Conference by numbers

I've just returned from my annual trip to the SfEP conference. It went something like this.

3 - people I really did not want to talk to.

2 - people who apparently did not want to talk to me.

8 - people who came to my workshop.

1 - workshop I attended, apart from my own.

9 - my room number.

100+ - people in attendance.

8 - people on my table at the banquet.

2 - bottles of wine on the banquet table for 8 people to share for the entire meal.

50-something - times I logged in to Twitter while sitting in seminars.

197 - total emails awaiting my attention on my return.

534 - items awaiting my attention in my RSS feed on my return.

1 - friend/chauffeur I fed when arrived home last night.

5 - minutes it took me to log into the campus wifi network (a record, as I had no problems).

0 - complaints I made this year (also a record, as I usually have at least one issue).

A moan* of editors

Garblage warning: I'm tired. Apologies in advance for typos and general ramblingness.

It's September and that means it's time for the annual gathering of the SfEP. I almost didn't go this year but had my arm twisted by the organisers, who wanted me to present something. Copy-editors and proofreaders tend to be seen as rather staid, possibly because many of us live with a level of pedantry akin to borderline OCD. I don't mean that we are inflexible about language rules, more that it's hard for us to resist whipping out a pen in a restaurant and correcting the typos on the menu.

Put more than 100 of us together for 2 and a bit days and, well, you can probably imagine what a lot of the conversations might be like. However, we do like to have fun. And while some of the older, more staid members are indeed likely to toddle off to bed at 10pm after a small sherry, there's enough of us who are bit more rock 'n' roll about staying up drinking beyond chucking-out time. So quite a few of us are probably coping with extended hangovers just now. I certainly didn't relish falling into my own bed back at home last night at midnight, then having to get up at 6.30 this morning to edit for an overseas client on a major time difference...

But I digress. there was a lot to pack in over the 2 and a bit days, what with workshops, seminars, guest lecturers (including the very wonderful David Crystal, our VP and witty speaker) and entertainments. I prepared nothing in advance for my slot, because I'm like that - I like to just run with something. And as I was doing a live on the net demo, it didn't need a lot of prepping. Although I could have done without the hangover from the previous night's bar antics. As usual, I failed to win anything on the raffle but I did come home with a nice mug and a book.

What I most enjoy about events like this is the opportunity to take a break from work and let my hair down among friends and colleagues while learning new things. One workshop I sat in consisted of a collective brainstorm to share useful resources such as online specialist dictionaries. You don't know what you don't know until you sit down with others who know things and offer them to you freely.

Now I'm home - the cat has pissed on the mat to show his displeasure at being left to fend for himself (with only a neighbour between him and starvation), I have 7 messages on my ansaphone, a mountain of post and a very full inbox. Normal life - hello!



* As far as I know editors have no collective noun - moan was recently suggested by a colleague and rather appropriate it is too...

Treading on very sensitive toes

Oh dear! It rather looks as if I have upset someone's carefully arranged Victorian costermonger's barrow...

Back in early August, I wrote about a very rugged online debate taking place within the SfEP over whether the organisation should have a presence on Facebook, to attract new members and publicise itself to a wide audience. The debate swiftly turned into something else - namely, how sinister is Facebook because it collects data on members. Those in favour of taking SfEP onto Facebook became very frustrated by attempts to derail what should have been a sensible discussion about finding new ways to secure the future of the organisation and expand its membership and renown.

Some of my own frustration spilled over into this blog and I used the term Luddites to describe some of my more stubborn colleagues. I make no apology for that.

Nevertheless, those SfEP members on Facebook banded together and set up an "unofficial" group there. It has already drawn at least one new member into the SfEP.

Today, someone calling themselves Faceless left a comment on that entry. Hmmm, it would have been fair comment at the time but leaving it until 6 whole weeks later was a bit pointless. I have been pondering the identity of Faceless, who clearly knows who I am but prefers to leave anonymous remarks on an out-of-date blog instead of picking up the phone and communicating directly with me. That's what I call gutless. And I'm 99.9% certain of Faceless's identity.

The most irritating thing is that same tiny band who would prefer that SfEP remain stuck in a time warp continue to stir up discussions about how awful Facebook allegedly is. Yet none of them have been on there to see it for themselves and criticise from a position of knowledge. Nor do some of them have any qualms about inventing facts - the SfEP Facebookers have been accused of using the group there to engage in "seaside postcard humour" and bring the SfEP into disrepute. Neither of these is true of course, but the detractors will never join Facebook to see for themselves and get their facts straight.

I would find it all quite laughable if it wasn't so pathetic. And if I wasn't being sent offensive mails by some so-called colleagues because of it all.

The SfEP is a fantastic organisation for editors and proofreaders. Our leadership works incredibly hard to boost the profile of our profession, to raise professional standards and to provide excellent membership benefits, among many other things. It's a real pity that the small handful who appear to hark back to some mythical golden age (when all editors tugged their forelocks, used blue pencils and quill pens, and drank lashings of ginger beer) seem so hellbent on stopping progress.

But, as one of my colleagues once said, albeit in a slightly different context, the gloves are off now...

Risky business

It's clearly my lucky day for being offered commissions.

I'm halfway through preparing a quote to turn a bunch of speeches on financial matters into a book. I normally charge per hour but the commissioning editor wants a quote per article. There are around 15 manuscripts in total, which have all been transcribed, and I am tempted to offer a discount if she hires me to do them as a job lot. It's worth her while as she will get uniformity of house style if she employs only one person to do the job and from my end, I get more work and earn a reasonable fee.

A publisher that specialises in financial books of various kinds commissioned me at the start of the year to edit a book on investment banking and investing in China. It was an enjoyable project, if at times frustrating because of the level of the author's English. The author, as you might guess, was Chinese and although clearly fluent enough in spoken English to lecture on such matters in the US, was not so hot when it came to putting pen to paper. Actually, that job fell into my lap sideways - a man I know only online who is a member of my professional body (SfEP) originally took the job on, knowing a bit about finance. He quickly realised he was way out of his depth as he didn't have specialist knowledge of investment banking, which I do (I used to be a financial editor for an investment bank), so he passed the job on to me as a thank you for having given him some freelance work myself a couple of months earlier. I was also the only editor he knew who had the knowledge to do a proper job. I also managed to negotiate a better hourly fee than my poor colleague, because of my skill in this area. The publishing company was delighted and has now offered me two new books to edit! One is by a French author, the other by a German.

The French book arrives next week, which is going to be a tight squeeze as I have a few other jobs booked in. But I'm very keen to have the work from this particular company as they pay me very well, better than I would get from many publishers.

I'm still awaiting the last two chapters of the global development book. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever see the last of it! I'm also awaiting the chapters for the book on hypnotherapy case histories. And there is more copywriting work in the offing for my scientific client - a meeting looms on Thursday.

Somewhere, in the midst of all that, I await to hear from the magazine publisher about the editorship I want so much...

Whatever happens, I won't be short of work.