Book club meetings are one hour long and held via Zoom at 1 pm ET on Fridays.
In 2025, we look forward to hosting the following meetings:
- February 21: Black Feminist Writing by Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans — hosted by Dana Johnson of yourwordsonlybetter.com and featuring a Q&A with the author | RSVP via Zoom
- April 4: Elements of Indigenous Style, Second Edition by Dr. Gregory Younging — hosted by Kaitlin Littlechild of kaitlinlittlechildediting.ca and featuring a Q&A with lead editor Dr. Warren Cariou | RSVP via Zoom
- June 6: Getting It Published, Third Edition: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books by Dr. William Germano — host TBD; to volunteer, please see email address below | RSVP via Zoom
- September 19: The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors by Erin Brenner — hosted by Dr. Alex Crawley of lodestareac.com and featuring a Q&A with the author | RSVP via Zoom
- November 21: Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe (xkcd comics) — hosted by Tara Penner of tjpennerconsulting.com | RSVP via Zoom
In advance of each meeting, we’ll share reviews of our selected books here in The Editors’ Weekly, focusing on their relevance for editors of academic writing.
Join the academic editing book club
If you’ve got an academic focus in your work — or even just a toe in the academic editing pond! — and you like reading, please consider joining us for a book club meeting in 2025. If you’d like to volunteer to host or write for us, contact academic.editing@editors.ca.
All levels of experience and expertise are welcome.
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Letitia Henville
Letitia Henville is a freelance academic editor and the advice columnist behind "Ask Dr. Editor," published monthly at University Affairs.