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Book review: Under cover: Adventures in the art of editing by Craig Munro ..3
Notes from the conference ...............4
IPEd notes ..........................................6
Macquarie words ................................7
Grammar gremlins .............................8
November 2015
Turkey, plum pudding and a large serve of bonhomie
Tuesday, 1 DecemberSociety’s annual Christmas dinnerThe Christmas dinner is our final meeting for 2015. It will be an opportunity to exchange social and industry news with fellow editors and colleagues over an informal dinner.We again have a selection of door prizes to be won, thanks to our new corporate member Penguin Random House Australia, our friends at HarperCollins and our promotional colleagues at Macquarie Dictionary. Also included is the pre-dinner drink, compliments of the society. Everyone will receive a raffle ticket and a drink voucher on registration.The bookings are closed and we have confirmed final numbers with the venue. If you wish to attend, at this last minute, contact [email protected] or telephone 9294 4999 and we will check if we can add you to our booking.
Next meeting: Tuesday, 2 February
With apps changing our lives, our content and the way we read, Agata Mrva-Montoya devoted her research to electronic media. Agata summarised her findings at the Write | Edit | Index Conference and for the society.
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Somehow, during the last few years, apps have infiltrated my life. It all started with my first iPhone, but accelerated when I bought an iPad. At first I justified buying and downloading new apps for ‘research’ reasons and to keep abreast of changing technology. Using a number of apps has become routine, whether it is to keep an organised ‘to-do’ list, to track my steps or to check the train timetable. Next, I started looking for apps dedicated
to learning and entertainment. Being totally devoid of the gaming gene, I focused my research on ebook applications.
Ebook applications (aka ebook apps) are a different beast from ebooks, with which book readers are most familiar. An ebook is a digital file (such as an EPUB or MOBI) that requires an ereader to operate (like a Kindle or Kobo), or specialised ereading software (such as Adobe
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On ebook apps and editing
2 November 2015
Digital Editions, Bluefire, and Kindle apps). In its simplest form an ebook contains reflowable text, but the more complex ebooks can have the text enhanced with images, audio and video components.
An ebook is effectively replicating a printed codex in a digital format with its linearity and limited interactivity.In contrast, an ebook app is a stand-alone software program that can be downloaded onto a mobile device: a smartphone or a tablet. Ebook apps can simultaneously handle multiple layers of content such as text, audio, multimedia, game elements, and so on. A new medium, the apps offer a range of possibilities for transforming the reading experience. ‘Reading’ an ebook app is nonlinear and interactive, and typically accesses multiple literacies.
The waste land app released in 2011 by Faber and Touchpress is probably one of the best examples of how an app can transform the reading experience and open a difficult text to new audiences. Apart from the annotated text, it contains a facsimile of T S Eliot’s manuscript, audio recordings of Eliot and others reading the poem, analytical notes, audiovisual commentaries by academics, video performances of the poem and a gallery of images. As John Naughton commented in the Guardian (2011), The waste land app demonstrated ‘the potential of technology to add significant value to a work of art – in this case a written text of great importance but formidable difficulty’.
This particular app and others designed by Touchpress, along with the growth and popularity of mobile technologies and devices, prompted my interest in the possibilities that ebook apps provide for experimentation, especially within the context of scholarly publishing. Like so many other people, I also have an idea for an ebook app, an app that would accompany one of our manuscripts we are currently working on at Sydney University Press. But where does one start?
A perfect opportunity to find out more about the app development process came my way last year in the form of a professional development grant from the Australia Council for the Arts that allowed me to spend two weeks with Touchpress, an award-winning, London-based app production company. During those two weeks I had an opportunity to gain an insight into the process of app development, from market research and concept design through to planning and development. I even had hands-on experience in editing the Think like Churchill app, which has since been released (December 2014).
Touchpress aim to redefine books and the reading experience for the 21st century. The company, founded in 2010, create arguably the most innovative apps in the world, seeking to engage readers with a deeper understanding of the subject. They focus on the production of native apps, developed specifically for iOS devices, as opposed to web (based on HTML5) or hybrid apps or those for other operating systems such as Android or Windows.
My short stint at Touchpress enabled me to understand how much work is involved in app production, what the processes are, best practices, and the role of editors. App development is inherently far more involved than book publishing. It is a team effort that requires collaboration among project managers, producers, graphics designers, software engineers, artists, writers, editors and other experts, often spread across several organisations.
