Author: Janet MacMillan

We have a new member! Well … ‘new’ might not be quite true as Martin has been working behind the scenes of Editing Globally from the outset: he developed our website and assisted us with many of the technical aspects of getting our collective up and running.

In the last few years he’s been gradually switching his focus from his IT job out in the world of full-time employment to becoming a self-employed editor and proofreader … and very successfully too as in the last nine months he has had a continuous flow of work to keep him busy.

As Etty’s husband, Martin is very familiar with the demands and delights of this profession and has worked on many projects with Etty in recent years. But his previous employment also prepared him well, with many years as a teacher, IT trainer, consultant, and project manager – all roles where he was responsible for producing clear and accurate documents. Martin’s experiences at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and running projects worldwide for an international financial systems organization make him a natural fit for the global nature of Editing Globally.

Martin also brings skills to complement the existing Editing Globally offering. He is particularly adept at anything to do with formatting, and he can design polished and professional publications from the ground up. Martin has worked across a broad range of subjects, but his specialisms in mathematics, physics, chemistry, information technology, and cybersecurity, among others, complement the already extensive range of subjects that Editing Globally can offer. His recent projects include formatting an international development report on climate risk; creating the references for a self-published book on the dangers of Brexit; proofreading, copy-editing and fact-checking many textbooks on subjects ranging from information and communications technologies for primary school to A level chemistry; fact-checking and proofreading UK football annuals; and designing from scratch a training manual on Botox and dermal fillers!

Martin is a Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), and he is also part of the team that manages the SfEP website. You can find out a bit more about him on the Editing Globally ‘Who we are’ page and read what some of his clients have said on the ‘Testimonials’ page. For more information about Martin and his skills, his website is the place to look.

We’re all very pleased to have Martin emerge from behind the scenes to join in our collective editorial adventures.

The Editing Globally team is now almost through our fourth month as an international editorial collective. In the first weeks, we were very busy – designing and ordering postcards and business cards, responding to queries from potential clients, letting past and current clients know about Editing Globally, tweaking terms and conditions, doing joint professional development – all the things professionals need to do – alongside our editing work.

Not long after, one of our number did exactly what our name suggests: she travelled to a conference in another country, meeting with academics, researchers, publishers and clients.

Remaining on the international theme, two of our members, along with a colleague from yet another country, committed to present a panel session at the Society for Editors and Proofreaders’ (SfEP) conference in September 2017. One of us has almost finalized her session for the Editors’ Association of Canada’s conference in Ottawa in mid June 2017 and another of us has been preparing her own session for the SfEP conference. We like sharing our knowledge!

And still on the international theme (well, it might be odd if there wasn’t one, given what this collective is!), one of our Canadian members has been in England, meeting with fellow editorial professionals, clients and potential clients. She also led a discussion, on efficiency tools and editing efficiently, for one of the SfEP local, in-person groups.

One of us has travelled to Guyana to a conference of Caribbean medical professionals, then to Brazil, and is now on their way home from the G7 in Taormina in Italy, via Germany.

Three of us continue to attend the SfEP Skype Club meetings and engage with other editorial professionals in many corners of the world. And now two of us are part of the new, in-person SfEP group in Toronto.

Recently, two of us met up on one side of the Atlantic for some mutual CPD and some Editing Globally brainstorming. And shortly thereafter, three of us got together on the other side for the same purpose. One of us was at both – the marvels of travel in the world today.

Editing Globally gets everywhere!

We have all been heartened by – and grateful for – all the positive comments and support we received, and continue to receive, from both clients and colleagues, as well as potential clients. It is lovely that almost everyone ‘gets’ that we are global editors, not tied to our respective nationalities or countries. Globalization, and people getting on the world over, is vital these days. As one of us is wont to say: if people are talking they can’t be fighting.

Although it’s not a particularly surprising discovery, in that we’ve all answered each other’s questions in the past, the fact that we now do it seamlessly and quickly is a bonus. Got a knotty problem about reference numbering or some quirky turn of phrase or wondering how to style a gaggle of solicitors general? For the member of Editing Globally team who asks the question, the answer is forthcoming quickly, and just as often with responses from more than one of us. Yes, that’s a value-added benefit for our clients, be they our individual clients or our collective clients. A pool of knowledge and easy access is an excellent thing.

Looking outward, we are drafting a selection of blogs that we hope will be of interest and use to our clients, potential clients and to at least some of our colleagues in the wider editorial world. If you have a topic or question you’d like us to address, please let us know.

In various configurations, we’ve worked on projects together for the benefit of clients, who have expressed their pleasure about the service we provide.

And, above all, we are all continuing to work hard for our many clients, pitching in to help each other where necessary (with the client’s knowledge and agreement, of course) and enjoying life as an international collective of editors.