On February 12, 2023, I was honored to present this session on copyediting at the three-day Fictionary Loves Writers Conference. In this session, I addressed the following questions: What are the levels of editing? How do you prepare for a copyedit? What is the editor’s process? What do you do after the edit? Enjoy, and […]
Attending EFACON 2023 on August 18 and 19 in Alexandria, Virginia, increased my editorial knowledge and strengthened my ties in the editorial community. I left the conference with renewed enthusiasm for my work and already look forward to future events from the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). In the following I discuss benefits of the conference […]
People are often surprised by the time it takes to copyedit manuscripts, probably because they have a sense of how long it takes to read a book of similar length. But copyediting does take longer—much longer—and authors and readers benefit from the hours upon hours copy editors dedicate to their craft. (This post refers largely […]
Too often people view editing as a one-way service in which the editor “corrects” the author’s prose. To get the most out of the author–editor relationship, however, it’s important to remember two things: • Editing is a conversation. • Edits are suggestions. (Though general principles still apply, the following is geared toward the relationship between […]
This January I tweeted daily thanks for helpful things in my editing world. The following tweets offer useful resources and provide insight into my editing life. I missed the first two days, so I’ll send a special thanks to authors everywhere and to The Best Punctuation Book, Period from June Casagrande, with honorable mentions to […]
Professional associations such as the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and ACES: The Society for Editing offer many resources that help editors excel in their work and run successful businesses. I particularly appreciate the access to quality training provided by these organizations, which offer courses at discounted fees to members. Courses are generally either learn-at-your-own-pace (where […]
After a publisher client suggested that all its editors try Word’s Read Aloud feature to help eliminate errors such as missing or repeated words, I decided to give it a shot. I hadn’t used the feature before and suspected I’d react badly to another voice in my head while editing. But for a last look […]
When used by doctors and air-traffic controllers, checklists save lives by ensuring that critical steps aren’t missed during high-stress situations. Editing doesn’t involve life-or-death stakes (usually), but checklists are still helpful for reducing complexity and lessening the burden on memory for routine tasks. Even after spending forty or more hours on a manuscript, it’s easy, […]
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is fast approaching, and many writers are biting their nails hoping they can find the time to pound out 50,000 words in November. “Not enough time” is a constant refrain among hopeful writers — and an understandable one. Day jobs, family, friends, chores, outside-of-work appointments, life(!) all come between writers […]
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