App development is a complex, nonlinear and iterative process combining writing, film-making, music, photography and software development. With the ability to include all sorts of interactivity, and the lack of set conventions about what an app should do and look like, it can be easy to focus on ‘special effects’. But the principles of good app design rely on ensuring that the available technology is used to solve a specific problem in a clear, intuitive and purposeful way.
Ebook apps are driven by visual and interactive elements, rather than text. Basically, apps do not aim to replicate books; instead they focus on interactivity, providing an experience that uses different modes of communication. Having a large amount of reflowable text is an exception, rather than the rule, in an app design that requires a lot of short-form text, known as ‘text assets’. An ebook app can include a whole novel (such as the War horse app or newly released Arcadia by Iain Pears), a poem, notes, dialogues, scientific descriptions and commentary, and so on. But more often text in apps appears in captions and labels that accompany images and videos, shows up on navigation buttons, and provides context to animations, rotations and other interactive elements.
While the app is developed, text assets are typically housed within a content management system, a database or a spreadsheet. They are often fragmented and come in dribs and drabs. As they arrive, they need to be copyedited in a spreadsheet or database, often without the ability to understand the full context. The length, style and wording of text are governed not only by the app design and interactivity, but also by the screen size of the device that the app is designed for. The text should be as succinct as possible and ideally fit on the screen of the target device, unless there is a good reason to have a long text.
Similar to book manuscripts, text assets for apps require fact-checking, copyediting for grammar and style, and ensuring that the tense and the point of view are consistent, the writing is engaging and appropriate for the target audience and so on. Apart from editing skills, the ability to shorten and sharpen text into coherent and engaging ‘bites’ is useful throughout the editing process.
The final proofreading is a piece of detective work – as part of the quality assurance process an editor needs to work out what needs to be proofread and where text may be hidden. This is the opportunity to see the text in context and to make sure that it is relevant, engaging and appropriate. Editors also write metadata and help with localisations – that is, translating the resource files and metadata into various languages.
While it is not necessary for an editor to have advanced coding skills to work in app development, familiarity with apps and mobile devices (used for quality assurance and proofreading) is necessary. It is also helpful to understand the fundamental principles of the user design experience and have basic knowledge of HTML and Xcode (a suite of software development tools for Apple devices), so that editors can fix basic typos directly in the code.
For editors, working with ebook apps relies on the same basic set of skills used in the editing of books, but requires a mindshift – becoming used to the iterative, interactive and collaborative nature of app development, and the secondary role of written text and editors. The editing of apps, or other forms of digital publishing, is still about making sure that
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3 November 2015
Craig Munro’s memoir captures an exciting and trailblazing time in Australian publishing. The enthusiasm the author exudes in his recollections of his years at University of Queensland Press (UQP) is contagious, as he uncovers details of his time commissioning and editing authors from Peter Cary and David Malouf to Olga Masters and Doris Pilkington.
Craig Munro worked at UQP at a unique time when the publisher was essentially an adjunct to the university bookshop. He pays tribute to the immense contribution of Frank Thompson’s tenure at the helm of UQP. The author sums up: ‘Frank’s record was remarkable. In his two decades at the helm he’d built UQP into a leading poetry publisher in the country. The Press’s unrivalled fiction list now featured Kate Grenville, David Malouf, Olga Masters, Murray Bail, Elizabeth Jolley, Rodney Hall, Thea Astley, Barbara Hanrahan, Nicholas Jose, Barry Oakley, Angelo Loukakis, Trevor Shearston, and, of course, Peter Carey’. The breadth of authors this independent publisher garnered and developed makes this memoir a delight for anyone with an interest in publishing and editing.
UQP nutured new talent, and that nurturing is a theme revisited in various chapters, but perhaps the most succinct example Munro offers is a quote from Peter Carey asking (at the time) for emotional commitment from Australian publishers: ‘Writers will not have to be simply nurtured, but kissed and cuddled half to death’.
The team at UQP invested their time and enthusiasm developing relationships of trust with authors. That commitment helped them retain their Australian publishing deals with many authors, even as some authors’ widening acclaim drew the attention of overseas publishers.
