If you are involved or interested in academic editing, the Academic Editing (AE) Chapter will allow you to build your professional network, share information, and discuss relevant topics. Our regular programming includes quarterly virtual informational meetings, hosted alternately by the EFA and Editors Canada, and more frequent, small-group meetings like the EFA / Editors Canada Joint Academic Editing Book Club (JAEBC) and our monthly Coffee Chats.

The chapter is a collaboration between the EFA and Editors Canada, which was formed in early summer 2022. After conducting focus groups in 2021, the EFA formed an academic editing working group that reached out to colleagues in Editors Canada to propose creating a partnership. The virtual launch event in September 2022 was attended by nearly 250 people from around the globe, and the chapter was born! We currently have over 900 members in the chapter.

The Chapter’s efforts are run by volunteers who are members of either organization, and both organizations market the chapter events and provide support. Presently, the EFA hosts the AE Chapter’s website and email, and the EFA has granted the chapter funds to support administrative costs and to provide honorariums for guest speakers. We invite anyone who performs academic editing in any capacity to participate in the activities and events free of charge, and you do not have to be a member to participate.

The AE Chapter is organized into working groups with a leadership team overseeing all efforts. The Organizational Chart is a living and changing document that shows the solid team of dedicated volunteers who are building and running chapter activities and events.

Interested in joining our mailing list and receiving our newsletter? Sign up for our mailing list here. And to read past issues, visit here.

Have questions or want to volunteer? Email the co-coordinators at chap_academic@the-efa.org. Our team at Editors Canada can be reached at academic.editing@editors.ca.

Upcoming Events

October Coffee Chat: Cold Emails and Letters of Introduction

Thursday, October 17 | 4 p.m. PDT / 7 p.m. EDT | Register

Marketing: Some freelancers love it, some hate it. But editors in both camps might be united in their dread of crafting a cold email: reaching out to someone they probably don’t know to offer a service that might not be needed. It’s like dropping a bucket into a very, very deep well. You just don’t know if you’ll ever reach the water, let alone pull some up.

Join us to discuss making the most out of the cold email:

• How can you make this marketing strategy pay off?
• How do you find the right person to email—or is a telephone call better?
• What do you say?
• How long should the letter be?
• What will the recipient need to know?
• Is it similar to a cover letter in a job application—and if it’s been a decade or so since you wrote one of those, what should you say?
• Should you include a résumé? Testimonials?
• Should you follow up, and if so, when?

It’s enough to make you want to work in a call center! (Almost.) Join us on October 17 to learn about the cold email. And if you’ve had success or hired someone thanks to a cold email, Zoom in and give us the tea!

(Alt text: A computer screen showing four people in a video call is next to a stack of books, a coffee cup, and a plant. Copyright: pongsirionkham © 123RF.com)

Past Events

Recordings of past events are available to watch on our YouTube channel.

• Sep. 20, 2024 | EFA / Editors Canada Joint Academic Editing Book Club (JAEBC) | a discussion with author Karen Yin about The Conscious Style Guide: A Flexible Approach to Language That Includes, Respects, and Empowers
• Sep. 11, 2024 | September Coffee Chat: Author Queries
• Aug. 15, 2024 | August Coffee Chat: The Joys of Editing
• Jul. 16, 2024 | July Coffee Chat: AI for Academic Editors
• Jun. 11, 2024 | June Coffee Chat: Macros and Productivity Tools
• Jun. 10, 2024 | Let’s Talk About . . . Indexing | a talk by Jolanta N. Komornicka and Alex Peace
• Jun. 7, 2024 | JAEBC | a discussion with authors Cara M. Jordan and Leslie Castro-Woodhouse about The Art of Academic Editing
• May 7, 2024 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Conferences
• Apr. 12, 2024 | JAEBC | a discussion with author Amitava Kumar about Every Day I Write the Book
• Apr. 9, 2024 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Style Sheets
• Mar. 12, 2024 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Taxes
• Feb. 29, 2024 | Webinar: Introduction to Coaching Academic Writers with Kate Vacek
• Feb. 14, 2024 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Editor–Client Relationships
• Feb. 2, 2024 | JAEBC | a discussion with authors Katelyn E. Knox and Allison Van Deventer about The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook: Exercises for Developing and Revising Your Book Manuscript
• Jan. 18, 2024 | From Academia into Academic Editing: A Panel for Prospective Editors
• Jan. 17, 2024 | Call for Volunteers
• Jan. 11, 2024 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Setting Rates
• Dec. 14, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Mulled W(h)ine!
• Nov. 30, 2023 | Let’s Talk About . . . Creating a Successful Network | a talk by Linda Ruggeri and Brittany Dowdle | event recording available here
• Nov. 16, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Billing
• Nov. 10, 2023 | JAEBC | a discussion of Patricia Matthew’s Written/Unwritten: Diversity and the Hidden Truths of Tenure
• Oct. 30, 2023 | Academic Editing Co-Working Session
• Oct. 19, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Marketing
• Sep. 21, 2023 | Let’s Talk About . . . Communicating Science through Comedy | a talk by Kasha Patel
• Sep. 12, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Working with Students
• Sep. 8, 2023 | JAEBC | a discussion of Rachael Cayley’s Thriving as a Graduate Writer | event recording available here
• Aug. 23, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Agreements and Contracts
• Jul. 13, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat: Taking Vacations as a Freelancer
• Jun. 22, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat
• May 5, 2023 | JAEBC | a discussion of Linda Ruggeri and Brittany Dowdle’s Networking for Freelance Editors: Practical Strategies for Networking Success
• Apr. 28, 2023 | Let’s Talk About . . . AI and Automation for Editorial Project Management | a talk by Dr. Cathy Hannabach
• Apr. 17, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat
• Apr. 3, 2023 | JAEBC | a discussion with author Laura Portwood-Stacer about The Book Proposal Book
• Mar. 23, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat
• Mar. 10, 2023 | JAEBC | a discussion of Anne E. Greene’s Writing Science in Plain English
• Feb. 3, 2023 | JAEBC | a discussion of Marcus Weaver-Hightower’s How to Write Qualitative Research
• Jan. 27, 2023 | Let’s Talk About . . . Working with ESL/EFL/Multilingual Authors | a talk by Katharine O’Moore-Klopf
• Jan. 12, 2023 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat
• Jan. 6, 2023 | JAEBC | a discussion of Ellen Bryant Voigt’s The Art of Syntax
• Dec. 15, 2022 | Academic Editing Coffee Chat
• Dec. 2, 2022 | JAEBC | a discussion of Pamela Haag’s Revise
• Nov. 4, 2022 | JAEBC | a discussion of Helen Sword’s Stylish Academic Writing
• Sep. 23, 2022 | Academic Editing chapter launch | Summary Report—Academic Editing Chapter Launch Event

Applicable Harassment Policies

• EFA’s Anti-Harassment Policy
• Editors Canada’s Workplace Harassment Policy