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Archive of 2010 training courses
20 February 2010
Freelancing, Costing and Quoting for Editors (Melbourne)
with Pamela Hewitt
This workshop is aimed at people who are new to freelancing or who want to change their approach to their business management or take on new directions in their work.
The workshop runs through the essentials of running a freelance editing business, from the professional, the business and the marketing skills you need to establish yourself, to the personal skills required to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive environment. Exercises include personal checklists of equipment and services, individual business plans as well as personal and business skills audits.
The business of editing incorporates the fundamentals of costing and quoting, with real examples of quotes and estimates to work through and discuss.
Finally, the workshop invites participants to gaze into their crystal balls, to assess where their business is heading, how they will cope with technological change, globalisation and economic shifts.
Topics covered
- The essentials - equipment and services, networks and skills
- Specialising - by services, medium, clientele, subject and genre
- Keeping track of - income, time, clientele, feedback, trends in your business
- Marketing - promoting your business, advertising, registers, business cards, websites, working with others
- The paragon of editors - meets deadlines, maintains personal work standards, keeps up with technological change, regularly exceeds expectations, looks after old and new clients, focuses on the job at hand, reinvents skills, areas of expertise and business directions, keeps clients informed
- The GFC and you - how will the GFC affect editors? What are the dangers? What are the opportunities?
About the trainer
Pamela Hewitt is a freelance editor, writer, trainer and proprietor of Emend Editing. Pamela is a qualified teacher who has developed and presented editing programs for universities, TAFE, writers' centres, literary festivals and editors' societies around Australia. She is active in the profession and her articles, surveys and conference papers are published widely. Pamela works with authors from many genres, including literary fiction and creative non-fiction.
When: Saturday, 20 February 2010, 10 am to 4 pm
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ANZSI, ASTC) $130, non-members $190. Morning and afternoon tea are provided.
Where: CAE, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
25 February 2010
Introduction to Onscreen Editing (Warrnambool)
with Pamela Hewitt
This is a basic workshop that covers the tasks, tips and pitfalls that editors face in a digital environment. Online editing is now an essential skill for the modern editor, but switching from manual mark up to onscreen editing involves new ways of working with clients as well as keeping up-to-date with new versions of Word and other software. Participants will edit documents using a five-step file management process. As editors we're constantly looking for ways to speed up our basic tasks. The workshop introduces macros and other tips for working smarter online.
Topics covered
- The pros and cons of onscreen editing
- A five-step process for document handling
- Virus protection, OH&S and digital housekeeping
- Styles and formatting, global changes, shifting text
- Using Track Changes and Comments functions
- Macros and other tips to save time and work smarter; prospects for the future of electronic editing
Note: Participants are expected to be familiar with the basics of Microsoft Word.
What to bring: Bring a flash drive (memory stick) to save course notes and exercises.
About the trainer
Pamela Hewitt is a freelance editor, writer, trainer and proprietor of Emend Editing. Pamela is a qualified teacher who has developed and presented editing programs for universities, TAFE, writers' centres, literary festivals and editors' societies around Australia. She is active in the profession and her articles, surveys and conference papers are published widely. Pamela works with authors from many genres, including literary fiction and creative non-fiction.
When: Thursday, 25 February 2010, 10.30 am to 4.30 pm.
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ANZSI, ASTC) $140, non-members $180. Lunch and morning and afternoon tea are included in the cost.
Where: South West Institute of TAFE, Timor Street, Warrnambool.There will be a sign at the Timor Street entrance to direct participants to the room.
Bookings: Please complete the booking form (Word doc 66 KB) and email it to to book a place in this course. It is necessary to do this whether you are paying by direct deposit or by cheque. The closing date has been extended to 5 p.m. Monday, 15 February 2010. However, as bookings are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, bookings may close before this date and a notice will appear on this website. (In the unusual case of a person paying for this course after all places have been taken and before a notice appears on the website, a full refund will be given. In all other cases no refund will be available but you may give your place to another person.)
27 February 2010
Grammar and Punctuation for Editors (Melbourne)
with Pamela Hewitt
This workshop interprets changes in grammar and especially in punctuation. It analyses the errors that surface in almost every manuscript and sets out not merely to correct but also to give a rationale for editorial changes - whether to suggest a change or to leave well enough alone.