The care behind every piece of editing, to bring out the author’s best intent, is expressed widely in many pages, as well as the thoroughness such editing entails. In one example of Munro’s vigilance, not to mention zeal, the author relates the following anecdote. Sharing a podium with David Malouf to talk about Johnno, Munro admited a misspelling made it through to the first hardback edition. Malouf rose to counter with, ‘But Craig, … there were so many errors!’ Concerned they had missed ‘so many errors’, Munro checked and found only eight typos missed in the original editing and proofing, and was bent on setting the record straight. He confesses, though, that the letter which ‘gently drew his [Malouf’s] attention to the fact that … typically there is always a
generous sprinkling of “accidentals” in a new book-length work and in the case of Johnno, it was only a light sprinkling’, was not sent. He humorously concludes that ‘in the Authors v. Editors State of Origin, authors are always winners’. From the Queensland editor, it is an apt bon mot.
Beyond introducing Carey and Malouf’s first novels, UQP was renowned for its commissioning and publishing of poetry and for using many local artists for cover illustrations. These are the quieter and constant achievements by which the independent publisher’s success is measured. Another is in its recognition of a need to amplify Indigenous voices, which led UQP to develop the David Unaipon Award in 1989. Unaipon was the first Aboriginal writer to have a book published and UQP worked closely with his community to establish the award. The results of this endeavour became widespread.
In 1990, Doris Pilkington was the second recipient of the award. For UQP she produced the trilogy: Caprice: A stockman’s daughter, Follow the rabbit-proof fence and Under the wintamarra tree. After Rabbit-proof fence was made into a movie, the film tie-in edition sold 60,000 copies.
In a few short decades, new Indigenous writers became powerful literary voices. Alexis Wright’s debut novel, Plains of promise in 1997, was shortlisted for various awards. Her next novel, Carpentaria, took out the 2007 Miles Franklin award.
What Munro highlights in Under cover is UQP’s position as a hybrid arts company that ‘brings incalculable prestige to its university and to Queensland’, and whose authors ‘have won every major literary award in Australia as well as coveted international prizes’. At the heart of the book lies Munro’s message that ‘good editors identify their author’s intentions and then help them realise them more effectively’. This brings the book into the sphere of our shared editing experiences, but it offers more, much more, to any reader with a passion for Australian literature and those who produce it.
Under cover will be one of the prizes to be won at the society’s Christmas dinner.
Susie Pilkington
Book reviewUnder cover: Adventures in the art of editingCraig MunroScribe Publications, Brunswick, Australia 2015256 pp, $29.99 (hardcover ISBN 9781925106756)$19.99 (ebook)
4 November 2015
Secretary Shelley Reid reports on some of the presentations at the conference: The role of good communications at CEO/board level by Dr Ann-Maree Moodie; Information design – a fresh approach to substantive editing that is more than just words and more than just design by Dr Janet Salisbury and Dr Richard Stanford; Thinking about thinking by Paul Petersen; and Evidence of hype – accuracy and clarity in science writing and editing by Dr Julie Irish.
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Notes from the conference
Ann-Maree Moodie is managing director of The Boardroom Consulting Group, where she conducts board performance reviews and runs communications workshops with boards and senior executive teams.
Her presentation looked at written communication in the business context, and, specifically, the needs of boards of directors for accurate, timely, clear, concise, well-argued and well-written information from their management team.
She noted that often business people were not confident in their skills to write board papers and she presented some common errors she had come across in her work.
According to Ann-Maree, board papers should be concise, logical, clear, timely, relevant, well-structured and written with consistent style. Ideally they should anticipate questions and be easy to read. Too often, however, the boards are given poorly written papers, which are repetitive, verbose, not linked to strategy and lacking in argument.
The key lies, she said, in determining the main points. Naturally, reports need to avoid misspellings, wrong contractions and using emoticons. Jargon, too, can diminish authority or convey the wrong meaning.
As with most manuscripts, Ann-Maree concluded, writers of board papers should know their audience. The perfect board paper is one that enables a board member to understand an issue or to bring a proposal to resolution.
Janet Salisbury and Richard Stanford from Biotext focused their presentation on substantive editing, which embraced both words and design, and showed that editors could play an important part in this dual role.
Both presenters have worked on many multi-author technical documents, series of documents, guidelines, manuals and various types of reports – many of which were regularly updated. Some of the issues they encountered included making changes to multiple documents in the series, sending versions of documents to multiple authors, and implementing late changes to multiple outputs.
