Meeting Topic Ideas

This is an ongoing list of meeting topics that have been suggested. Have more ideas? Click on the light bulb to e-mail them to us so they can be added to the list.

Meetings that we could do pretty easily

	Panel on ethical issues for editors -- Irene Wanner has volunteered; perhaps Waverly Fitzgerald; others?
	Editing/writing for the Web: Member Niquette Kelcher, friend of Sherri's, teaches a course on these topics for UW Editing Certificate.

Speakers

	Dan Savage
	Sherman Alexie
	Brenda Peterson (She was on a panel at Bookfest talking about her relationship with her editor, so she might be a real possibility. It was called "It Takes a Community to Make a Book")
	Jonathan Raban
	Nancy Pearl
	Someone from one of the SF publishing houses
	The History Link team
	Irene Wanner
	Rebecca Brown
	Cartoonist (Adam@home) Brian Basset on working at home

Guild members: Priscilla Long, writer and writing coach

Other editors: Patricia Draher (art), writer Michael Byers on editing fiction (Diane's suggestion--he published a novel about Seattle, Long for This World)

In-house editors: Marie Weiler from Marquand Books, Kathleen Cubley (Mountaineers Books)

Someone from the Editors Assn of Canada, to speak about the certification process for editors that EAC has initiated throughout Canada, once it is started. (Portland Guild member Elizabeth Raintree is the contact.) People will be expected to have had 3-4 years of experience before sitting for the exams, and certification will cost about $700, thus discouraging people who do not want to invest substantially in their editing careers. There will be 4 exams--one each on copyediting, substantive editing, proofing, and knowledge of publishing, and editors will be able to take any or all of them. Certification might not be restricted to Canadians.

Topics/ideas

	Software packages, dealing with PDFs, and other technical challenges
	Satellite meeting in Bellingham
	Book publishing trends/gossip
	Medical editing
	Snag some people from Ten Speed Press in Berkeley if they ever come up here on business.
	Is anyone knowledgeable about which keyboards, mouses, monitors, chairs, etc. would help avoid or alleviate problems caused by sitting for long hours at a desk/computer? Perhaps a representative from a computer chain would like to meet potential consumers of well-designed office equipment?

Ideas cribbed from Bay Area Editors Forum meetings

	Fiction editing
	What editors need to know about self-publishing. The role of the editor in helping the author identify the audience and how to market the book, determining the level of editing appropriate for the project, and directing the author to resources -- books, Web sites, organizations, and training opportunities. Nuts and bolts: the meaning of ISBN, LCCN (PCN), LCIP vs. PCIP, and bar codes -- and how to get them; how the price of a book is determined; how books are distributed -- wholesaler vs distributor; the cost of distribution and fulfillment; the impact of print-on-demand (POD) on publishing and the different meanings of POD.
	Editing content for the Web (editorsforum.org/forum_index_articles/publishing_11-17-04.html)
	Editing for a Young Audience
	Content Management (Software): What It Is and How Editors Fit in
	Digital Communication: New Roles for Editorial Minds
	Acrobat: Tips and Tricks
	How to Build a Great Style Guide
	Editing for Learning (Educational Publishers and Beyond)

Members' suggestions from the past (some are topics for a whole meeting, while others we could explore as part of a "Miscellaneous Freelancing/Editing Issues" meeting)

	How do you balance seeking bids with working on current projects? How do you project a time schedule and still allow room for unexpected rush jobs for regular clients?
	How do you choose which jobs to take (when you have that luxury)?
	How did you get started and how did you expand your business (could have an open discussion, or do as a panel)
	How did you make the adjustment from working full time in an office to working at home and having to have discipline from within?
	How does one find out about, and get work from, non-local publishers/employers?
	What are the standards for editors (that we should meet) ?
	What do you do when a client rejects your edits?
	How to define the different levels of editing, especially when dealing with clients that aren’t publishers and/or who aren't familiar with editing
	Discussing different markets: journalism, periodicals, public policy, government, interpretive, newsletters / PR, bookselling: stores, dot-coms, designers, medical, out-of-town (NY publishing, etc.), textbooks, authors, university presses (here and elsewhere)
	How do you break into a new subfield, get specialized knowledge, and market yourself?
	How can we use the Web to get work?

Should one have a signed work contract with all clients?

	What temporary/contract agencies cater to copyeditors, proofreaders, and/or writers?
	Proofreading--a meeting focusing on it

Referrals: referring clients to another editor; what happens when that editor's work is not good/client is unhappy

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