As well as basic errors, such as missing and superfluous hyphens and apostrophes, we'll also look at the bigger picture issues. What are the trends in grammar and punctuation? When is it acceptable to break rules? How do you balance the audience's needs and purpose of the text with clients' requirements?
Topics covered
A whirlwind tour of English grammar
- Making and breaking rules
- Identifying audience and purpose
- Selected linguistic and grammatical terms
Changing attitudes to punctuation
- Towards minimalism
- Apostrophes, hyphens, en rules and em rules, spaces, ellipses, quotation marks, commas, capitalisation
Living language in the global village
- Contractions and brevity from word to paragraph
- Grammar checking conundrums - split infinitives, sentence fragments, which and that, passive voice
- Common confusions
About the trainer
Pamela Hewitt is a freelance editor, writer, trainer and proprietor of Emend Editing. Pamela is a qualified teacher who has developed and presented editing programs for universities, TAFE, writers' centres, literary festivals and editors' societies around Australia. She is active in the profession and her articles, surveys and conference papers are published widely. Pamela works with authors from many genres, including literary fiction and creative non-fiction.
When: Saturday, 27 February 2010, 10 am to 4 pm.
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ANZSI, ASTC) $130, non-members $190. Morning and afternoon tea are provided.
Where: CAE, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Saturday, 5 June 2010 (cancelled)
Editing Foreign Languages
with Emma Koch (Melbourne)
Scattered by script? Troubled by translits? Perplexed by pinyin? If these terms mean nothing to you then it's time to learn to love languages. Editors are often faced with foreign language material in texts, whether it's a quote from Goethe in the original German, a list of place names in a travel guide or an instruction manual in Arabic. But guess what? You don't have to be fluent in order to edit text in an unfamiliar language.
This short course provides editors with the tools to make informed judgements about unfamiliar languages, identify potential problems and avoid introducing errors. Get experience and gain confidence in working with different foreign languages. Learn how to approach transliterations systems, script languages, tonal languages.
Note: this course provides an overview of working with unfamiliar languages. It is not a language competency course. Participants do not need prior experience in working with languages.
Topics covered
- Approaching unfamiliar languages (including principles of what to examine, how to decide what to edit, what to query and when)
- Common errors
- Overview of writing systems (including alphabets, syllabic alphabets, abjads, and complex scripts
- Working with Romanisations of script languages (including Romanisation versus transliteration)
- Grammar (what to expect, what to watch out for)
- Language and politics
- Resources for editors
Emma Koch has over 10 years' experience as an editor. She has worked in a variety of editing roles, including as a languages editor, editing phrasebooks and language guides, and as a translator. Her first love is the Scandinavian languages, but she has an interest in all foreign languages. She particularly enjoys puzzling out script languages.
When: Saturday 5 June 2010, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: CAE, 253 Flinders Lane Melbourne
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ANZSI, ASTC, VWC) $180, non-members $240
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Report Writing for Authors and Editors
with Ron Thiele (Melbourne)
Reports are an organisation's most important tool for systematically describing and analysing a current situation and presenting proposals for action. Preparing a report is commonly a major project that requires substantial time and other resources for research, consultation, analysis and presentation. How effectively it meets its purpose depends on the skill of the author and frequently of the report's editor.
This course is for authors of substantial reports and editors who advise them. It deals with the big-picture challenge of designing and implementing a process that efficiently identifies, collects, analyses and presents information to achieve the purpose of the report so that findings and conclusions will be understood and recommendations will have the best chance of being adopted.
Please note: This course does not address grammar, punctuation or design and layout.
Participants will gain the most from this course if they have recently prepared, or are currently preparing, a substantial report.
Topics covered
- Planning: Report purpose; report context, style and constraints; understanding the audience
- Structure: A logic that suits the purpose; logical flows for reports; elements of a common evidence-based structure; report length and balance; translating the structure into practice
- Research: Defining research efficiency and understanding how to achieve it
- Writing: Collecting, analysing and organising ideas; achieving accuracy, brevity and clarity
- Finalising: Assuring quality; recommendations; summaries; promotion
Ron Thiele has more than 30 years' experience as a communications planner, researcher, writer and editor. Ron has co-authored or edited many of the significant education and training reform reports of the last 20 years and developed and implemented award-winning health education campaigns involving printed and audiovisual resources, advertising, community development activities, public policy initiatives and evaluation. His current professional activities include strategic planning, quality assuring of draft reports for a range of government departments, and author training and mentoring. His clients include public sector agencies, member-based organisations and private enterprises.