They observed that despite asking authors for feedback on content before the layout, the authors would often require extensive textual changes only after the second review when the document was properly designed.
This observation led Janet and Richard to come up with a new and effective approach to manage complex projects which incorporated design in the early stages of document writing and editing. Collaboration between the author, editor and designer, from the start, is key.
They also noted that web design shifted focus from just the authors to the include end users. They concluded that editors might be left behind if they did not incorporate design and visual thinking into their work.
Paul Petersen’s presentation started with the premise that humans were not designed to read and write, and that writing was developed only 5,000 years ago. Socrates thought writing was an enemy to memory.
He suggested that writers were often unaware of a reader’s level of attention and needed to know how readers thought. To tackle this challenge, he looked at brain activity in response to various tasks. All our brain is used, just not all at once. There is hemispheric dominance for various functions but neither is actually dominant.
He demonstrated that our brain is not rational or logical; it is actually lazy. It uses a high level of energy, so it tries to be efficient by jumping to conclusions. Fast thinking uses less energy.
Engaged readers, however, will think slowly. And while readers are not aware of using fast or slow thinking, writers cannot assume the reader is in a good place when reading. There is competition from about 20,000 marketing messages every day.
According to Paul, technology can makes writers lazy. For example, bullet points do not convey a great deal of meaning and he suggested using graphics wisely, not decoratively.
His final caution was that if writers did not know their audience, they were effectively writing to themselves.
Julie Irish does know her audience. She works in a scientific community and, at the conference, she reported on some common issues in scientific writing.
While we all need to know about science in our everyday lives, it is complex. It involves working with unknowns and
Ann-Marie Moodie
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5 November 2015
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probabilities, and deals with polarising issues and debates, such as immunisation.
Good science writing, she said, was accurate, clear and objective. The key issues as she saw them included various techniques and styles:
• Jargon can be used to convey very specific meaning – too much is impenetrable but there is a risk of oversimplifying and editors need to identify which are the important bits for the reader.
• Hedging is the avoidance of a direct answer, often to circumvent acknowledgement of a paper’s limits and to evade other potential explanations. If writing is too vague, a good editor can find an appropriate balance.
• Adjectives in scientific writing are subjective and do not add meaning.
• Evidence as a word has different meanings depending whether it is used in general, legal or scientific sense. Alternative wording can omit the word ‘evidence’ to great effect.
• Biased language implies assumed outcomes or makes assumptions, which can be detrimental to the reader’s understanding.
• Exaggeration is extrapolating beyond the data, interpreting correlations as causation. A recent study in the British Medical Journal found that 30 to 50 per cent of press releases included exaggerated claims.
These are all important considerations when editing scientific works and Julie summarised with three key guidelines for scientific writers and editors:
• Accuracy – choose correct words, be specific and detailed according to audience, and pair evidence statements with details of studies.
• Clarity – use simpler words, shorter sentences. Avoid
hedging and excessive jargon.• Objectivity – be guided by data not opinion, avoid bias
and do not exaggerate.
So, whether it is writing board papers or editing scientific manuscripts, this selection from the enlightening presentations at the Write | Edit | Index Conference, goes a long way to adding to the arsenal of tools an editor can bring to the table.
Shelley Reid
Julie Irish
the content is the best it can be: accurate, appropriate and appealing.
While ebook apps offer interesting opportunities for the translation of complex books into readable, engaging and practical content, they are likely to remain an exception, rather than a standard part of publishing output in the near future. Not every project lends itself to the app format. Good native apps are expensive to produce. Moreover, native apps are not universally accessible from any device, which means a different version of an app needs to be produced for each platform, such as iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows.
Even within a single operating system, devices vary for display (physical size, screen resolution, aspect ratio), input (touchscreen, physical keyboard, microphone, camera) and capability (processing power, storage, and so on), necessitating a release of multiple versions of the same app. Ebook apps also need to be updated on a regular basis as new versions of the operating system and new devices are released. In contrast to print books, the electronic texts and projects have an unfixed, dynamic existence.
While turning content into apps is not suitable for all types of books, there are numerous advantages for some genres and types of publishing (for example, children’s, educational, travel) and some groups of readers (boys and ‘boys at heart’). They can be used to engage new readers and provide
new ways of engaging with content and accessing multiple literacies. For example, the Think like Churchill app was published as a companion to a biography of Winston Churchill by Boris Johnson (The Churchill factor, 2014). It combines aspects of a game and graphic novel as a way to broaden the audience for the book and inspire interest in this historical figure. The Disney animated app (2013) is arguably the most innovative and creative of apps produced by Touchpress to date. The Apple’s iPad App of the Year 2013 and the BAFTA Children’s Award Winner 2014, it has pushed boundaries of what is possible in app design.
