30 January 2012: Back on deck
People tell us that summer didn't really happen this year, but we managed a beautiful week in Woolgoolga and a few glorious days camping at Jervis Bay. Perfect for recharging the batteries!

While we were away, Linda from Ninti One Limited posted us a copy of the NOL report, which we produced in tandem with the CRC for Remote Economic Participation annual report late last year. The NOL report was a simple wiro bind perked up with die-cut corners and a short-length bind – and with a carbon-neutral print job by Finsbury Green of Adelaide. Ninti One Limited are just around the corner from Finsbury so there wasn't even any carbon produced on the freight.

Also while we were away was the January edition of Chicago Manual of Style's monthly Q&As, always worth a read.

Looking forward to working with you all again in 2012.

Mark and Christine

23 December 2011: Christmas closure
We close today for our annual Christmas and new year break, re-opening on Monday, 23 January 2012.

We've had a wonderful year, working with an eclectic and diverse bunch of people. For a glimpse at a few highlights, take a peak at our end of year newsletter.

We hope that you all have a peaceful Christmas break and look forward to starting 2012 rested and energised.

21 December 2011: The Vision of the Three Kings Group
A Christmas greeting from the Plain English Foundation: can you pick the original carole?

"The vision of the Three Kings Group is to leverage scalable supply-chain architectures from its Asian franchise in order to deliver unparalleled customer-centric scenarios by putting all our ducks in a row for key stakeholders in every market segment and grow our business by selecting the low hanging star."

I think they forgot to use "moving forward" in there, but otherwise that's a pretty fair rendition of "We three kings of orient are"!

3 December 2011: Another year down the drain ...
It's here: just in time for Christmas! The 2011 publication from Mark MacLean is A Year Down the Drain: Walking in Styx Creek, January to December. Beautifully illustrated by Christine Bruderlin, the book is equal parts diary, inquiry and observation.

The River Styx was the barrier between Earth and the Underworld in Greek mythology. In the mid-nineteenth century the name was also given to a small creek that ran along Hamilton's western border. This is the story of what happened to Styx Creek and how it became the vast, straight "drain" that slices through Broadmeadow and Hamilton North.

Visit the blog, or buy now by clicking the secure PayPal link at Mark's website.

1 December 2011: The Beatles: rock band?
Q. I am overwhelmed by the task of alphabetizing a list of book titles, as many of the titles have colons, commas, and in some cases, dashes separating the title and subtitle. It is all getting to be a bit much for me. Given the large number of titles I am working with, I would prefer to ignore all punctuation, but what to do in the following situation? Would I ignore the dash, the comma, and the colon and move on to the word following Band in the title? Believe it or not, these are actual examples: The Beatles—Rock Band; The Beatles, Rock Band; The Beatles: Rock Band; The Beatles Rock Band

As usual, find the answer to this (and so much more) at the Chicago Manual of Style Q&A page.

19 October 2011: Editing internship opportunity
Australian Book Review is seeking applications for an Editorial Intern to help edit, produce and present “Australia’s foremost independent literary magazine”. This, says the blurb, “is a perfect opportunity for recent university graduates seeking an entrée into publishing”.

It sure is. The internship – worth $20,000 and supported by The Ian Potter Foundation – is “one of the few intensive, paid editorial training programs of its kind in Australian publishing”. It reflects ABR’s long-standing commitment to fostering new editorial talent, and extends the magazine’s established volunteer intern program; widely regarded as a ‘finishing school’ for editing and publishing graduates.

Download the application form and description here.

17 October 2011: A "new champion" for endangered languages
Got an email from Prof. Ghil'ad Zuckermann, alerting me to this article in the University of Adelaide's journal Adelaidean. Prof. Zuckermann holds an Australian Research Council Discovery Fellowship and "has vowed to make Adelaide a world centre for language revival". The focus will be analysis of "how to resurrect languages that are no longer spoken or [are] about to become extinct", which includes the more than 100 Aboriginal languages that are critically endangered.

For those interested in endangered languages in general, and the parlous state of Australian Aboriginal languages in particular, the ABC has a new site (a sub-page of its Hindsight program) called Holding Our Tongues. The site describes itself as "project about the long and painful task of reviving Aboriginal languages".

And for an entertaining look at the key words in the whole language revival debate ("political will" and "identity"), view Prof. Zuckermann in this YouTube extract from Stephen Fry's Planet Word, discussing the phoenix/cuckoo/magpie that is modern-day Hebrew/Israeli (all will become clearn when you watch the clip!).

3 October 2011: Citing tweets
Q. How do I cite a Twitter feed in a footnote? Do I cite the website with the whole feed or mention the date of the particular tweet I’m interested in? Do I list the author’s real name or just his Twitter handle?

A. In the text, you can incorporate the facts into a sentence: In a Twitter post on September 14, 2011, Garrett Kiely (@gkiely) wrote, “Using Google, Authors Guild takes 2 mins to connect an author with an ‘orphaned work’: bit.ly/nqyjOo.” And here’s a possible note form:

32. Garrett Kiely, Twitter post, September 14, 2011, 8:50 a.m., http://twitter.com/gkiely.

For details, you know where to go: Chicago Manual of Style Q&A.

