(The Subversive Copy Editor)
(The Subversive Copy Editor)
Here in Chicago we have to work at celebrating the advent of spring. Even typing in my subzero office is challenging—thank god for fingerless gloves. So my idea is this: in the spirit of spring cleaning, since there’s no way I’m throwing my mattresses out in the snow, let’s air our consciences instead. Let’s confess our copyediting sins! I’ll stop at three. (Not that I have more than that . . .)
Public sticklers have annoyed me forever, and I’ve been meaning to write about that, but recently, in a post titled “Editors, Would You Do Me This Tiny Favour?” Katy McDevitt at PublishEd Adelaide did a great job of it herself. McDevitt gets to the meat of it in point 3:
Chase bank is bullying me. The other day they I received a threatening letter informing me that unless I notify them by December 15, they will
For quite some time now I’ve been curious about services like Lulu and iUniverse that allow an individual to upload materials and publish them as print-on-demand books at no cost. How could this be? What’s the catch?
I’ve noticed something in my reading lately: children and young adults in print are disgusting eaters.
I just finished reviewing my copyedited manuscript and I learned a valuable lesson: I am a hack writer.
I’m guest blogging today at Clara Gillow Clark‘s children’s book blog, launching Eddie’s War and telling about how I got into trouble writing it. Come on over!
Publishing a book is sometimes compared to having a baby. The similarities are undeniable: the seminal idea, the gestation, the labor. But at “birth,” the metaphor hits a wall, because in real life nobody—nobody—has an ugly baby.
By an evil coincidence, the deadline for sending the acknowledgments section of my new book* to my editor was last Sunday—on Oscars night. I had already drafted brief thanks to him, my writing group, and my family, and was merely…
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…