I remain interested in producing an ebook app for Sydney University Press, but this project requires more research, planning and finding collaborative partners. I remain a keen reader/user of ebook apps, and a dedicated fan of Touchpress apps, all in the name of research and professional development, of course.
If you are interested in reading more about app development, see the Sydney Publishing blog and, if you are keen, ‘Beyond the monograph: Publishing research for multimedia and multiplatform delivery’, Journal of Scholarly Publishing, vol. 46, issue 4.
Agata Mrva-Montoya
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6 November 2015
IPEd. notesSocieties of editors vote for IPEd direct membership
The member societies of IPEd have passed the special resolution to support the transition of IPEd to a national direct membership organisation representing Australian editors.
The resolution was passed at a Special General Meeting of IPEd on Tuesday, 17 November.
The IPEd vote was held following transition ballots by the societies, which required 75 per cent of those eligible members voting to approve that society’s resolution/s and produced the following results:
Each society has a number of votes allocated, according to its membership numbers, and votes according to its members’ ballot result. There were a total of 106 votes, with 87 (82%) for the resolution and 19 (18%) against. To pass, the resolution required that at least 75 per cent of the votes be in favour.
The societies that passed the resolution will form the new IPEd at the transition date of 1 July 2016, becoming branches of IPEd and continuing to run their local activities.
The societies that did not pass the resolution may choose to hold a second ballot within four months of the IPEd vote – by 17 March 2016 – to be able to become branches of IPEd at the transition date.
Individual members of the societies that have not passed the resolution will still be able to apply for membership of IPEd from the transition date.
Kerry DaviesChair, IPEd CouncilReport on IPEd survey
The IPEd National Survey of Editors 2014 was conducted online in November 2014 for members of the seven societies of editors. The results from the survey are now available at the members-only section of the IPEd website. The value of a survey is partly determined by the response rate. While the survey had 391 respondents from 1495 national members (26 per cent), the response rate from NSW members was only 16 per cent (56 of 356), which limits the ability to discuss NSW-specific results.
The survey provides a snapshot of current editors covering
the demographics of editors (82 per cent of respondents were female), experience (43 per cent had more than ten-years, full-time equivalent editing experience), qualifications and training (93 per cent had a degree or higher), editing work (56 per cent were freelancers), technology, and income and rates.
Key results related to income include the following: a quarter of the 352 respondents earned less than $10,000 from editing in 2013–14, 32 per cent earned $10,000 to $40,000, 31 per cent earned $41,0000 to $80,000 and 4 per cent earned over $100,000.The average hourly freelance rate charged by respondents was $66 ($62 in NSW).
Where freelancers charged different rates for different types of work, the average hourly rate was $52 for proofreading, $55 for thesis editing, $64 for copyediting, $71 for substantive or structural editing, and $79 for writing.
Good data helps IPEd make informed decisions about providing services and advocacy for editors on issues such as accreditation, professional development and business viability. Responses to the income and work questions highlight a priority for professional development focused on growing a freelancing business and developing business skills.
The survey could be enhanced by including a question about GST, and reporting results by employment type (employed or freelance) and membership type (professional or associate). NSW members are encouraged to participate in future surveys.
The four-page summary report and appendices, with links to responses to open-ended questions, are on the IPEd website.
Rhonda Daniels
Society Total valid votes cast
For Against Result of vote
Canberra Society of Editors Inc. 44 10 (23%) 34 (77%) Resolution not passed
Society of Editors (NSW) Inc. 101 79 (78%) 22 (22%) Resolution passed
Society of Editors (Queensland) Inc. 92 88 (96%) 4 (4%) Resolution passed
Society of Editors (SA) Inc. 33 30 (91%) 3 (9%) Resolution passed
Society of Editors (Tasmania) Inc. 10 5 (50%) 5 (50%) Resolution not passed
Editors Victoria Inc. 122 98 (80%) 24 (20%) Resolution passed
Society of Editors (WA) Inc. 34 23 (68%) 11 (32%) Resolution not passed
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7 November 2015
peg /pɛg/ (say peg)
2. Colloquial a leg, sometimes one of wood.
4. Colloquial a degree: *From our standpoint we went up a peg tonight. –AAP NEWS, 2000.
6. Colloquial a drink usually made of whisky or brandy and soda water.
–verb (pegged, pegging) 14. Colloquial to aim or throw: to peg the ball at the wicket.