22 September 2011: Hunter editors get together
Lunch at Suspension for four Hunter editors. I gave a report on the recent editors conference, but these occasions are really just an opportunity for people who normally work in isolation to get together and have a yarn about life, work, business and everything. If you'd like come along and meet us then drop me an email and keep you up to date on plans for the next meeting.

8–9 September 2011: New Horizons
The Society of Editors (NSW) and the Institute of Professional Editors will hold the fifth national conference, titled New Horizons in Editing and Publishing, in Sydney this week.

New Horizons is described as "a broad, flexible theme that encompasses trends, innovations and new markets across all genres of editing, and includes both traditional and electronic publishing. Three streams will cover different areas of publishing: trade (fiction and nonfiction); academic, education and technical; government and corporate." I'll be there: look forward to meeting any others.

For those who can spare three days, the conference will be followed the Style Council on Saturday, 10 September.

1 September 2011: When should one use 'one'?
Q. I wonder how appropriate it is to use the word one to refer to an undefined person (probably the reader) in a manuscript that I prepare for a scientific journal. For example: It could be argued that one should consider this.

For details, you know where to go: Chicago Manual of Style Q&A.

22 August 2011: AOD directory launch
The Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women's Council will launch its Directory of Alcohol and Other Drugs Services Directory on 7 September. The directory covers the whole of the NPY lands and provides information on all the services available in the tri-state region (that is, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory).

A light lunch will be provided. RSVP to Kulintja Palyaringkunytjaku project officer Cheryl Vanderkaay if you can make it to the Women's Council offices at 3 Wilkinson Street, Alice Springs.

8 August 2011: New blog
The 2011 writing project is well under way: a third of a book written and a third of a year left to finish it. If you'd like a peak at the picture part of the puzzle, go the Hamilton North blog.

All comments and criticisms and gratefully accepted.

3 August 2011: Which is the best dictionary?
Posted on this month's Chicago Manual of Style Q&A page:

Q. In 2.51 you recommend Webster’s Third New International Dictionary and call the Collegiate its 'abridgment'. However, they sometimes disagree, which one wouldn’t expect from a true abridgment. (An example is 'fire fighter' and 'firefighter'.) Does the Third New International always trump the Collegiate when both contain the same word but with different spellings?

A. Not always. For instance, sometimes the dictionary that trumps should be the one that’s more up to date. And in vetting an issue like the spelling of a compound, where the goal is consistency rather than 'correctness', the right dictionary to use can simply be the one that’s close at hand.

14 July 2011: Plain English Foundation workshops
The Plain English Foundation is launching its first "Getting to the point" writing skills workshops. Its new one-day general writing workshops showcase tools from Writing at Work, a guide for writers in the workplace by the Foundation’s executive director, Dr Neil James.

The Foundation will run the workshops at its training facilities in Sydney. Among the workshops are "Writing  in  plain  English", "Writing  for  your  readers" and "Writing  to  persuade". Download the training registration form (176 KB pdf) for more information.  

11 May 2011: Lock Up book launch
Keep your diary clear for Sunday, 22 May, 5.00 pm to 6.30 pm: The Lock-Up Cultural Centre will host the launch of an anthology of Indigenous writing from the Northern Territory.

The launch will feature four poets – Marie Munkara, Rosemary Plummer, Ali Cobby Eckermann and Maureen Nampijinpa O'Keefe – and celebrates the publication of This country anytime anywhere, a multilingual anthology of new Indigenous writing. The poets are coming to Newcastle following their appearance at the Sydney Writers Festival. It'll be launched here by Dr Romaine Moreton, poet, filmmaker and Research Fellow at Umulliko Indigenous Higher Education Research Centre, the University of Newcastle.

Further info: Hunter Writers' Centre, 4926 3485.

5 May 2011: Plain English, Wikileaks and spin
There's an interesting sounding presentation at the forthcoming Sydney Writers' Festival. Plain English Foundation's Neil James will interview a group of writers from finance, advertising, journalism, diplomacy and politics to discuss political writing. Does everything these days have to be "spun"? Or can plain speaking come (back) into vogue? And how might technology shape communications in the post-Wiki world?

Guests include former Labor minister Lindsay novelist Jane Caro, technology writer James Gleick and journalist Janine Perrett. The conversation is divided into two events ("Spin cycle" and "Wikilit"), both on Saturday, 21 May. Follow the link for more information.

2 May 2011: Rock and roll!
It's almost Groovin the Moo time, so it was nice to see an entirely relevant question in this month's Chicago Manual of Style Q&A:

"A question arose in my proofreading class about the phrase 'rock and roll'. Merriam-Webster’s suggests that when it is used as a noun, no hyphens are required, and when used as an adjective, hyphens are preferred. Our question was whether we should choose one or the other and stick with it through the entire document or alternate between hyphenating and not hyphenating depending upon usage."

What to do, groovers? You know where to go to find the answer.

29 March 2011: Thesis editing rules revised
IPEd, the Institute of Professional Editors Limited, has released its revised guidelines for editing postgraduate theses. The guidelines, revised by IPEd and approved by the Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies on 12 November 2010, were recently posted on the IPEd website. The website also has links to a series of related FAQs for editors, research students and research supervisors.

