Our final session for the year will be a three-course dinner on Wednesday, 26 November at 7.00 for 7.30 pm, with a choice of five main courses at the fabulous Rock Salt restaurant at the Hawker Shops.
You can get a free ticket by giving us your answers to the questionnaire on the Canberra Society of Editors website <http://www.editorscanberra.org>. There are only forty available and this offer is only for members.
Others will need to send their bookings and cheques to Helen Topor, PO Box 3222, Manuka ACT 2603 by 16 November 2003.
End of year dinner
President's report
Muphrey's Law
APA workshops on Time Management
Australian editors raise the bar in Katoomba
Acronym finder
In the Yellow Pages at last
Copyright and deadlines
As we move on towards the end of the year, the committee has been busy finalising a few matters and setting some things in train for the new year. When the results of the member survey are finalised, we will be able to take account of your preferences and include many of your wishes for future activities. So keep those responses coming in!
The meeting on accreditation went well. Thank you to Janet Salisbury for managing the discussion, and to Lucy and her crew for the delicious food. Although we could have continued for at least another hour, Janet says that she has enough information to start her response to CASE. If you have any other comments, please pass them on to her as soon as possible.
Janet also tells me that the 2005 Yellow Pages will include a heading for Editors &/or editorial services. This is quite a step forward and I hope that it will prove a useful marketing strategy for our members.
By now you will have heard about the arrangements for the end-of-year dinner. It is all up on the website, so get your questionnaires in to Kerry. I look forward to seeing as many of you there as we can fit into the restaurant. If you can't make it, then have a safe and happy holiday season.
Claudia Marchesi
Muphry's Law is the editorial application of the better-known Murphy's Law.
Muphry's Law dictates that:
Muphry's Law also dictates that, if a mistake is as plain as the nose on your face, everyone can see it but you. Your readers will always notice errors in a title, in headings, in the first paragraph of anything, and in the top lines of a new page. These are the very places where authors, editors and proofreaders are most likely to make mistakes.
It always pays to allow for Muphry in anything you write, or anything you are checking.
* Acknowledgments to John Bangsund, of the Victorian Society of Editors, who first coined the term.
Nigel Harding
(This story first appeared in the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's internal bulletin.)
Some people would define time as the number of hours in the day. Others would say that it is the space that we have to do what we want to do. However we define time, we need to understand that time management is about getting results. It is not about how busy we are, or about being busy every minute of the day. It is about what we do in the time that we have. If time management is about getting results, then we need to focus on the things that will bring results. Part of the answer will be in the elimination of unimportant things that eat up our time but don't contribute much to the bottom line. This old Chinese proverb sums it up very well: 'Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.'
A typical time management program will result in:
Cost: $295 APA, Galley Club and Society of Editors members; $360 Non-members; 20 per cent discount when five or more attend from one company!!
Dates
Sydney: Monday, 24 November, 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.
Medina on Crown, 359 Crown St, Surry Hills. Tel. (02) 9360 6666
Melbourne: Monday, 17 November, 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.
Novotel, 16 The Esplanade, St Kilda. Tel. (03) 9525 5522
Enquiries: Libby O'Donnell
Industry Training Coordinator
Australian Publishers Association
Libby.Odonnell@publishers.com.au
Tel. (02) 9281 9788 Fax (02) 9281 1073
The Literature Board of the Australia Council together with Australia's leading publishing houses today announced their continued commitment to Australian literary editing and editors by way of the 3rd biennial Residential Editorial Program (REP), to take place at Varuna - the Writers' House in Katoomba, NSW, between 29 March and 3 April 2004.
Chair of the Literature Board, Peter Goldsworthy, said: 'This prestigious program has been developed by editors and publishers to respond to industry needs. It aims to identify and develop the professional skills of good editors, raise their profile in the literary community, and enhance their abilities to foster literary talent whilst working within their publisher's business expectations'.
Acclaimed author Richard Flanagan recently declared his admiration for Australian editors in asserting that 'Australian books are not re-edited in New York and London as they once were for the good reason that they are now seen to be well edited to an international standard'.
Australian publishing houses recognise the program as a milestone in the professional development of staff and in the overall development of professionalism in Australian literary editing. It allows mid-career editors to take part in an intensive five-day program to develop literary editing skills with highly respected industry practitioners, including three of Australia's most accomplished editors.
HarperCollins Fiction Publisher, Linda Funnell, said: 'REP aims to raise the bar for editorial practice, to raise the standards and increase awareness inside and outside the industry of the importance of editing and editors to the literature of this country. It is a rare privilege to be involved in a project that attracts so much support across the writing and publishing community'.
Allen & Unwin Managing Director, Patrick Gallagher, said: 'In a climate where editors are receiving less in-house support than they could once expect, a training course such as this is enormously valuable, as is the chance to spend an intensive week with their peers'.
The closing date for applicants interested in attending REP is Tuesday, 9 December 2003.
Participants will be selected by the members of the 2004 REP Committee: Chair, Linda Funnell (HarperCollins), Bernadette Foley (Pan Macmillan), Jane Palfreyman (Random House), Nicola Evans (Literature Board), Peter Bishop (Varuna), Clare Forster (Penguin Books Australia), Annette Barlow (Allen & Unwin) and Robyn Sheahan-Bright (Program Manager).
This program is administered by the Literature Board of the Australia Council, with the assistance of members from the Australian publishing industry.
Guidelines and application forms are available from Robyn
Sheahan-Bright, Program Manager,
tel. (07) 4972 9760 or email <rsheahan@tpgi.com.au>.
The Residential Editorial Program (REP) is a training program for mid-career editors who would like to enhance their literary editing skills through intensive workshops with highly experienced and respected industry practitioners. The program is designed to complement the Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship program and recognises editors' need for mentorships and advanced in-service training with senior members of the editorial profession and publishing industry.
Supported by the Literature Board of the Australia Council, the REP aims to enhance the standard of writing published in Australia by:
Twelve participants will be chosen by the organising committee on the basis of their applications. Participants or their employers will be expected to contribute toward the cost of the program, though there will be a limited number of scholarships available for freelance and indigenous editors. Applications close Tuesday, 9 December 2003. Successful applicants will be notified by the end of December 2003.
The REP 2004 will take place from Monday, 29 March - Saturday, 3 April 2004 at Varuna, the Writers' House, in Katoomba NSW. Participants and mentors will stay nearby in Katoomba.
Applicants must:
Successful applicants will be required to sign a letter of agreement accepting the conditions for the REP. The following conditions apply:
In a recent job, CSE member Ann Milligan needed to know the meaning of the undefined abbreviation MRCA. Using
<http://www.acronymfinder.com> she produced the list:
from which she identified the one relevant in her context. Ann recommends the site to anyone with similar questions.
As Claudia has mentioned in her President's report this month, a new heading will be created in 2005 for Editors &/or Editing Services in the Yellow Pages telephone directory. Although still a couple of years away, the inclusion of this category in the Yellow Pages will at last enable us to advertise our services in an important additional forum, which will of course be accessible to a wider range of potential clients.
The deadline for the next regular issue (in February) is 30 January 2004.
Mail contributions on a 3.5 inch disk, using Word for Windows (essential) or email (preferable), to:
Canberra Society of Editors,
PO Box 3222, Manuka ACT 2603
ara.nalbandian@defence.gov.au
If mailing, always provide a printout as well.
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