=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 6, no. 32 Editorial mailing list (digest version) Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: Business matters [4er] Maple Academy courses in proofreading and copy-editing [4es] Collecting on unpaid work [Offshoot of [4dt] Job opportunity: anglicizing] [4et] Employment tips [4eu] Studying journalism in the UK [4ev] List for typesetters [4ew] Proofreading question [4ex] Stratus Holdings [6] Just for fun [8] Administration =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[4] Business matters --------------------------------------- ** [4er] Maple Academy courses in proofreading and copy-editing Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2001 From: Tony Munn, tony_munn@hotmail.com I would very much appreciate any comments from fellow listers regarding courses in proofreading and copy editing from a distance learning organisation called Maple Academy that advertises it's courses fairly heavily in the UK. Any information as to the quality of their courses/credibilty would be most welcome. --------------------- Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2001 From: Kate Santon, ksanton@dircon.co.uk From my in-house experience with publishers, I'd have said credibility in the trade almost zero. Of course, other people may have had different reactions, but we got lots of sloppy, formula letters - no advertisement for the quality of the course at all - and could always tell when one had finished, because we were inundated. --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Ruth Grinstead Having just finished the Maple Academy course I found the content and depth good for the GBP25 pounds I paid. I found Kate's comments on the response of publishers to be interesting. I do not like formula letters either, but if you have not been working for many years they are reassuring. I have not marketed my services yet so I do not know what response I will get. Course covered proofreading and editing marks, grammar, punctuation, spelling etc. The courses run all year by post so do not have set finishing times. I would recommend the course to anyone who wants to know the basics and as a cheap way of finding out if you like and have any aptitude for proofreading or editing. --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Andrea Day, aday2@vtown.com.au Ruth Grinstead wrote: > Having just finished the Maple Academy course I found the > content and depth good for the GBP25 pounds I paid. > > Course covered proofreading and editing marks, grammar, > punctuation, spelling etc. > > The courses run all year by post so do not have set finishing > times. I would recommend the course to anyone who wants to know > the basics and as a cheap way of finding out if you like and > have any aptitude for proofreading or editing. Sounds rather like the correspondence course run by the Adelaide Institute of TAFE in South Australia. I've just started 'Editing Techniques', a unit of the Professional Writing course, for the princely sum of $130; there are eight assignments, and they are expected to take no more than sixteen weeks. --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Michele Clarke, michele.clarke@btinternet.com I pass this message on from an SFEP member It is interesting that people believe that they have paid only GBP25 for, say, the Maple Academy course. What has, in fact, happened is that they have used up the government's Individual Learning Account GBP150 to make up the bulk of the GBP175 fee for the course when they could have used it for a course that probably has more credibility with publishers - SFEP's or PTC's. SFEP's Introduction to Proofreading costs only GBP85 to members and the follow-up Proofreading Problems is GBP100 to members. Moreover, a good showing at Proofreading Problems qualifies a member of SFEP for the proofreading mentoring scheme (at no cost to the member). So, for just a little extra money, people who have gone the Maple (or Chapterhouse) route could probably have achieved a lot more with SFEP. This is going to sound very negative or pompous or both, but I feel that people should have a good enough grasp of grammar, spelling and punctuation not to need modules on these aspects in courses on proofreading and copy-editing. None of us is perfect, so it is good to have (for example) SFEP's Brush up your Grammar. Nevertheless, a proofreading or copy-editing course should concentrate on proofreading or copy-editing, touching only on grammar/spelling/punctuation aspects that might cause confusion or elaborating on points where common usage fights 'proper' usage. --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Rachel Kress, r.kress@fss.uu.nl Can anyone tell me what the Individual Learning Account is and who is elible or direct me to a site where I can find this out? --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@ntlworld.com Rachel Kress wrote: > Can anyone tell me what the Individual Learning Account is and > who is elible or direct me to a site where I can find this out? You can get an information pack from: < http://www.dfee.gov.uk/ila/appform.shtml > Information is available here: < http://www.my-ila.com/ > --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Moira Vekony, Moira7777@aol.com Or call 0800 072 5678 [in the UK] and leave your details and they will send you an information pack and an application form. --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Madeleine Wood, madeleine.wood@editorial.society.messages.mailbox.as I am aware of the SFEP's courses, but who are the 'PTC'? Does anyone know of a URL for their course info? --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Katie Lewis, katie@farnfilm.com The Publishing Training Centre at Book House: < http://www.train4publishing.co.uk > --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Lionel Browne, lionel.browne@sand-con.demon.co.uk Publishing Training Centre. Not the cheapest courses around, but by far the best. --------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 From: Naomi Laredo, naomi@smallprt.demon.co.uk PTC = Publishing Training Centre, at Book House in London. They give 10% discount to small organizations and sole traders. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [4es] Collecting on unpaid work [Offshoot of [4dt] Job opportunity: anglicizing] Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 From: Glenn Clavier, gclavier@unitam.com I have been trying to collect on a job originally posted on Electric Editors (by James Clark of Typospot. The end client who was to be responsible for payment was one G. Krummacher in Switzerland.) since February 2001. The client's cheque has just been returned due to insufficient funds. I am wondering if it might be possible to post a message on Electric Editors for other editors who worked on the project and have not been paid to contact me ... Any suggestions you might be able to offer would be greatly appreciated. Glenn D. Clavier, C. Tr. Les Services Clavier clavier@enter-net.com Tel.: +1 514 939-9960 Fax: +1 514 939-9980 FYI: The ad announcing the job follows: Date: Tues, 10 Oct 2000 From: James Clark, james@typospot.freeserve.co.uk 'FUNNY FOREIGN ENGLISH' - good at putting it right? On-screen editors required to share my workload 'anglicizing' collection of letters between 2 people, one Swiss (German-lang.), the other a Japanese lady, both taking up the challenge of using English as their GLOBAL SECOND LANGUAGE. Tactful, sympathetic editing of MS Word text doc. required. Publication targeting the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among the Civilizations 2001. Deadline for clean on-screen text approaching rapidly. If you recognise 'eventually' as meaning 'perhaps', and 'under' as meaning 'among' (Swiss author), and can navigate texts with few prepositions and no plurals (Japanese author), I think you'll know what we're up against. If you'd like to find out more about this assignment, please also let me know your rates, and your work station's parameters. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [4et] Employment tips Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 From: Yirmeyahu Bindman, raayon@netvision.net.il I am looking for telecommuting employment in editing. Can you suggest where to look? +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [4eu] Studying journalism in the UK Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@ntlworld.com The daughter of a friend of mine intends to study journalism at a UK university. Can anyone offer any comments, recommendations etc. on universities that offer courses in the area of journalism and related subjects? +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [4ev] List for typesetters Date: Sat, 15 Sept 2001 From: Corinne Orde, c.orde@btinternet.com Does anyone know of a list similar to this one but for typesetters rather than editors? I am keen to exchange information with typesetters whose normal working environment is QuarkXPress on the Mac but who are reluctantly being forced to grapple with TeX/LaTeX. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [4ew] Proofreading question Date: Wed, 19 Sept 2001 From: Andy White, adwhite@btinternet.com I wonder if you could give me some advice, I work at home as an IT Consultant, but I want to expand the number of 'jobs' I have so that I don't have to rely on any one job to provide my total income. I'm obviously very computer literate and educated to degree level, what I want to know is, are there realistic opportunities to get involved in proof reading or do you in fact need to have been in publishing to find work? If there are opportunities, could you suggest ways and means that might lead to work. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [4ex] Stratus Holdings Date: Thurs, 27 Sept 2001 From: Sean Redmond, seanredmond@ntlworld.com If there's anyone who's also a member of SFEPLine, you'll know who I am, and that a major topic at the moment concerns Stratus Holdings. If anyone on EDLine who isn't a subscriber to SFEPLine has worked for them recently and is owed money, please let me know and I can provide lots of information... I'm a former solicitor who's recently set out as a freelance copy-editor and proofreader (don't ask me why, it's a long story - "quality of life" or something like that!), hence volunteering myself to SFEP to coordinate the exchange of information for proofreaders who've worked for Stratus. ---[6] Just for fun -------------------------------------------- Piffling trifles, no. 17 'Stewardesses' is the longest English word that is typed with only the left hand. ---[8] Administration ------------------------------------------ EDline is a discussion list about editorial and business matters for members of the publishing community. It focuses on issues of interest to professional editors, proofreaders, typesetters, writers and those in associated jobs. To post to the mailing list via Topica, use the following address: EDline@topica.com For digest subscribers, please post your EDline messages to: bywater@ntlworld.com * Accented characters: When writing accented characters, please adopt the following convention to show the accent after the character: / acute \ grave ^ circumflex ~ tilde " umlaut/diaeresis , cedilla % o slash aa a ring sz German double s | long s _ line above letter * Homepage and back issues: Visit the Electric Editors at: < http://www.electriceditors.net/ > Archives of the EDline automated discussions can be found at: < http://www.topica.com/lists/EDline > All messages contributed to EDline, whether automated or digest versions, are archived on the Electric Editors' Website. These archives can be found at: < http://www.electriceditors.net/EDline/ > --------- ** The views expressed in this mailing list are strictly those of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the moderators or of the Electric Editors. ** Articles (c) 2001, by individual contributors Design (c) 1996, 1997, 2000 Iain Brown Compilation (c) 2001, Iain Brown / The Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= END OF EDline 6.32 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=