The EFA hosts online courses and webinars designed especially for freelance editors and other editorial specialists around the world. Most courses are open to members and nonmembers; all require advance registration. Members enjoy 20% off of the regular fee for all courses, and get access to some webinars for free.
Detailed information about registration, accessibility, duration of access, and refund policies can be found on our class registration and information page.
Just getting started, or branching out into something new? The EFA is here to help. We know that having lots of options can be overwhelming, so we’ve bundled together selected webinars and courses to make it easy to get started. You can find them all in our course catalog.
If you’re interested in teaching a class, please read the information for instructors below and submit a proposal for a webinar, traditional course, or self-paced course. We’re always looking for engaging, experienced instructors to join our growing team!
Looking for a course you already purchased? You can find it in your course library (login required).
About Our Webinars
EFA webinars are a low-cost, quick way to improve your editorial skills, learn how to boost your business, and hear from experts in the industry. Some webinars are introductory overviews of broader topics such as developmental editing or running a freelance business. Others are deep dives into technical subjects such as copyediting data tables and tracking productivity data.
All our webinars are recorded. Everyone who registers for a live webinar will receive access to the recording as well, and recordings are available for purchase. Real-time webinars take place on Zoom and are auto-captioned; recorded webinars are professionally captioned and hosted on our education site.
About Our Courses
The EFA provides two types of online courses: traditional and self-paced. Both are intended for your professional development, and there’s no grading or passing/failing. Upon finishing a self-paced or traditional course, you will receive a certificate of completion.
Traditional Courses
Traditional courses are asynchronous, meaning you don’t need to log in at a certain time or day to attend a class session. Instead, you’re given access to the course content one week at a time, and you move through this content and the homework assignments on your own.
You will complete a weekly assignment and receive instructor feedback on your work each week (possibly excluding the first and/or final weeks, as up to the instructor). Our instructors usually aim to return homework assignments before the next week’s lesson begins, although this is flexible and up to the instructor.
Your instructor will also be active in the class forum, posting additional information and answering questions daily. Additionally, these courses often include live Q&A sessions.
Benefits of Traditional Courses
- One-on-one feedback on your work
- Direct access to your instructor through email and the student forum (some classes also include live Q&As)
- Weekly lessons, released on a specific day of the week
- High level of feedback from your instructor
- Peer support via the student forum
- Small class size
Self-Paced Courses
In self-paced courses, you are given access to all the course content at once, allowing you to move through the lessons at your own pace.
Self-paced courses provide in-depth lessons, self-assessments, and regular Q&A sessions with the instructor via Zoom. You will have access to the course for one year. For your personal use only, you may download any materials you want to keep for further study.
Benefits of Self-Paced Courses
- Low cost
- Freedom to move through the lessons at your own pace
- No waitlists
- Access to the course for a one-year period (versus only a few weeks with traditional courses)
- Can be a great way to “kick the tires” on a new skill or type of editing you’re considering
- The entire course is available immediately (versus the “dripped” content of traditional courses)
- Regular, live access to your instructor via Q&A calls
Teach for the EFA
The EFA seeks instructors for courses in all levels of editing for both fiction and nonfiction, including technical, academic, scientific, medical, and other specialties. Our audiences include freelance editors as well as staff editors, individuals and companies that hire editors, and others in and around the editorial space.
As an organization of freelancers, we respect your time and expertise. We offer long lead times for course creation; fair, equitable standardized fees; and support with syllabus development and using our course site. We’ll also handle all aspects of administration, including processing enrollments and registrations, and we’ll promote your course in our newsletters and social media.
Click the appropriate button to propose a webinar, a traditional course, or a self-paced course. We believe every editorial freelancer has something unique to share about working in this field; every perspective is welcome, and no idea is too niche. Members of marginalized communities are especially encouraged to send in pitches. We look forward to hearing from you!
