Technology

Every year, I get a much-needed break from the city when my family rents a cottage in the country. We thought the COVID-19 outbreak had made that impossible this year, but in June the Ontario government announced Stage 2 of its reopening strategy and allowed short-term rentals to resume. Although we still waited a few months to see how things went, ultimately we chose to follow through with...

Technology / Editing & Technologies

In this blog from the archives, former TEC Editor Chris Cameron teaches you the ins and outs of working with page numbering in Microsoft Word. Read on to learn more!   *****   An author recently asked me how she could keep the page numbers in her document from appearing on the title page. She didn't want the actual numbering to start until after her table of contents and introduction.   When we...

Usage / Technology / Language & Editing / Editing & Technologies

In this archived post from 2017, TEC Blogger Michael Bedford muses on how editors deal with an unending stream of technical and internet lingo, with new terms that seem to appear every other day. If you get stuck on what to do with terms like google and Wi-Fi, read on!   *****     Leafing through a copy of The Editorial Eye, Vol. 17, No. 9 from September 1994, I noticed a helpful article...

Technology / Editing & Technologies

This week, we're revisiting a blog from the TEC archives! Did you know that Editors Canada members actually receive a 30% discount on PerfectIt for Word (learn more about this benefit here)? This software is used by hundreds of Editors Canada members, so if it sounds like something you would find useful, read on to find out more about how it can help your editing practice.   *****   A large manuscript has...

Business / Technology / Social Media / Editing & Marketing

We’ve all had to adjust to the twists and turns of the continually fluctuating “new normal” we find ourselves in during the COVID-19 pandemic. And even though many of us more seasoned editorial professionals are already old hands when it comes to providing our services and promoting ourselves online, certain public health guidelines are now encouraging many luddites to change their ways and adopt some of the promotional tools...

Writing / Writers Support Group / Technology / Books And Reading

Some writers may be able to fill their manuscripts with inspired text without any outside help but, thankfully, in this age of apps and user-friendly software, we writers who need a little help organizing our thoughts have some options. Gone are the days of having to rely on sticky notes and bulletin boards to keep track of the countless structural changes you’ve made to your manuscript. Now, like...

Technology / Social Media / Editing & Marketing

Originally, this week we had scheduled a blog on social media trends. However, given all that is happening in the world today and, especially, how social media is being used in new ways during the COVID-19 global pandemic, we thought it might be better to take a different approach. We especially want to look at how Twitter can connect us in the moment and how it can be...

Technology / Editing & Technologies

The QWERTY keyboard: You may have heard this term before, or said it (FYI, it’s “kwerty”) — but where did this specific layout of keys come from?     QWERTY: An Origin Story   Well, it all started in the 1860s. An amateur inventor/politician/printer/newspaper man in Milwaukee by the name of Christopher Latham Sholes often spent his spare time tinkering with and creating new machines to make his businesses more efficient. One of...

Writing / Writers Support Group / Technology

Although in-person writing circles and book clubs will eventually reclaim their rightful places in public libraries and diners across the land, online editorial communities are rapidly becoming the new — and only — norm for writers and editors who want to keep in touch. It’s important to stay connected, especially during a crisis, because so much can change in a matter of moments. News writers, business writers, sports...

Technology

For months, I’ve been pondering the notion of buying an e-reader: should I buy one, and if so, which? I’m so late to this party, and still, I’m standing outside on the porch, my index finger hovering in front of the doorbell, reluctant to push it. When I mentioned my ponderings to TEC senior editor Beth, she offered to let me borrow TEC’s resident e-readers, a Kindle Touch and a Kobo...

Technology

Before meeting my current partner the traditional way, I spent several years, on and off, navigating the perilous world of online dating. I was reminded of this experience recently when I was given the task of reviving The Editing Company’s monthly eNewsletter (which you can sign up for on our home page).   How is creating an eNewsletter campaign similar to online dating? If you’ve done both, you probably already know....

Technology

When I graduated from university, I didn’t imagine that my career would involve working on websites. However, I’ve found the work to be useful and satisfying.   I also work as an editor and writer, and in many ways, the three things – writing, editing, and web/content management – require the same skills: focus and attention to detail. So how did I get here, and what about my path...

Technology

Ladies and gentlemen, today The Editing Company is launching their brand new eBook Conversion Services. This means that TEC will now not only edit your book, but we’ll convert it into ePub format for you, too!   In recognition of this event, I have one simple statement to make: Print books are awesome.   Now, don’t get me wrong. I support technological advances as much as every other non-Ludite....

Technology

Just before the August 31 deadline for switching from analogue to digital, I phoned Bell and ordered FibeTV. Up until now I have had no cable at all, and I never thought I would want cable. In fact, if I hadn’t had to make this move, I probably wouldn’t have ordered it.   But here I was facing a choice: TV or no TV. Of course, no TV...

Technology

It’s official: “LOL” has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. So has “OMG,” for that matter. In my last blog post I expressed affection for linguistic mutants. Now I’m starting to feel a little afraid.   Of course, these familiar acronyms aren’t the limit of what happens to language when you cram it into a text message or a tweet. Letters, sentence structure, and general coherency...

Technology

When I was a kid, my parents’ bookshelves held an incredible 27-volume set of Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedias. I would frequently rush to Funk & Wagnalls with my many questions, carefully selecting the correct volume and flipping anxiously through its pages, hoping desperately that the answer could be found there. And if it couldn’t, well, then, tough. Go to the library, why don’t you? Those bookshelves still display...