When: Tuesday, 27 July 2010, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: CAE, 253 Flinders Lane Melbourne
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ANZSI, ASTC, VWC) $180.00, non-members $240
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Advanced Microsoft Word 2007 for Editors
with Emma Koch (Melbourne)
Much of an editor's job involves repetitive work, especially as the technological requirements of the role continue to become more complex. Utilising features available in Microsoft Word 2007 to automate tasks improves both efficiency and accuracy. This course focuses on the ways in which templates, styles and formatting, and macros can assist editors to reduce repetitive tasks. At the end of the course, editors should be able to create their own templates, styles and customised macros.
Note: This is an Advanced Word 2007 course for PCs and assumes a reasonable proficiency in MS Word. The course is aimed at editors who are looking to further develop their Word 2007 skills or who are experienced with Word but are new to Word 2007.
Topics covered
- Templates
- What is a template?
- Creating templates
- Attaching existing templates
- Styles and formatting
- What is the difference between styles and formatting?
- Viewing styles
- Creating styles
- Macros
- What is a macro?
- Creating and editing macros
- Some useful macros for editors
Emma Koch developed an interest in technical support for editors through her various roles at Lonely Planet. She supported the languages unit, developing templates and macros to suit the requirements of working with scripts and special fonts. She has continued to use this knowledge in her various roles at the University of Melbourne and has a particular interest in improving efficiency through reducing the need for repetitive tasks when using Microsoft Word.
When: Saturday, 31 July 2010, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: CAE, 253 Flinders Lane Melbourne
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ANZSI, ASTC, VWC) $130, non-members $190
27 August 2010
Grammar and Punctuation for Editors (Melbourne)
with Pamela Hewitt
Bookings for this course are now closed.
This workshop interprets changes in grammar and especially in punctuation. It analyses the errors that surface in almost every manuscript and sets out not merely to correct but also to give a rationale for editorial changes - whether to suggest a change or to leave well enough alone.
As well as basic errors, such as missing and superfluous hyphens and apostrophes, we shall also look at the bigger picture issues. What are the trends in grammar and punctuation? When is it acceptable to break rules? How do you balance the audience's needs and purpose of the text with clients' requirements?
Topics covered
- A whirlwind tour of English grammar
- Making and breaking rules
- Identifying audience and purpose
- Selected linguistic and grammatical terms
- Changing attitudes to punctuation
- Towards minimalism
- Apostrophes, hyphens, en rules and em rules, spaces, ellipses, quotation marks, commas, capitalisation
- Living language in the global village
- Contractions and brevity from word to paragraph
- Grammar checking conundrums - split infinitives, sentence fragments, which and that, passive voice
- Common confusions
About the trainer
Pamela Hewitt is a freelance editor, writer, trainer and proprietor of Emend Editing. Pamela is a qualified teacher who has developed and presented editing programs for universities, TAFE, writers' centres, literary festivals and editors' societies around Australia. She is active in the profession and her articles, surveys and conference papers are published widely. Pamela works with authors from many genres, including literary fiction and creative non-fiction.
When: Friday, 27 August 2010, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: CAE, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ASTC, ANZSI, VWC) $160, non-members $250. Morning and afternoon tea, coffee and biscuits are provided.
28 August 2010
Introduction to Onscreen Editing (Melbourne)
with Pamela Hewitt
Bookings for this course are now closed.
This is a basic workshop that covers the tasks, tips and pitfalls that editors face in a digital environment. Online editing is now an essential skill for the modern editor, but switching from manual mark up to onscreen editing involves new ways of working with clients as well as keeping up-to-date with new versions of Word and other software. Participants will edit documents using a five-step file management process. As editors we are constantly looking for ways to speed up our basic tasks. The workshop introduces macros and other tips for working smarter online.
