Social Media Marketing is one of those projects for which there is no ultimate end point, no finished product. Similarly to other kinds of marketing initiatives, those of the social media variety are done best when carried on as an organic process: one that necessarily requires growth of your brand “personality” as well as your relationships with clients and community partners. Of course, doing the legwork of giving life to our online identity can be simultaneously an ecstasy and an agony. It requires us to make the things we do reflexively in our personal lives ... read more

We’re already a whole month into 2012 and so far it’s shaping up to be an interesting year. January brought a wide variety of projects into the TEC office, all of which are keeping our editors busy. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to lately… Academic Editing TEC’s editors have been working on a number of projects for University of Toronto Press, from copyediting to checking proofs. Most notably, Beth, Nina, and Laura worked together to copyedit a volume numbering over 900 pages—and to standardize its detailed, complex footnotes (nearly 700 of them!). ... read more

I fell in love with the footnote when I was a young undergraduate in Montreal. I was learning to write academic essays: first in English literature and then in history. On my first attempt at composing a footnote, I sat down with my portable typewriter and a copy of Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Disserations. It was November 7, 1972. I know this because I inscribed my name and the date on the inside cover of the book, which I have held onto all these years. Turabian was at ... read more

Print is dead. We've been warned about this for years. I can trace back my anxiety over the impending death of paper books to at least 2007, when I drafted this master plan to my friend Vincenzo (sent via email, ironically enough): There must be some way to ensure preservation of the printed word ... As far as I can tell, sense of smell is one of the only things that modern computers aren't equipped to deal with. So basically all we need to do is start writing books / re-releasing the classics with scratch-and-sniff ... read more

In one of my first classes in Ryerson University’s publishing certificate program, my teacher alluded to some of the goings-on at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest trade publishing book fair, and the most important when it comes to international deals, publishing rights, and licensing fees. He joked that the Frankfurt cabbies were well used to ferrying about publishing types for their various illicit liaisons. I was therefore delighted to discover Richard B. Wright’s Adultery, a novel which takes as its starting point a brief affair between two Torontonian editors, Denise Crowder and Daniel ... read more

When the year is coming to an end, it is often the time to wrap things up. That being said, this will be the last blog in the Permissions Editor series. This final blog will further explore the quest for e-rights and offer a positive look at the dreaded situation (and it will happen) when finding a copyright holder can start feeling like a wild goose chase. E-Rights: Who Owns What? Resources like the Copyright Clearance Center make securing permissions as simple as the click of a button. But sometimes, these easily acquired licences don’t ... read more

At The Editing Company, each time we begin a new editing project, we make sure we have a style sheet to guide our work. What is important to know, and what isn’t always understood, is just how style can vary from project to project. Not all styles are the same! There are many different kinds of styles and it’s our responsibility to apply the style that is required for each manuscript. Style is applied to the text of the document as well as to the back matter: appendices, footnotes/endnotes, and bibliographies. What Is Style? The ... read more

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of discovering The Editing Company—a short walk from the College subway station—and eventually of joining the team as the Website & Social Media Coordinator. Having had the privilege of working with many talented writers and editors in Toronto, I know how important a sense of community is. Since August of 2011 I have been working to extend The Editing Company’s presence within the vibrant literary and publishing community. Just Your Friendly Neighbourhood Editing Company One of my first assignments at TEC was to build a comprehensive database of ... read more

Earlier this month, I said a temporary farewell to the TEC office and headed across the ocean. One of the stops on my two-week European journey was southern Germany, where much of my family still resides. In some ways German could be called my first language, but in reality it’s not entirely clear. As a toddler I mostly spoke a language that my bilingual parents referred to as “Quatsch”—a German word essentially meaning “nonsense.” Basically, I mashed up German and English into horrific sentences that would be unacceptable in either language. (For example, on complaining ... read more

In the second installment of this blog series, I’d like to shed a little light on the not-so-clear complexities of Wikipedia copyright and the real deal behind what can and can’t be considered Fair Dealing (this is known as “Fair Use” in the United States). Both subjects are often about finding the “quick fix” in permissions. Most people turn to Wikipedia and possible Fair Dealing items to avoid fees and restrictions on using texts and photos. These resources can take a burden off our shoulders, BUT we must be careful and keep a keen eye. ... read more