From the president
By Stephanie Holt AE (edvic.president@iped-editors.org)
Thoughts have been with regional and interstate colleagues this past month as the rains and flooding wreak havoc in so many areas. Let’s hope for a drier, sunnier, calmer November, as we head into the busy end-of-year season.
I’ve also been thinking of our student members. For them, and anyone studying or supporting friends and family, the completion of final exams, projects and assessments can be very stressful. Our Victorian editing courses often release beautiful student productions at this time of year, which is lovely for the readers and writers (and a wonderful way to learn by doing, and show off their achievements), but it can be quite intensive behind the scenes. We’ll be promoting some of them in this and future Gatherings.
October turned into quite a busy month for Editors Victoria. An editors get-together in Fitzroy was a welcome opportunity to catch up, meet fellow editors and collaborators only known through online contacts, and wrestle with a few tricky editing issues over a delicious lunch. Putting faces to names, and seeing familiar faces in the flesh, is a welcome change from the ubiquitous screens. We also heard from a panel of authors at our October speaker event – a report of that discussion will appear next month. And to top it off, we took advantage of a public holiday and the interesting offerings available out of town to convene an editors table in Castlemaine to hear author Alex Miller on his latest book. Thanks to member Julia Farrell for suggesting this one!
The coming month is quieter, but there’s a Zoom Cuppa for those of you working with local government and community groups. And we hope to see you at the IPEd AGM.
Editors at lunch in Fitzroy. Photo credit: Laura Russo.
New members
EdVic is pleased to welcome members who have joined or upgraded since our last newsletter.
Professional member:
Bridget Willett
Associate members:
Amber Kelly
Jackie Wykes
Student member:
Katherine Hill
We look forward to seeing you at our workshops and events and encourage you to make the most of IPEd’s networks for news and support.
New member profile: Kate Hill
Name: Kate (Katherine) Hill
Q: How long have you been an editor and how did your career begin?
A: Just becoming an editor now! I am switching from a career in teaching. I have taught in Australia, Indonesia and Kenya. I have always loved reading, writing and art (I am also an illustrator/greeting card maker), and this led me into teaching literature and languages. Now I am venturing into writing, editing and arts again – or more seriously, perhaps I should say. I am enjoying this different (freelance) lifestyle, and am engaging with a range of creative projects.
Q: What type of editing makes up the majority of your work?
A: I’m not sure yet! Most of what I have done as a teacher is edit essays and creative writing. I have edited my own work and workshopped with fellow emerging writers. I have helped edit corporate documents – mainly education-related or annual report-related.
Q: What aspect of the profession do you find most challenging?
A: I imagine managing a number of projects, calculating timelines and dealing with different people and organisations will be tricky. I imagine writing in styles I am not used to (or don’t particularly enjoy) could be both interesting and challenging.
Q: How would you like to build your skills as an editor?
A: Via the mentorship! And by jumping in and trying. I love editing creative pieces in particular.
Q: What are you looking forward to about being a member?
A: The mentorship! Networks. Opportunities. Learning!
Prism: an anthology
By Cai Bardsley (edvic.studentadviser@iped-editors.org)
Prism is the final project of Towards Publication, one of the capstone subjects of RMIT’s Associate Degree in Professional Writing and Editing. The writers in this anthology include fiction and non-fiction authors, poets, editors and copywriters. They represent an emerging generation in the Australian literary landscape.
The editing stream is the driving force in creating this anthology: preparing cover and design briefs, selecting the order of pieces for effect, communicating with authors, and judiciously editing and proofreading the pieces.
Towards Publication is a practical guide to self-publishing in which the editorial students have 14 weeks to publish the anthology start to finish. The editorial team fulfil all the roles of a publishing team, carrying the project from beginning to end. Towards Publication provides a real insight into all aspects of the self-publishing environment.
The anthology represents an investigation of change. The prisms of fiction, non-fiction and poetry reveal illuminations, distortions, shifting speeds – endless alterations and possibilities. These works echo the end of hibernation and pursuit of new freedoms that have characterised 2022. Like rays of light disseminating from a prism, the stories found here reflect the genesis of 39 emerging writers.
Prism is set to be released on 9 November 2022 and will be available to order through all Ingram Spark sales channels including Amazon, Booktopia and more. It will also be available to order at Readings or your local bookstore.
Upcoming professional development opportunity – Editing tools to boost your productivity
Editors Victoria is excited to announce that Hilary Cadman will be running a repeat of her popular “Editing tools to boost your productivity” online course on Thursday 17 November.
In this 90-minute session on Zoom, Hilary will cover four tools – PhraseExpress, PerfectIt, Editor’s Toolkit Plus and ProWriting Aid – that can speed up your editing and improve the quality of your work.
Hilary will demonstrate each tool, talk about how she uses each tool in her own work, outline the pros and cons and take questions.
By the end of the session, you should have enough information to decide whether you could use these tools in your own workflow to boost your productivity.
Date: Thursday 17 November 2022, 7.00 pm to 8.30 pm AEDT
Bookings: SOLD OUT
The Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd) is the professional association for Australian and New Zealand editors.