The course will be conducted using Word 2007. However, the handout material will cater for both Word 2003 and Word 2007 users.
Topics covered
- The pros and cons of onscreen editing
- A five-step process for document handling
- Virus protection, OH&S and digital housekeeping
- Styles and formatting, global changes, shifting text
- Using Track Changes and Comments functionsMacros and other tips to save time and work smarter
- Prospects for the future of electronic editing
- The broader aspects of online editing
Note: Participants are expected to be familiar with the basics of Microsoft Word.
About the trainer
Pamela Hewitt is a freelance editor, writer, trainer and proprietor of Emend Editing. Pamela is a qualified teacher who has developed and presented editing programs for universities, TAFE, writers' centres, literary festivals and editors' societies around Australia. She is active in the profession and her articles, surveys and conference papers are published widely. Pamela works with authors from many genres, including literary fiction and creative non-fiction.
29 October 2010
Asessing and Editing Indexes (Melbourne)
with Max McMaster
This half-day workshop outlines the processes involved in assessing an index created by an author or an indexer for publication. Participants will work though a three-stage process of assessment: analysing the internal structure of the index; checking page numbers from the index to the text; and checking page numbers from the text back to the index. At the end of this process, participants will be able to decide whether an index is good, bad or indifferent.
The second half of the session covers editing an index where the index is far too long for the amount of space available. Strategies that editors can adopt to prune the index without compromising too much on the quality of the index will be presented. Grammar and style issues will be mentioned briefly.
Topics covered
Assessing the index:
- Reading the index for sense and logic.
- Are entries formatted correctly?
- Do cross-references lead to meaningful terms?
- Are there glaring omissions of key terms?
- Are locators (page numbers) used correctly?
- Checking entries from the index to the text.
- Checking entries from the text to the index.
- The overall assessment.
Editing the index (from the editor’s perspective):
- Grammar issues.
- Style issues – 10 elements of indexing style.
- Zealous methods of editing the index.
- Cutting the index down to size:
- Determining how much needs to be cut.
- Pruning strategies: changing the number of columns, removing sub-headings, changing indexing style, deleting entries, reducing turnover lines, additional strategies.
About the trainer
Max McMaster has been a freelance indexer for the past 18 years. He has worked across a diverse range of subject disciplines including science, social sciences, the environment, business and accounting, and has over 1800 indexes to his name. Max lectures on indexing to editing and publishing students at a number of Australian universities and runs indexing training courses for the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI) and other organisations throughout Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. He is also an instructor for the online indexing course run by the University of California, Berkeley. Max has been awarded the ANZSI Medal for book indexing on three occasions, is a Life Member of ANZSI and is currently a member of the ANZSI Council.
When: Friday, 29 October 2010, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: CAE, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ASTC, ANZSI, VWC) $161.50, non-members $210.00. Tea, coffee and biscuits are provided.
4 December 2010
Proofreading Refresher for Editors (Melbourne)
with Glenys OsborneRevisit the general principles, finer points and common traps of proofreading in this one-day proofreading refresher that combines instruction, discussion and practice on a range of proofreading tasks.
The course is ideal if you want to boost your confidence and your proofreading skills. It's perfect if you're looking for a refresher combined with some hands-on practice.
Topics covered include:
• the ergonomics of proofreading
• how to read when proofreading
• marking proofs
• blind reading, reading against copy and reading with an editorial eye
• what to check
• reading for consistency
• homonyms and the proofreader
• alerting the editor to issues of grammar, syntax and punctuation
• proofreading quotations and reference lists
• using style sheets and house styles
• using dictionaries and word-break books
• addressing layout issues
• marking cross-references
• what to watch for
• when to question word choice.
Students will need:
• notebook for taking notes
• red and blue pens
• pencil (plus pencil sharpener if required)
• liquid paper
• eraser.
Glenys Osborne spent the first years of her working life as a proofreader in typesetting trade houses. She later became managing editor at Macmillan Education and then at Thomson Learning (now Cengage). She currently teaches editing in RMIT's MA in Communications course, is fiction editor for the creative journal Etchings and works as a freelance editor. Her first novel, Come Inside, was nominated in 2010 for the Age Book of the Year (Fiction) and for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Best First Book).