Editor
See Out of sorts, part 1, for, uh, context, I guess?
Category: Book publishing
Out of sorts, part 1
Hands—and book announcement
Time flies when you’re living in a slow-motion apocalypse! I can hardly believe it, but I posted my first cartoon about editing and publishing ten years ago.
To celebrate a decade of esoteric absurdity, I’ve compiled my archive into a print book.
Bye, design
I’ve been firmly planted on the editorial side of publishing since my early days as a volunteer writer and proofreader at my student newspaper in undergrad, but my first paid gig in publishing was in production and design: after I moved cities for my MSc, I got a job laying out the student newspaper once a week at my new school.
I absolutely loved it. Continue reading “Bye, design”
Resolution
Greg Younging—Elements of Indigenous Style
Gregory Younging is a member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba and is a faculty member at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in the Indigenous Studies Program. He has an MA from Carlton University, an MPub from Simon Fraser University, and a PhD from the University of British Columbia. He was the managing editor of Theytus Books between 1990 and 2004 and served as assistant director of research for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Younging held a workshop on Indigenous editorial issues last fall for the Association of Book Publishers of BC (ABPBC), and it was one of the most edifying professional development events I’ve ever attended. I learned then that he intended to publish the Indigenous style guide he’s been organically compiling for the past couple of decades. Now that book is available for pre-order. Continue reading “Greg Younging—Elements of Indigenous Style”
Not just words: Comic books, health, and Indigenous youth
Sean Muir is the executive director of the Healthy Aboriginal Network (HAN), which creates comic books and videos on health and social issues for Indigenous youth. Muir gave a public talk about his work with HAN at Douglas College.
Muir founded HAN after recognizing that brochures and pamphlets weren’t really reaching youth or connecting with the community, and he got tired of reading about parents who couldn’t buy healthy foods for their kids on reserve. He wanted to recreate the connection that kids have to their favourite books and movies: a relatable, enjoyable story. He aimed to give young people health and social information as narratives rather than as facts and figures. “Tell me a story. Tug at my heartstrings. Move me in some way, and maybe we can do something,” said Muir. Continue reading “Not just words: Comic books, health, and Indigenous youth”
Trena White—Trends in book publishing (Editors BC meeting)
Trena White, co-founder of Page Two, a full-service publishing agency specializing in nonfiction books, gave us a tour of some of the trends in trade book publishing at the March Editors BC meeting.
Subject trends, like adult colouring books, which peaked in mid-2016 or so and have since declined, or the imported Danish trend of hygge, which was particularly popular in late 2016, can be interesting but usually pass within a year or two. White wanted to focus her talk on the broader changes in the publishing landscape.
“Traditional publishing is great,” said White, in that the industry is committed to best practices in editing and design. But when White and co-founder Jesse Finkelstein launched Page Two in 2013, it was out of a recognition that traditional publishing, which tends to be technophobic and slow to react to change, doesn’t serve everyone or every book. There are legitimate reasons people might want to self-publish, and Page Two wanted to help authors and organizations publish professionally by fully embracing all things digital and being interested in changes in publishing.
White highlighted a few key trends: Continue reading “Trena White—Trends in book publishing (Editors BC meeting)”
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”
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.