What do I get when I enrol in an Emend Editing course?

When you enrol in a course and the payment is approved, you receive a link to a PDF of the course that you can download, save and print. Courses are over 10,000 words (an average of 50 pages) and contain interactive exercises with comments and suggestions, quotes from interviews with professional editors, illustrations, checklists, citations from the literature and tips. Some courses include documents with sample texts to work on.

Courses have been developed on the basis of industry experience. Pamela Hewitt, the author of all the courses in the first series, has over 17 years of experience as a professional editor, both in-house and freelance. She is also a qualified teacher and has lectured in editing programs in universities and TAFE. Pamela has also run professional workshops for writers' centres, literary festivals, editing conferences and most Australian societies of editors.

Quality is the main feature of Emend courses.

Why learn editing online?

There are advantages and disadvantages to online learning. You can choose the time and the place. For people who live outside the major metropolitan centres or who find it difficult to attend professional development courses, online delivery is ideal. It's cheaper than the equivalent face-to-face presentation (typically $150–250) and you keep the full course materials, not just selected handouts.

Face-to-face delivery has advantages too. You can exchange ideas with like-minded people and you can extend your networks. On the other hand, the material in an Emend online course is far richer than it's possible to present in a one-day face-to-face workshop. Courses in the Professional Editing series have been successfully run in both formats.

How do I know the content is relevant to my needs?

You can read a summary of the course content when you click on the course name. If you want more information, there is a run-down of each section in the course, along with a guide to the level of the course.

Courses in the Professional Editing series don't assume any prior knowledge of editing. As a series, they represent a solid introduction to the profession. Experienced editors will find the courses useful for refreshing, upgrading and broadening their skills.

How are the courses assessed?

Emend courses include self-assessed exercises. The exercises feature interactive links that provide model answers or comments on the activities. Like professional workshops which are presented face-to-face, students' work is not marked or assessed in any other way by Emend Editing.

Are courses accredited?

No editing courses are accredited by the Institute of Professional Editors (formerly Council of Australian Societies of Editors) or any State or Territory member society of editors. Australian editors voted in December 2004 to accept the recommendations of their national working group to introduce a system which will accredit individual editors, not courses.

Emend courses have been developed in line with Australian Standards for Editing Practice and a summary of course relevance to the Standards is available with each course.

Like short courses conducted by societies of editors and organisations such as the Australian Publishers Association, Emend Editing provides courses on a range of professional topics. Students who enrol in Emend courses receive a Certificate of Enrolment, equivalent to the Certificates of Attendance provided by professional associations to participants at editing workshops.

Are courses tax-deductible?

According to the Australian Taxation Office, self-education expenses are deductible where they have 'a relevant connection to the taxpayer's current income-earning activities'. This includes 'course or tuition fees of attending an educational institution, work-related conference or seminar' and 'the cost of professional and trade journals, text books and stationery' (Taxation Ruling 98/9).

What is the cost?

To coincide with Australian Writers' Centre promotions, Emend Editing's new series of courses, Professional Editing, is now available for a special introductory price. Under the introductory offer, the cost per course is $88 (GST inclusive). This is a saving of over 10 per cent on the normal course fee of $99.

How do I pay for and receive my course?

You pay for courses online, using Emend's secure payment system. Your name, email address, credit card details and invoice amount are encrypted and securely transferred to the payment gateway over 128 bit SSL. Emend Editing does not store credit card details.

An invoice/order confirmation is emailed to you and the PDF of the course is available for printing after a successful transaction. The purchased courses are available for download in 'My Courses' for one month from the date of purchase.

Are there alternatives to online payment?

Yes. You can pay for your courses by cheque, money order or direct bank transfer. After your payment has been processed, we will send you your course by email, along with a tax invoice/order confirmation.

And if I still have questions?