24 March 2011: International hyphen scandal uncovered
I always thought the stories about Associated Press's hyphen stockpile was a publishing myth – until now! The truth, finally revealed by the Subversive Copy Editor!

7 February 2011: Poz ess or ess poz?
They've changed the rule!

Well, not quite, but this months Q&A at the Chicago Manual of Style online has the following question from a baffled punter:

Q. Which is the correct singular possessive form? "Professor Davis’ class" or "Professor Davis's class"? My history professor specifically requests our guide be the CMOS. Am I wrong that CMOS promotes both usages in this case?

CMOS's answer?

A. In its 15th edition, CMOS allowed the style shown in your first example, but the new 16th edition (7.21) no longer recommends it, although it is not incorrect and other style guides might allow it. You’ll be safe if you add the s, even if your professor’s CMOS isn’t up to date.

Well! Just like that!

28 January 2011: Open for business
Our offices officially re-opened today after a refreshing Christmas and new year break. (For "refreshing" read "absolutely freezing"; see pic of Mark, opposite, on the beach on Christmas day.) Hope you all had a relaxing time and we look forward to working with you all again in 2011.

27 January 2011: Editing internship
From the Society of Editors (NSW):

"Australian Book Review – at the outset of its fiftieth year – seeks applications for an Editorial Intern to help edit and produce the magazine. This is a unique opportunity for recent graduates seeking an entrée into publishing. The Internship – worth $20,000 and supported by the Sidney Myer Fund – is currently the only intensive, paid editorial training program of its kind in Australian publishing. It reflects ABR’s long-standing commitment to fostering new editorial talent, and extends the magazine’s established volunteer intern program; widely regarded as a 'finishing school' for editing and publishing graduates. Applications (maximum five pages, including CV) are due by Friday, 18 February 2011."

Download a copy of the media release (102 KB pdf) for full details.

25 January 2011: Indexing courses
The Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers will run a number of courses in the near future. These include "Introductory book indexing" (two days, 12 and 13 March 2011), "Indexing software: Cindex and SKY Index, introductory and advanced" (half day each plus lunch, 7 and 8 April 2011) and "Intermediate/ Practical indexing" (one month at home, then one morning plus lunch, 18 May to 18 June 2011).

For further details visit the ANZSI website or email Glenda Brown.

23 January 2011: Accreditation exam date announced
Interested in becoming an accredited editor? An email from the Society of Editors (NSW) released today stated:

"The third IPEd accreditation exam will be held on Saturday 21 May 2011. Like the 2008 and 2009 exams, this will be a pen (or pencil) and paper exam. The exam costs $530 (with no GST applicable) for financial members of societies of editors and $680 for non-members or those who are not financial at the close of registrations.

"Registrations for the exam open on Tuesday 1 February and close on 21 April. All registrations must be made on the application form and accompanied by the relevant fee. It is not recommended that you attempt the exam unless you have at least three years’ full-time editing experience. All societies of editors will be organising pre-exam activities to help prepare candidates."

For further information, visit the IPEd website.

13 December 2010: Contact wins AFI
Congratulations to Martin Butler, Bentley Dean and all those involved in the creation of Contact, the film adaption of the Aboriginal Studies Press book Cleared Out. Contact received the AFI Award for Best Feature Length Documentary in the AFI Awards announced on the weekend; full list of nominees and award winners here.

8 December 2010: Gathang launch
From the Gathang Language Group: "In partnership with the Karuah Local Aboriginal Land Council, I write to officially invite you to the Gathang book launch being conducted at the Worimi LALC. The date is Friday, 10 December at Murrook Culture Centre (2163 Nelson Bay Rd, Williamtown, NSW 2318) at 10:30 am." This is the 'southern' launch, the 'northern' launch having already been held in Taree.

The email says, "Sadly, we were unable to attend and celebrate the excellent launch of the Gathang Book held by our Taree brothers and sisters, congratulations. We only hope to do the book proud and give it as greater recognition within our communities as is being done in the Manning (Birrbay Country). Given the success of the Taree Launch, we are happy to accept comment and advice on itinerary and speech orders however; having said that, we have a number of Traditional Worimi Elders who will granted their rightful place to assist in all areas, performing the official Launch and Welcome to Country. We also openly welcome the attendance and participation of the respective Elders from your area."

If you'd like to get along to the launch, contact Andrew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council.

6 December 2010: The christmas one's here
Yes, just in time for Yuletide is Mark's latest 'book'. Maybe 'bookette' would be better. The oldest man in the universe goes to Groovin the Moo came back from the printer today. Not for sale, limited edition, so email Mark if you'd like a copy. Thanks to Trevor Dickinson for the brilliant illustrations and the typography idea, beautifully executed by Christine Bruderlin.

2 November 2010: CMOS Q&A
It's the start of a new month and so the Chicago Manual of Style online publishes the most recent batch of questions, and their answers. Among this month's jems:

Q. How does Chicago treat Twitter handles? Do you lowercase (or capitalize) them consistently, or do you follow the user’s preference? For example, how would you style the following handles in a story: @roseannecash, @ElizabethHurley, @leannrimes.

