Editor
Author: Iva Cheung
Nick Routley—Infographics and data visualization (Editors BC meeting)
Nick Routley is creative director at Visual Capitalist, a company that uses visual storytelling techniques to bring life to topics in business and investing. He spoke at the February Editors BC meeting about what goes into a good infographic.
Infographics are visual articles: they tell a story with graphics and often involve one or more data visualizations. For the many people who are visual learners, text-heavy storytelling doesn’t meet their needs. Infographics offer stories that are engaging, data driven, shareable, and succinct. Continue reading “Nick Routley—Infographics and data visualization (Editors BC meeting)”
Review
A behind-the-scenes look at the Blue Pencil (Editors BC meeting)
Lower Mainland editors have probably heard of the Vancouver Public Library’s Blue Pencil sessions but may not know what they involve. At January’s Editors BC meeting, moderator Wendy Barron and a panel of editors who’ve participated in them—Sarah Robins, Erin Parker, Meagan Dyer, and Nancy Tinari—set out to demystify the program and encourage other editors to volunteer. Continue reading “A behind-the-scenes look at the Blue Pencil (Editors BC meeting)”
Two fraught dots
There’s no shortage of examples of missing or misplaced punctuation causing confusion. When used properly, most punctuation should add clarity. But the colon has the remarkable ability to add ambiguity—sometimes hilariously—even when correctly used:
Sentence construction is really important. pic.twitter.com/WoJxCrMbD0
— Imran Garda (@ImranGarda) January 4, 2017
I dunno, he’s just one bloke, I reckon we could take him. pic.twitter.com/LVPYU6bqiL
— Phil Fersht (@pfersht) July 19, 2015
Post-truth
The trade-book trap
First impressions matter a lot, according to the psychological concept of anchoring, a cognitive bias that describes our tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information we’re given. Continue reading “The trade-book trap”
At least it’s almost over?
Yeah, I know. This cartoon has nothing to do with editing or publishing. I’d considered a more subtle “Let’s mark up 2016 with a dele and an editorial note saying something like ‘Unrealistic’ or ‘Too dark,'” but that joke’s been played out on social media. Here, then, are my raw feelings about this horror show of a year. Let’s hope things get better.
Love to you and yours this holiday season.
App
Cookbook editing (Editors BC meeting)
October’s Editors BC meeting featured a panel on cookbook editing including
- Jesse Marchand, editing instructor in SFU’s Editing Certificate program and former associate publisher of Whitecap Books,
- Denise Marchessault, a classically trained cook and co-author of British Columbia from Scratch, a cookbook with a focus on local, seasonal ingredients, and
- Lana Okerlund, partner of West Coast Editorial Associates and editor for such cookbook publishers as Appetite by Random House and Figure 1 Publishing.