New Year's Resolution for Editorial Workers: Build a Better Network

If you're an editorial worker, one New Year's resolution that you might make is to build a better professional network. These tools and tips will help you:

• Check out the links on the Networking page of the Copyeditors' Knowledge Base. For all organizations included there, I've provided links to their website and to their Facebook page, LinkedIn group, and Twitter account where available. The organizations are from all around the world, not just the United States of America, and they are targeted at various editorial specialties. If you know of additional organizations that should be listed there, please send the appropriate links to me at editor@kokedit.com.

• The blog of Copyediting newsletter carried a post in September 2014 about professional associations for Canadian editors. You do not have to have a paid subscription to the newsletter to access the blog post.

• The Editors' Association of Canada has on its website a chart of Canadian associations that compares them on the basis of
• Services offered
• Amount of membership dues
• Membership requirements
• Organization publications and communications
• Organization marketing and job-search tools
• Legal and administrative activities
• Discounts offered to members
• Opportunities for professional development and education

• If you do have a paid subscription to Copyediting newsletter, read my column The Business of Copyediting in the April–May 2014 issue ("Why Join and Be Active in Professional Associations?" on page 1) for a rundown of how to make the most of your association memberships.

• What if you want to afford to join several professional associations? I am a member of the following associations:
• The Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA)
• The American Copy Editors Society (ACES)
• The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), which counts medical editors among its members
• The Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS)
• The Council of Science Editors (CSE)

I'm not wealthy, so how do I afford all of those membership dues? I signed up for each organization at a different time of year, so that the dues for all of them are not payable all at the same time. You can use the same trick to stay within your budget.

Here's wishing all editorial workers an intellectually stimulating and financially rewarding 2015!

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