15. Colloquial to identify as a particular type, having certain abilities, etc.: I pegged him as a cricketer.
–phrase 17. have someone pegged, Colloquial to have summed up the character or nature of someone.
18. off the peg, Colloquial (of a garment) available for immediate use; ready-made.
20. peg back, Colloquial to gain ground on: to peg back the race leader.
21. peg out, a. Colloquial to die. b. to fix on a line, rail, etc., by means of pegs: to peg out the washing. c. to mark out, as a block of land, gold claim, etc.
22. square peg in a round hole, Colloquial a misfit.
[Middle English pegge] !
For!the!full!definition!list!of!‘peg’,!login!to!macquariedictionary.com.au!!
!
The Macquarie Dictionary Online (www.macquariedictionary.com.au) gives you access to the Macquarie Dictionary, Sixth Edition with annual updates of new words, along with its companion reference the Macquarie Thesaurus.Society members receive a 10 per cent discount for online individual subscriptions. Just visit www.macquariedictionary.com.au/subscription/new/ and use the promo code SOCEDNSWMQ10.
8 November 2015
Grammar and gender
Editors encounter grammatical elements from languages other than English in the various inflections that come with loanwords. Foreign inflections or markers of the plural to be found in modern English include French -x as in gateaux, Italian -i as in virtuosi, Hebrew -im as in cherubim, Greek -a as in phenomena, and Latin -a as in media, -ae as in vertebrae, and -i as in gladioli.
Gender markers are also sometimes borrowed with words from other languages, for example those used in French to contrast feminine gender with the masculine. According to whether the person referred to is female or male, a singer will be chanteuse (f) or chanteur (m). The first but not the second word has been borrowed into English to refer to a female cabaret singer. In French, male and female forms of a word are often distinguished simply by the absence or presence of -e, for example cousin (m)/cousine (f). This final -e is so strongly associated with feminine gender that it is sometimes attached in English to French loanwords which did not actually have it. One example is the French word chaperon, which originally referred to a kind of hood worn by ladies, and in the 18th century became the name for an older woman who accompanied a younger one in public places for the sake of propriety – if not her protection. The spelling chaperone is on the Oxford Dictionary’s record since 1720, reflecting the fact that it usually denoted a female companion or protector, and was usually pronounced to rhyme with “own” rather than “on”.
But not all French words ending in -e refer to females, witness the French word artiste, which as the Oxford Dictionary shows, refer to both male
and female practitioners of the fine arts when originally borrowed in the 15th century. It continued to be gender-neutral when trimmed back to artist in 16th century English. Curiously, a form with -e (artiste) was revived in late 18th century English to refer to typically male stage artists and performers, although now also to striptease dancers, according to the Macquarie Dictionary (3rd edition 1997).
Latin grammar also presents several contrasting pairs of suffixes for both male and female roles: -us/-a as in dominus/domina for “lord/lady”, and -us/-a as in servus/serva for the male and female slave. Yet, as in French, those same inflections also appeared on nouns that did not have any gender associated with them, for example focus, nucleus, terminus; and formula, lacuna, spatula. So the Latin suffixes do not mark gender systematically, only in certain pairs of words that refer to human roles. This is what is known among grammarians as “natural gender”, and it applies equally to English pairs like policeman/policewoman. Compare what is called “grammatical gender” (as in French and Italian) where every noun, whatever it refers to, is classified as either “masculine” or “feminine”, preceded by masculine or feminine determiners (le/la, un/une or il/la, uno/una), and followed by masculine or feminine forms of adjectives. Grammatical gender is thus quite systematic in the language, whereas natural gender relates only to special pairs or individual nouns where male/female differences are built in.
Natural gender is of course the issue when it comes to Latin pairs, like referring to male and female graduates of a particular university: alumnus/alumna in the singular, and in the plural alumni/alumnae. Of the four forms, alumni is by far the commonest, not because of a shortage of female graduates, rather that the male form is usually taken to include the female when referring to graduates at large. But when it comes to the individual graduate, writers and editors are obliged to select either alumnus (m) or the less well-known alumna (f), according to natural gender. This is straightforward enough with traditional first names, but not so predictable with graduates bearing one-off names invented by
their parents, and very challenging with names of Asian graduates.
