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What’s in a Name?

Tuesday October 18, 2016

Last month’s book club choice was from a bunch of bestseller and book club lists. It was one of those “family” stories with a sizeable cast of characters. You know the kind — three or four sisters with partners and/or lovers and children and a couple of pets. I was a hundred pages into the […]

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character names characters editor's role fiction Melva McLean novels

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Tracey Anderson

Editing Technical Instructional Material: Become the Student

Tuesday December 6, 2016

Creating effective instructional material for technical students can be tricky. Making it student friendly requires a balance between adequately covering the information, which is often highly technical, and presenting it in a way that a wide range of students can understand. These are some ways editors can help subject matter experts (SMEs) find this balance. Watch […]

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instructional design instructional material jargon subject matter experts technical editing technical students Tracey Anderson

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Basic Computer Terms for Writers and Editors

Tuesday March 21, 2017

Writers and editors ask lots of questions about computers and software but sometimes confuse basic terminology. If you have an issue with a computer or software, it helps if you can frame your questions accurately and provide enough information so that others can help. So let’s do a quick review of some basics. Hardware: All […]

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computer terminology computers hardware Paul Cipywnyk software

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Emerge From the Shadows via the Our Languages Blog

Tuesday September 26, 2017

“If only I could rewrite this text!” If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably had a similar reaction, especially if your clients are looking for a “soothing” edit. You know the kind I mean: one that doesn’t involve any changes beyond sprinkling a few commas here and there… I spent almost 10 years fixing language […]

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blog blogging Julie Morin The Language Portal of Canada The Our Languages blog

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Lost and Found

Tuesday October 3, 2017

Over the years I’ve done a lot of freelance fiction editing, mostly developmental. I send off the manuscripts with a critical analysis, a lot of developmental markup and some copy editing. Some of the authors go on to be published; their autographed works are on my bookshelves. Of the ones not published, about half come […]

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author-editor relationship clients developmental editing Melva McLean

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Marion Soubliere

Perks of Being a Federal Supplier Aboard ProServices

Tuesday May 8, 2018

The Government of Canada is eager to buy from small businesses. My 2017 post Winning Contracts With the Government of Canada explained how to register as a supplier to this annual $15-billion to $20-billion market. How to Market Your Services to the Feds, meanwhile, suggested ways to continually keep your small firm top-of-mind with federal buyers. […]

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business practices federal contracts freelance editors government editing Government of Canada Marion Soubliere marketing small businesses translators

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Christina Vasilevski

How Joining an Editorial Association Kickstarted My Career

Tuesday June 5, 2018

It’s 2008. After graduating from university the year before, I have a soul-sucking job with a company of dubious morals. However, it’s the Great Recession and beggars can’t be choosers. I feel stuck, sad and like I’m drowning. Maybe I should get back into writing, I think. Online, I find out about Ryerson University’s publishing […]

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Christina Vasilevski content management Editors Canada student membership education freelance editing freelancing in-house editing networking Student Story

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Brendan O’Brien

Beginnings

Tuesday June 19, 2018

In 1988 I found myself at a career crossroads. I put a small ad in the Irish Times seeking editorial work, hoping to learn on the job. One of the (very few) responses was from a man I’ll call John, who was running a free newspaper in South Central Dublin (Ireland). He suggested that I […]

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Brendan O'Brien business of editing editing editing career job search

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Marion Soubliere

New Federal e-Commerce Site: Direct Sales, Clients Galore

Tuesday September 25, 2018

The Government of Canada is the first to admit that it’s not easy to do business with them. But change is on the horizon. The latest step toward simpler procurement involves replacing the buyandsell.gc.ca tendering site. In July 2018, the government awarded U.S.-based InfoSys Public Services a contract to build a new Amazon.com-like e-commerce site. Public […]

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business practices e-commerce site federal contracts freelance editors government editing Government of Canada Marion Soubliere marketing ProServices small businesses

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Wasted Words: The Risks of Reading

Tuesday May 21, 2019

Because I was a confirmed reading addict when television appeared, it failed to dislodge my teenage obsession. Like Groucho Marx I found the idiot box “very educating”: “Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” It’s been a relentless dependency. I still find it difficult to […]

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bibliomania cognitive science editing reading Roger Sperry Wasted Words Wilf Popoff writing