From the committee
By Alison Wilson, EdANZ
The next IPEd accreditation exam is just around the corner, and will be held on Monday, 22 August 2022 in Wellington. Registrations close on Friday, 22 July 2022 so there is still time to register if you feel prepared. Becoming an Accredited Editor, or AE, demonstrates that you have a high and guaranteed level of professional expertise and provides potential employers with confidence in your skills.
If you would like to know more about the accreditation process or have any questions about sitting the exam, please contact Helen Bradford (edanz.ab@iped-editors.org) and she will be happy to help.
To those of you studying for the exam, the committee hopes your preparations are going well and we wish you all the best on exam day.
To register, go to the exam registration page on the IPEd website.
Also worth noting is the 2023 IPEd Conference. Plans for the conference are well underway, with the conference committee meeting regularly to put together a stellar program of events.
The conference will be held online in the first two weeks of May 2023. The online format will include a range of presentations, panel discussions and workshops with plenty of opportunities for delegates to network and get together in breakout rooms, and some opportunities to meet in person.
The committee is also keen to hear from you if there is something in particular you would like to see happening at the conference, or if you have ideas for events.
The call for papers has gone out, so please spread the news to any colleagues who may be interested in being part of this conference.
You will have seen the call for volunteers to help with the conference. We are looking for all sorts of help and varying levels of commitment, so please put your hand up and have fun with us.
Caroline Simpson is our EdANZ conference committee representative and you can’ email her at: conference2023@iped-editors.org. She would love to hear from you.
Take care and keep warm and well.
Memoir – between reality and imagination
By Jane Matthews
In the recent workshops entitled “Their life in your hands: Editing memoir”, presenter Pamela Hewitt AE (Emend Editing, Sydney) generously shared with us the practical knowledge and insights she has garnered through editing several memoir manuscripts, many of which have received awards.
Pamela has decades of experience in editing and writing, and she was an informative and engaging teacher.
Memoir is a first-person narrative, a personal memory, about a slice of life (large or small). It is not fiction, but often provokes questions formerly raised through the fiction genre. Pamela discussed the blurred boundaries between memoir and biography, autobiography and autofiction and gave us several examples of well-written memoirs.
Self-publishing has resulted in a rise in memoir, which is becoming a more popular genre. It is no longer only the famous or infamous sharing their stories. Pamela said there is a certain zeitgeist around which memoirs will become popular, and why.
As the title of the presentations suggests, Pamela talked about the responsibilities editors have to memoir authors (and readers), but reminded us that the lives of other – possibly unwitting or unwilling – ‘characters’ in their stories are also in the editor’s hands. This requires sensitive handling.
As well as the ethical and moral responsibilities of guiding the author, Pamela alerted us to the legal aspects of everything from plagiarism to defamation and literary fraud, and when to seek legal advice.
As with any genre, the editor plays a key role in helping to transfer the story from the writer to the reader. Pamela stressed the most important part of the job is to ensure the story is well written. The reader needs to be able to relate to the narrative – to the author’s struggles, how they survived and changed and the lessons they learned.
It was nice to meet fellow editors in breakout groups where we shared experiences and issues which might arise while editing memoir.
Pamela gave us plenty of food for thought and some great advice to use in our own practices. I look forward to attending any presentations she gives in future.
New members
Victoria McPherson Associate Member
Tanya Ruth Gardner Professional Member
We look forward to meeting you in person. Please reach out if you need help navigating IPEd.
Forthcoming course
“Anti-hustle marketing and business development for freelancers”
Date: Saturday, 30 July 2022
Time: 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm NZST
Venue: online via Zoom
Details:
Marketing a freelance editing business can be uncomfortable for many of us. Some of the strategies most often recommended can turn off those of us who don’t gravitate towards large networks, or who aren’t happy participants in the structures of late capitalism.
What if your marketing strategy could also come from a place of generosity? Of giving with no expectation of return? Of anti-hustle, of “unsales”, of give without take? How might such an approach still enable you to pay the rent?
In this one-hour online presentation, Letitia Henville will discuss the three-part anti-hustle strategy she has used to double her freelance income in the past 12 months. She’ll discuss how giving away your favourite editing secrets, putting the spotlight on others, and amplifying the IPEd brand can bring you more clients – and enable you to help other editors find clients too.
About the presenter:
Letitia Henville (she/her), PhD, is an award-winning instructor and editor who helps academic researchers articulate their goals to an audience of their peers. She lives and works on the unceded, stolen territory of the Səl̓ílwətaʔ and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people on the land now called the Dunbar region in Vancouver, BC. Letitia is the founder of antihustle.ca, and she writes the monthly advice column “Ask Dr. Editor” for University Affairs. Her first name rhymes with “militia”.
Cost: Free; open only to IPEd members
Booking details: to follow
The Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd) is the professional association for Australian and New Zealand editors.