What is needed of course is a gender-free word for referring to a graduate in the singular. A creative suggestion at one of Sydney’s universities is to use alumn (plural alumns) as anglicised/modernised forms for the legacy Latin alumnus/alumna and alumni/alumnae. In fact the shortened form alumn has long been used in Swedish. It would serve us well in English too, providing a word for the graduate which is free of both natural and grammatical gender.
Pam Peters DE, Macquarie University
Grammar gremlins
G G
New members
Professional
Sarah Fitzherbert
Mark Ray
Helen Signey
Associates
Veronica Brady
Alexander Brown
Dante
Heather McCormack
Anna Najdzien
Adam Thomas
Kerry Thomas
Paula Tuffy
Student
Caroline Birch
Copy deadline for the next (December)
issue of
Blue PencilTuesday, 1 December
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Society of Editors (NSW) Inc.2015 committeePresident: Zoë Hale
Email: [email protected]
Vice-president: Julie Ganner Email: [email protected]
Secretary: Shelley Reid
Email: [email protected]
Treasurer: Susie Pilkington
Email: [email protected]
Newsletter editor: Meredith McGowan
Email: [email protected]
Professional membership coordinator: Russell Noakes
Email: [email protected]
Mentoring coordinator: Zoë Hale
Email: [email protected]
Social media coordinator: Abigail Nathan
Email: [email protected]
Freelancers’ lunch host: Terry Johnston
Email: [email protected]
Meetings coordinator: Shannon Kelly
Email: [email protected]
General committee members: Robyn Short
Email: [email protected] Rhonda Daniels
Email: [email protected]
IPEd councillor: Julie Ganner
Email: [email protected]
Accreditation Board representative (NSW): Alison Moodie
Email: [email protected]
Administration Office manager: Susie Pilkington
Administration officer for publicity, membership and events coordination. Email: [email protected]
Society of Editors (NSW) Inc.PO Box 254, Broadway NSW 2007 Voicemail: 9294 4999www.editorsnsw.com© 2015 The Society of Editors (NSW) Inc.ISSN 2202-1361 (Online)
Blue PencilEditor: Meredith McGowanAssistants: Susie Pilkington and Julie GannerBlue Pencil is available in interactive digital format (PDF). Open with Adobe reader to get the best results.Published: generally 11 issues a year (combined January–February issue).Your comments and contributions are welcome. Post them to the Editor, Blue Pencil, Society of Editors (NSW) Inc., PO Box 254, Broadway NSW 2007, or email the editor at [email protected]
Copy deadline December issue is 1 DecemberThe views expressed in the articles and letters, or the material contained in any advertisement or attachment, are those of individual authors, not of the Society of Editors (NSW) Inc.
Advertising ratesFull page $375; half page $200; one-third page $125; quarter page $100; one-sixth page $75 (half of one column). Circulation: approximately 400. Please note that the committee reserves the right to decide whether advertisements are appropriate for this newsletter.
MembershipMembership of the Society of Editors (NSW) Inc. is open to anyone working as an editor for publication (print or electronic documents) and anyone who supports the society’s aims. Membership is available in different categories.
Membership runs for a calendar year. The 2015 fees are $105 for professional members (new or renewal), $85 for associate members (new or renewal) and $45 for student members. Interested organisations can become corporate associates for $400 per year.
To obtain a membership application form visit the Society of Editors (NSW) Inc. website www.editorsnsw.com, phone 9294 4999 (voicemail) or email [email protected].
Listing in the Editorial Services DirectoryThe Editorial Services Directory is available online at www.editorsnsw.com/esd New listings and updates can be added quarterly as follows:
• January (deadline 31 December)• April (deadline 31 March)• July (deadline 30 June)• October (deadline 30 September).
The cost is $45 per year in addition to the fee for membership of the society. Only professional members are eligible for a listing. New listings should be submitted using a template available from the office manager at [email protected]
Committee meetingsAll members are welcome to attend the society’s committee meetings, generally held on the second Tuesday of each month. Please contact a committee member for details if you wish to attend the next meeting.
ABN 53 030 428 517