Q. How do I cite CD liner notes in a bibliography?

Q. How should I index the name Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo?

Go to the CMOS Q&A page for the answers.

1 November 2010: Gumbaynggirr editorial wins UN award
Last year (26 November 2009) we reported on and linked to the Sydney Morning Herald editorial written by former Senator Aden Ridgeway and translated into Gumbaynggirr by the folk at Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative.

Today, the ABC News reported that Ridgeway's editorial has been awarded the UN's Media Peace Award 2010. Congratulations to Mr Ridgeway, to all those involved in the translation, and to the Sydney Morning Herald for its initiative.

25 October 2010: Editing Aboriginal voices
Among the proposed outcomes from the AIATSIS Cultural Awareness Training for Editors workshop (August 2009) was a forum for editors to discuss aspects of editing Aboriginal- and Torres Strait Islander-authored texts. This forum is yet to get up and running; in the interim I've created a section of this website as a discussion area (see Blog).

A condensed version of the Blog text appears as the lead article in the November 2010 edition of Blue Pencil, the newsletter of the Society of Editors (NSW). You can read the article 'Editing Aboriginal voices' here; just download the Blue Pencil (883 KB pdf).

27 September 2010: Letta boks
Trevor Dickinson, the unstoppable creative force who is single-handedly redefining what it means to be a human being in post-industrial Newcastle, has just launched the latest in his series of zines that document our city's urban landscape. His 100 Letterboxes of Newcastle Part One: Street Numbers 1–25 is available from MacLean's Booksellers, honeybee (Cooks Hill) or direct from the creator through Trevor's etsy page.

20 September 2010: Book launch
Got on invitation from IAD Press to the launch of the Central & Eastern Anmatyerr to English Dictionary, compiled by Jenny Green. It's to be held on 22 September at Mobfest main stage, Ti Tree. How I'd love to be there! Good luck and best wishes to the Anmatyerr community, Jenny and IAD Press; hope you have a great day.

14 September 2010: Hunter Editors lunch
A quick lunch at III Bean restaurant, Hamilton, for editors in the Newcastle, Central Coast and Hunter Valley region. If you'd like to be notified of the next lunch (which will probably be in late November or early December) then drop me an email.

3 September 2010: CMOS Q&A
It's the start of a new month and so the Chicago Manual of Style online publishes the most recent batch of questions, and their answers. Among this month's jems: "When quoting from Scriptures, which are often interpreted as God literally speaking, is it grammatically correct to say 'Psalm 1:1 reads' or 'Psalm 1:1 says'?" Go to the CMOS Q&A page for the answer.

23 August 2010: Singing the Coast on Bush Telegraph
Tony Perkins, of Corindi Beach Garby Elders, and Margaret Somerville, of Monash University, speak to Bush Telegraph's Michael Cathcart on today's show about Singing the Coast. Go to the Bush Telegraph page to download a podcast of theinterview.

20 August 2010: eBooks Seminar
The Australian Booksellers Association is holding a seminar, "The Future is Now: eBooks and Bookselling in Australia". The seminar will be held on Tuesday 31 August, 10 am to 5 pm, at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre in Surry Hills. It'll feature Len Vlahos (CEO of the American Booksellers Association), Mark Tanner (Google Editions), Brett Osmond (Random House Australia), Elizabeth Weiss (Allen & Unwin) and Angelo Loukakis (Australian Society of Authors. Cost is a very reasonable $45 for non-ABA members. Download a copy of the flyer (136KB) for further information.

9 August 2010: I Heart Art
The Indigenous Literacy Project, run jointly by the Australian publishing and writing community, is once again gearing up for its major fundraising day in September. As part of this year's effort over twenty book illustrators have donated artwork for I HEART ART, a "staggering collection of art" for sale from some of Australia's best-loved books. Work for sale includes a Peter Gouldthorpe watercolour from the award-winning book Queenie (written by Corinne Fenton), an Ann James illustration from Little Humpty (written by Margaret Wild), one of Bruce Whatley's original illustrations from Josephine Wants to Dance (written by Jackie French), and a colour preliminary illustration from Tohby Riddle’s upcoming picture book My Uncle’s Donkey. There will be entertainment on the night of the sale and Shaun Tan will talk and draw "live". The sale will take place on Wednesday, 25 August, 6–8pm.

28 July 2010: Meanwhile, back in Australia
I posted last week about the forthcoming 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, due out late August. This month's Blue Pencil (the newsletter of the Society of Editors (NSW)) reports, that here in Australia, progress in the preparation of a new edition of the Australian Government's Style Manual is also in train.

AusTender, the Australian Government's tendering service administered by the Department of Finance and Administration, released a "request for expressions of interest" on 12 May. IPEd, the Institute of Professional Editors made up of the various state and territory societies of editors, has lodged an expression along with Adelaide company Website Criteria the Australian Graphic Design Association. This alliance has been made in order to meet "the need for extensive coverage of online wrting and editing, a field that has changed almost beyond recognition since publication of the 6th edition of the Style manual in 2002". If successful, the IPEd bid may well involve the contribution of distinguished and accredited editors, a process very different to that of our friends at CMoS.

