THE EDITORS' WEEKLY
Official blog of Canada’s national editorial association
Seven Ways to Connect with New Authors without Social Media
It’s a tale as old as Twitter. Social media’s promise of a direct connection with hundreds of writers waiting to hire me seemed like an ideal marketing strategy for a newly minted (and introverted) editor. But, in keeping with the too-good-to-be-true genre, what I got was a distraction. The busy-work of posting and the comfortable […]
Plain Language Resistance: Is “Plain” the Problem?
As a writer and editor who also teaches academic and business writing, I get asked a lot of language questions; it’s a regular and expected part of the job. One recent question, though, caught me by surprise: “How can I justify using plain language to my boss, who’s resistant to it?” The persistence of resistance […]
Substantive Editing Versus Developmental Editing
Editors are notorious for having many names for subtly different kinds of editing — line editing, stylistic editing, substantive editing and copyediting. This article focuses on substantive editing. It’s my favourite service, and I believe it provides the best value to both academics and fiction authors. Developmental editing: A new name for substantive editing? Editor […]
Review: QuickStyle from Hazel Bird
As a professional editor, I am always on the lookout for ways to increase my efficiency and improve communication with clients. So when I learned about QuickStyle — a style sheet template that can be tailored to fit any project and client — I was intrigued. Hazel Bird and I are colleagues at the Chartered […]
From Editing to Writing: An Interview with Stephanie Watterson
This week, we interview Stephanie Watterson about writing and publishing her children’s book, Septopus. Want to be interviewed about your editing work? Contact us. What is your editing background? Back in 2020, during the pandemic, I took a digital and print publications program and from there I did some freelancing. My hopes were to get […]
Six Tips for Editing Fantasy
Authors often create whole new worlds in fantasy, which can be daunting for editors new to the genre. But the scope and creativity are also why fantasy novels are so much fun to work on. Here are six areas to consider as you dive into editing fantasy fiction. 1. Be familiar with the genre and […]
The Editing Journey
I was tempted to subtitle this post “How writing a blog led to me closing my business,” but that is only partially true. I got the idea as I was creating my just-in-case file after my post on that subject in the spring. However, the full story is more nuanced (isn’t it always?), and many […]
Tackling That First Draft: How Editors Can Help Nervous Writers
© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter Coming up with a first draft is a challenge for almost every writer, even those with years of experience and walls full of awards. Few writers can sit down, flex those typing fingers, relax the shoulders and pour out a word-perfect manuscript on the first try. These tips for dealing with […]
La Rentrée
The French language has a wonderful word for this time of year: la rentrée. Re-entering, not returning, not back to. The potential of the future. The potential to change and to have changed. The potential to develop and to learn new things. To approach things, both professional and personal, in a different way. To see […]
From In-House to Freelance: How Editing Changes When You Leave the Building
When I first moved from in-house editing to freelancing, I assumed the work would feel about the same — editing is editing, isn’t it? I quickly learned I was wrong. The foundation is the same, but almost everything else shifts: the writers you collaborate with, the expectations on your time and even the way you […]
Why Academic Editors Should Read Thing Explainer
In November, the academic editing book club will meet online to discuss Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe of xkcd. This book club is run by the Academic Editing Special Interest Group (SIG), a collaboration of Editors Canada and the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). Francis Crick said his copy of The Children’s Encyclopaedia influenced him more […]