All of us at West Coast Editorial Associates (WCEA) are looking forward to the Editors Canada conference “Present Progressive: Passion, Precision and Purpose,” which will be held June 21 to 23, 2024, in Vancouver. The annual conference is always a…
When I was starting out as an editor in the mid-1990s, I clearly remember attending a session with the late Claudette Upton, a founder of West Coast Editorial Associates and a very generous mentor.
In-person editing conferences are happening again! While the pandemic is not quite behind us, we have once again started to travel, regularly gather in person, and attend in-person events. The benefits of attending conferences are many. Conferences are a chance…
We’ve come a long way in understanding the importance of mental health and reducing stigma around mental illness.
Plain language week—October 11–15—is approaching and it’s time to celebrate. In the past, festivities have included public demonstrations, conferences, and art and music exhibitions of plain language. Sadly, there is no special feast or street party celebrating plain language this…
Over the past few months, I have had a great opportunity to work with a client to develop a mental health training program for post-secondary faculty, staff, and students in British Columbia. It has been exciting to be a part…
One of our responsibilities as editors is to be on the lookout for discriminatory language, hidden bias, and stereotypes in the text we’re editing. We want to use words and phrases that promote inclusivity, respect, and justice. But this process…
Our warm congratulations go to Legal Aid BC on their recent receipt of a Communicator Award of Excellence for the booklet Keeping Aboriginal Kids Safe: Your Family’s Rights, published in 2019. Judged and curated by the New York–based Academy of…
West Coast Editorial Associates recently included an Indigenous territorial acknowledgement on the Contact page of our website: We are grateful to the Indigenous keepers of the traditional and unceded lands on which we live and work: the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh,…
One of the best editing tips of all time, and one I apply in every project, is to begin query letters and emails to writers with a compliment before launching into the many surprising and creative ways the author may…