21 July 2010: Fashion: turn to the left ...
Editors across North America must be getting twitchy with nerves: the long-awaited sixteenth edition of the Chicago Manual of Style is due for release in late August. As part of the run-up to its release, senior editor and CMOS blogger Carol Fisher Saller has been drip-feeding changes to the fifteenth edition through her personal blog.

Among the changes I'm okay with are "Brand names that begin with a lowercased letter followed by a capital letter may not appear at the beginning of a sentence. Now they may. iPad is an example." Changes I'm not okay with include "A page may not end with a single line from a new paragraph. Now it may." Sanctioning widows and orphans?! Time for an interrobang!

16 July 2010: Keeping Aboriginal languages alive
Friday morning on ABC Radio National's AM, Jeff Poole of Desert Channels Queensland described languge maintenance efforts in that state through a picture dictionary project. As the AM blurb says, "Language is a critical part of any culture, yet for many Indigenous communities their grasp of traditional language is fading. In some parts of the country it's already been lost. In an effort to revive 14 languages in outback Queensland, natural resources company Desert Channels Queensland is spearheading a project to develop pictorial dictionaries."

And if you haven't got five minutes 25 seconds to listen to the show, go to Jeff's staff page at DCQ and read his biog. Much more interesting than mine!

14 July 2010: Singing the Coast launch
Aboriginal Studies Press and Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre will launch Singing the Coast by Margaret Somerville and Tony Perkins on Wednesday 21 July Nuralamee Conference Centre, Yarrawarra at Corindi Beach. (Download a copy of the invitation here, 88 KB PDF.)

Contact the organisers on 02 6640 7100 if you can make it. Singing the Coast has been described by Deborah Bird Rose as "one of the most beautiful and important books to enter our world in recent time ... Read, enjoy, and find yourself ambushed by its subtly transformative power" and by Gary Foley as having "opened up part of the NSW coastline through language and stories both traditional and contemporary, that are lived but have been, until now, largely unspoken".

16 June 2010: Singing the Coast
Just received a comp copy of a book I worked on earlier this year. This is Singing the Coast, the story of two people's coming together in Gumbaynggirr country, on the north coast of New South Wales. Margaret Somerville is an academic with a particular interest in questions about landscape, identity and belonging, while Tony Perkins is a cultural knowledge holder, member of the Garby Elders and former CEO of Yarrawarra Aboriginal Corporation.

Singing the Coast can be purchased directly from Aboriginal Studies Press and from good bookshops.

15 June 2010: Hunter editors' morning tea
It's on again! Any editors working in Newcastle, the Hunter, Central Coast and wherever are welcome to my place on 15 June at 10.30 for morning tea. No need to bring anything; Georgetown Cake Shop will be catering.

28 May 2010: New incarnation for Skive
Skive is a long-running journal of creative prose fiction, poetry and photo essays curated and published by Newcastle's highly versatile Matt Ward. After many years in print, Skive has gone electronic. This first edition of Skive Future features "The Death of Pinky", the opening story from Mark MacLean's collection The New Landscape. Skive can be bought online for only 99¢ by visiting the Skive site, while editions of the print version of the original Skive can be bought via Matt's Lulu page.

24 May 2010: Need an editor?
The Society of Editors (NSW) has just released its revised Editorial Services Directory. The directory lists all NSW members, with information on their area of expertise, whether they're accredited through the national scheme, contact details and such like. You can search alphabetically or by using the "Subject specialities" function. A plug for ourselves: click here to find the Bruderlin MacLean Publishing Services entry.

10 May 2010: Herald review
The Newcastle Herald today (10 May 2010) published a short review of the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service's history of the Myall Lakes. The book—edited, designed and project managed by Bruderlin MacLean—was launched in March and has sold strongly.

15 April 2010: The etymology of "artichoke"
This evening's edition of ABC Radio National's Big Ideas focused on the impact of English on indigenous languages around the world. With recordings made at the 2010 Global Language Convention held at Wesley College in Melbourne, the show features a highly entertaining Ghil'ad Zuckermann (Associate professor and Australian Research Council Discovery Fellow in Linguistics at the University of Queensland) on why Shakespeare was an Arab and, of course, the etymology of "artichoke".

12 April 2010: Editing site
Since last year's Cultural Awareness Training for Editors workshop (see August 2009 news) I've been mulling over the idea of a forum for editors working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors; perhaps a wiki or a blog. I know that other editors have been thinking the same but, until now, nothing had actually happened.
I've put together a series of pages that attempt to tackle some of the issues we discussed at CATE. The pages are incomplete and really need your feedback, but please visit and send me an email with your comments and criticism.

15 March 2010: Hunter editors' morning tea
Lunch was obviously too ambitious for us hardworking types but finally, after several false starts, the Hunter Editors met for morning tea. All three of us. The plan is to have one meetingper school term (several of us have school-age children) in week 7 or 8; I'll send out a round robin closer to the time. If you'd like to be notified, drop me an email.

