(The Subversive Copy Editor)
(The Subversive Copy Editor)
If you’re expecting me to scold writers for not reading cover letters carefully, I’m going to have to disappoint you. I could do it—standing on my head—but it would be hypocritical, because when it comes to not following directions, I’m…
“Please tell the copyeditor to leave my prose alone.” That’s an actual author request I encountered in a newly arrived manuscript. I looked at the first few pages. The content was complex, phrasing idiosyncratic, punctuation random. A more mature and…
For the next few weeks, I’ll be on the other side of the desk, at least in my off hours: My children’s novel is back from the copyeditor.* So far, I’m delighted with her work. After scanning the first few…
Do you ever go downtown to a gallery on a Friday night, an unglamorous one you’ve been to several times, only to find that on this night it happens to be hosting the hottest opening in town and you’re the only one there in snow boots lugging a backpack?
If you spend a fair amount of time reading online, and if, like me, you find that browsing and reading is sometimes difficult, uncomfortable, or nearly impossible because of type that’s hard to read, intrusive advertisements, or any number of other annoyances, then take a few minutes to discipline your browser.
At her excellent blog, Love, Your Copyeditor, Ray Gunn recently wrote about the cons and pros (in that order) of having writer friends who need copyediting.
Over the next few days, let’s all take extra care to spend some time away from the computer, limit the eggnog consumption, and proofread the wrapping paper! Happy Holidays!Carol
Have you ever been partway into a freelance editing job only to find that it’s going to take a lot longer than you thought? Which should you do: bill for the originally estimated time and take a loss, or bill for the extra time and risk alienating the client?
For the last month I’ve been copyediting a second edition of Richmond Lattimore’s translation of Homer’s Iliad. War and battles and great hulking, stalking gods and heroes . . .
Not all style conventions make sense at first glance. Or second. Or ever.