Honorary president: Judith Butcher Honorary vice-president: David Crystal OBE

Media release: 09 May 2007

REF: SfEP/ 07 / 02

Learning to change – adaptation and survival in the world of publishing

SfEP Conference: 3–5 September 2007
University of Sussex, Brighton

This year the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) is holding its annual conference at the University of Sussex in Brighton.

A milestone

This conference is in many ways a milestone – the 18th conference in the 19th year of the SfEP, so you could say that the Society is reaching the end of its adolescent years. The SfEP still has some of its founder members, who can vouch for the way that the Society has changed, from its quite simple aspirations as a toddler in the late 1980s to the complex professional body that it now aspires to be.

The SfEP may have developed, but the world of publishing has changed even more dramatically. This year's conference programme will discuss some of these changes, and delegates will learn how they can adapt to meet the challenges of our new working world.

Changing world

There are several sessions on the changing world of publishing, including a talk on editorial outsourcing and its impact on UK editors and proofreaders. Other sessions will help delegates decide on a good personal approach to these changes: cooperative working, development editing, entering the commercial market, etc.

In addition to the many interesting workshops and seminars in this year's programme, keynote speakers include Andrew Franklin, publisher and managing director of Profile Books, one of Britain's leading independent publishers and 'Small Publisher of the Year' for 1999, 2004 and 2006. There is also a talk on the changing role of the commissioning editor by Gill Davies, lecturer at the London College of Communication.

Conference and courses

The conference will start with the AGM on Monday 3 September – the main conference days will be Tuesday and Wednesday. Two training courses will run simultaneously on Thursday 6 September, one of which will cover the latest techniques for on-screen editing and for working with PDFs, the other for those who wish to add training to their skills.

For details of the conference programme and the training courses, visit the SfEP website (www.sfep.org.uk) or contact the SfEP office (). For details of sponsorship and exhibition opportunities at this year's conference, please contact Sara Hulse, PR director, on 01623 823 002 ().

ENDS

Editors' notes:

1. Sara Hulse, PR director of the SfEP, oversees the Society's UK public relations activity. Journalists looking for informed comment on issues such as the use of language or on editing or proofreading should contact her on or 01623 823002.
   
   
2. The SfEP (http://www.sfep.org.uk) is a non-profit-distributing organization (formally, a company limited by guarantee) with the twin aims of:
   • encouraging high standards of editing and proofreading
   • upholding the professional status of editors and proofreaders.
   It has about 1,400 members and associates (mostly in the UK), providing a wide range of editorial services to the publishing community and beyond. In addition, more than 40 publishing companies and other organizations have become corporate associates of the SfEP.

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