11 March 2010: Myall Lakes history book launch
The NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service has announced the date for the launch of Myall Lakes National Park: A People's History. The launch will be held at a morning tea on Friday, 26 March 2010 at 10:00 am, at the Shadwell Park House in Myall Lakes National Park. NPWS describe the launch as "an opportunity to get together and thank everyone who contributed their time and generously shared their personal stories, historical information and photographs".
Download a copy of the invitation here (764kb PDF). To RSVP or for further information, contact Leanne Ellis at the NPWS Hunter Region office, on (02) 4984 8254 or by email.

8 March 2010: Hunter editors' lunch, take 3
Nooo! It's off again, due to all manner of life-changing events. Those of you who are (a) still in the editing profession and (b) available, are welcome to come to BMPS on Monday, 15 March at 11am for morning tea. Send me an email or phone on 4961 0220 if you can make it.

7 March 2010: Hunter editors' lunch, take 2
It's (finally) on again: Tuesday, 8 March 2010, at the Cricketers Arms, Cooks Hill. Lesley booked for noon so I'll see you then.

1 March 2010: Contact on TV
I've reported previously on Contact, the film adaption of the Aboriginal Studies Press book Cleared Out, which Christine and I worked on. After its hugely successful premier at the Sydney Film Festival last year (see below), an edited version of Contact will now be shown on ABC TV on Thursday, 4 March at 9.30pm.

Aboriginal Studies Press are currently offering a package: buy Cleared Out and Contact from them for the one-off price of A$59.95; go to the ASP page for details.

27 February 2010: Lingua Franca
Bilingual eduction is a fraught topic in Australia. In Canada, however, there's an extra hurdle for those advocating the use of indigenous languages in indigenous children's education: the language of instruction in schools is already bilingual (English and French), so what room is there for a third language?

On this week's Lingua Franca, Maria Ziljstra interviewed Dr Stephen Wright, Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. Dr Wright's research showed that educating Inuit children in the official state languages of English or French from the beginning of their schooling provided absolutely no gain in language proficiency compared with starting them off in their native tongue, Inuktitut. But Dr Wright's results went further, arguing that using either state language had a negative effect on the development of language skills. A great show, well worth listening to: visit the ABC Radio National Lingua Franca web page to download the audio or a transcript of the show.

12 February 2010: Gamilaraay rush job
A phone call from Br John Giacon, co-author of the Gamilaraay/Yuwaalaraay/Yuwaalayaay Dictionary, made this Friday afternoon suddenly very busy. Football legend Preston Campbell organised a fundraising rugby league game between an Indigenous All Stars team and an NRL XIII, and the coming weekend's Sydney Morning Herald would feature both a statement from Campbell in English and Gamilaraay, and a link to the Gamilaraay language learning web site production managed by BMPS.

For those interested, Br John has made available a document (100kb PDF) which not includes Preston's statement (Gamiliaraay and English) but John's own notes on the translation process. This in itself is interesting for its treatment of 'new' words (such as 'football' and 'indigenous') and words not known from the Gamilaraay archive (such as 'forgive' and 'devastate').

8 February 2010: Hunter editors' lunch postponed
I suppose it's good news in way, but all the Hunter editors are too busy to meet! We're postponing lunch till March: contact me me or Lesley MacCulloch to find out when the rescheduled lunch will take place.

24 January 2010: Hunter editors to meet again
Are you an editor who lives, works or visits the Hunter Valley or Central Coast? If so, please join a group of your fellow editors at noon on Tuesday, 9 Feburary 2010 at the Cricketers Arms, Cooks Hill for lunch and banter. The lunch is a (roughly) quarterly affair inspired the Society of Editors (NSW) and kicked off by local editor Lesley MacCulloch. Contact me or Lesley if you'd like to know more: we'd love to see you there.

11 January 2010: Back in the saddle again
Yes, folks. The Bruderlin MacLean offices are open and ready for business. Hope your break was as restful and fun as ours.

27 December 2009: Thank you, Santa!
I dragged it out for as long as I could in order to avoid finishing, but I've finally put down my Christmas book present: Carol Fisher Saller's The Subversive Copy Editor. Fisher is a senior editor at the University of Chicago Press and is the go-to person at the Chicago Manual of Style Online's Questions and Answers section. If you never visited this page, and visit no other, then do yourself a favour and go there now. The queries sent to CMOS range from the intelligent to the idiotic but the answers are always cool and informative.

TSCE is not a Flann & Hill-style how to, though it does contain many useful tips on scheduling, maintaining logs and maintaining communication. Fisher's writing style is humorous without being flippant in a way that reminded me of Janet McKenzie—a true hero of Australian editing.

I got my copy of TSCE from UCP, but I note that (at the time of writing) Abbeys in Sydney have copies for A$27.95.

17 December 2009: Office closing dates
Bruderlin MacLean Publishing Services will close on Wednesday 23 December 2009 and re-open on Monday 11 January 2010. We wish all our clients, colleagues and friends a peaceful Christmas and new year and look forward to seeing you all again in (I can't believe I'm typing this number) 2010.

12 December 2009: Book of the year!
This week Mark's new collection of short stories, The new landscape, arrived from the printer. The collection features the story Unte nthenharenye? (see article below on the David Harold Tribe Fiction Award). Copies are available from MacLean's Booksellers, and shortly will be available through Mark's web site.

26 November 2009: Language is power
Aden Ridgeway's passionate defence of bilingual education appeared in today's Sydney Morning Herald. Ridgeway's article was translated into Gumbaynggirr by Dallas Walker, Julie Long, Anna Ash and Gary Willams of the Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative.

11 November 2009: David Harold Tribe Fiction Award
A pleasant evening at the Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney, for the presentation of the David Harold Tribe Fiction Award. Mark came second with a short story, Unte Nthenharenye?, which we'll put up shortly on this site.

The evening was also part of the University's end-of-year soiree for its postgraduate creative writing course. Poetry students work with Judith Beveridge while fiction students work with Sue Woolf. Sue was also one of the three judges of the "DHT", along with Robert Dixon, Professor of Australian Literature at the University, and Geordie Williamson, chief literary critic of The Australian.

20 October 2009: Hunter editors' lunch
If you're an editor living and working in the Newcastle, Hunter Valley, Central Coast or Northern Rivers regions, please feel free to join a group of us on Tuesday 20 October at the Cricker's Arms, Cooks Hill for an informal get-together.

The lunchtime meeting is based on the Society of Editors (NSW) branch's monthly Freelancers Do Lunch; while you don't have to be a member of the Soc Eds to come along we do promote the organisation and encourage people to join.

Lunch begins at noon. For further details contact myself or Lesley MacCulloch of Birch Writing Solutions.

16 October 2009: Handbook wins indexing award
Indexer Frances Paterson, of Olive Grove Indexing Services, was awarded the ANZSI (Australian & New Zealand Society of Indexers) Medal for the index to Handbook of Aboriginal Languages of NSW and ACT. (Editing, design and production management of the Handbook was carried out by Bruderlin MacLean.) The medal was presented at ANZSI's biennial conference, which ran from 15–17 October at the Marriott Hotel in Sydney.

Publisher Muurrbay was represented by Deirdre Bear and Gary Williams; Gary made his acceptance speech in Gumbaynggirr, the language of the NSW north coast around Grafton and inland to Nymboida. In its report, the Society described the Handbook as "a thorough, carefully organised, well edited and beautifully produced reference work, assembling in over 800 pages a tremendous quantity of information".

Our congratulations to Frances for what was a well-deserved award.

9 October 2009: Murray River Country
Jessica Weir's Murray River Country (our role: edit and style for typesetting) has attracted a heap of attention since its launch at the Melbourne Writers Festival by actor, radio and TV presenter John Doyle. Published by Aboriginal Studies Press, Murray River Country has already been positively reviewed in Eureka Street, which commented on its 'intellectual rigour combined with good writing and a solid grounding in a real, urgent, and quite possibly insoluble problem'.

2 October 2009: Wanted: writers black, white and brindle
The University of Ballarat Aboriginal Education Centre and the Professional Writing & Editing Program will host the National Black, White & Brindle Writer's Conference from 11 to 13 November 2009. The conference, which opens with the launch of the anthology Those Moments, will include writing workshops, forums and networking opportunities for writers of all genres.

The press release states that 'Styles will include: Poetry, Fiction, Writing for Youth, Short Story, Play-writing, Screen-writing, Novel-writing, Non-Fiction, Journalism (Feature/News), Research / Historical, Travel writing & Auto-Biographical writing. There are various themes writers are welcome to consider, such as Self-Determination, Healing, Journeying Out and Returning to Country.

28 September 2009: 2010 Residential Editorial Program
Robyn Sheahan-Bright sends me news of the 2010 Residential Editorial Program. The program, supported by the Australian Publishers Association and the Literature Board of the Australia Council, is in its sixth season. The program offers an editor a intensive five-day program to develop literary editing skills. It takes place at Varuna – the Writers' House in Katoomba, NSW over the five days of 3 to 8 May 2010. For more information, download the press release or contact Robyn on 07 4972 9760.

29 September 2009: The future of the book
Today's Blue Pencil (the newsletter of the Society of Editors (NSW), carries an item on the Australian Institute for the Future of the Book, which was launched at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Blue Pencil says, 'Known as "if:book Australia", the Brisbane institute will promote new forms of digital publishing and explore ways to boost connections between writers and audiences. If you're intrigued by 'The Googlization of Everything', or can wrap your head around the post-paper concept of a book as 'a place (where readers, sometimes with authors, congregate)', then this might be the site for you.

It's funded by the Literature Board of the Australia Council and is there to inform writers about new opportunities to create and publish digital content. Interested? Then go to futureofthebook for a sticky.

2 September 2009: Indigenous Literacy Day
Indigenous Literacy Day is the main fundraising event for the Indigenous Literacy Project. The ILP is a partnership between the Australian Booksellers Association, the Australian Publishers Association and The Fred Hollows Foundation, and it aims to improve the poor literacy rates of people in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Apart from a host of events and activities across the nation, participating booksellers and publishers will donate 5% of their takings on the day to the fund

August 2009: CATE Workshop, Canberra
Off to chilly Canberra for the Cultural Awareness Training for Editors workshop, sponsored by AIATSIS and hosted by Aboriginal Studies Press.

Over two days a bunch of editors and publishers discussed the particular concerns of working on Indigenous texts (or is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander texts?), intellectual property rights, attribution and community ownership of stories, among (many) other things. The esteemed guests included lawyer and IP advocate Terri Janke and author Jennifer Martiniello.

I presented a worskhop with Peter Johnson (co-author Cleared Out) titled "Vision, Compromise and Negotiation". We discussed the collaborative process of creating the book, from Sue Devenport's oral history project in a remote Punmu schoolroom in 1987 to the book's realisation almost 20 years later.

July 2009: Meeting the Cumbrian SfEP
On holiday in England, I took the opportunity to meet up with members of the Cumbria branch of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. It was really interesting to swap stories; seems the concerns of editors in New South Wales are exactly the same as those in Cumbria.

Pictured here at the Angler's Arms, Haverthwaite, are (l to r) Teresa Brady, Mark MacLean, Rosemary Anderson, Ali Turnbull (of Fit to Print) and Gerard Hill (Much Better Text).

June 2009: Hunter editors meet
The last day of the financial year was not spent in stocktaking or bookkeeping for everyone; a small group of Hunter Valley editors met for the first of what will become regular quarterly meetings. Organised by Lesley MacCulloch, of Birch Writing Solutions, six editors met for lunch at Customs House, Newcastle. Seen here are (l to r) Maria Roberts, Robyn Wilkie, Mark MacLean, Margaret Steinberger, Lesley MacCulloch and Linda Sablatura.

May 2009: Contact!
Award-winning book Cleared out has been translated for the big screen. Contact was produced and directed by Martin Butler and Bentley Dean, with the full cooperation of Yuwali, Sue Davenport and Peter Johnson, and premiered at the Sydney Film Festival on 4 June. Read the review in the Sydney Morning Herald's The Vine.

April 2009: Balgo School Attendance Award
Looking for a novel way to make a difference to the lives of some remote Australians?
By sponsoring the Balgo School Attendance Award, you can support the great progress that Balgo (Wirrimanu) Community, in Western Australia, is making in developing the social capital of its young people. For a modest $100 you can sponsor the school's "Best Attendance" award.
For more information contact Maggie Kavanagh.

March 2009: Gayarragi, Winangali launch
Gayarragi, Winangali, an interactive multimedia resource for Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay, was launched at the Koori Centre, University of New South Wales, on 23 March 2009.
The resource was developed by a GY language team led by John Giacon, with David Nathan providing his technical expertise and Christine Bruderlin overseeing the design and project management.
Individuals can downlaod Gayarragi, Winangali for free, though institutions are requested to make a payment of $100.

December 2008: Stanner book launch
The Aboriginal Studies Press title An appreciation of difference: WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia, by Melinda Hinkson & Jeremy Beckett, was launched by Professor Marilyn Strathern (right) at the Ownership and Appropriation conference, Auckland New Zealand on Tuesday 11 December 2008. Read Marcia Langton's review of the book in The Australian.

November 2008: Muurrbay book launch
On 18 November 2008, Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Cooperative launched a series of books and resources for those learning and reviving the Aboriginal languages of the New South Wales north coast.
Bruderlin MacLean was closely involved in the development of production of two of the books: the Gumbaynggirr Dictionary and Learner's Grammar (Steve Morelli) and the Handbook of Aboriginal Languages of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (Jim Wafer and Amanda Lissarrague).
The launch was a great celebration of the region's languages and cultures, and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new friends.

October 2008: Accreditation of Editors
The Institute of Professional Editors Ltd (IPEd) held its first accreditation exam in October 2008. The aim of accreditation is to create a scheme comparable with registration / accreditation schemes already established in professions, such as accounting, engineering, law, psychology and public relations. Results were announced in January 2009, and Mark MacLean was successful in becoming one of the first accredited editors in Australia.

July 2008: Galley Club
The Galley Club holds its annual awards to recognise excellence in the design, production and project management of publications. At the 32nd Annual Galley Club Awards, held in Sydney on 27 July 2008, the Natural Resources Commission Annual Report 2006/07 was Highly Commended in the category "Innovation in Publishing and Print". The report, designed and project managed by Christine Bruderlin and printed by Griffin Press, used recycled materials in a short-run digital environment.

February 2007: Cleared Out awards
One of the most enjoyable books we've worked on in recent times is Cleared Out: First contact in the Western Desert by Sue Davenport, Peter Johnson and Yuwali.
Cleared Out tells the story of Yuwali and her family who, in 1964, made their first contact with European Australians — patrol officers from the Woomera Rocket Range who were under instruction to clear the Western Desert area prior to the firing of the Blue Streak rockets by the British Government. Yuwali's story is interlaced with the official reports of the patrol, government correspondence, and photos taken at the time.
Cleared Out won the 2006 Western Australian Premier's Book Award and the History Award, and wasshort-listed for the Stanner Award.

October 2006: Gamilaraay, Yuwaalaraay & Yuwaalayaay launch
On 20 October 2006 three exciting new GYY language resources were launched at Coledale Community Centre in Tamworth: Dhiirrala Gamilaray!, a teacher-resource kit; Gaay Garay Dhadhin, the GY picture dictionary; and Guwaabal, the GY story CD-ROM.
Bruderlin MacLean was closely involved in the production of these, and several other GYY resources.