About Us

The Copyediting newsletter was founded in 1990 by Mary Beth Protomastro, a copy editor working at McCall’s magazine.  For over 20 years, Copyediting (formerly called Copy Editor) has provided an in-depth exploration of the usage and evolution of the English language -- from style guide updates to new terms -- and what they mean for the gatekeepers of the printed word. 

In addition to the newsletter, Copyediting offers monthly audio conferences led by expert editors on the tricks of the trade, the idiosyncracies of editorial niches, research tips, and much more. We’ve archived recordings of all these sessions, which are available for unlimited consumption in our On-Demand Training section to our Gold and Platinum subscribers.

To learn more about the history of Copyediting, and to see a sample of what we’re all about, take a look at our April/May 2011 issue here, which features a look back at our early years.  For information on subscribing, call us at 888-303-2373 or email us at info@copyediting.com

EDITOR:
Erin Brenner
Contact Erin at editor@copyediting.com 

ONLINE EDITOR:
Dawn McIlvain Stahl
Contact Dawn at onlineeditor@copyediting.com 

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD AND CONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES

Erin Brenner
Erin Brenner is the editor of Copyediting. 

Erin has been a copyeditor for over 15 years, working in a variety of media. In addition to working on the Copyediting newsletter and blog, Erin writes and edits for clients through Right Touch Editing and writes The Writing Resource blog. Follow her on Twitter: @copyediting and @ebrenner.

Mark Farrell
Mark Farrell is a columnist for Copyediting. Mark has written for and copyedited a wide variety of publications over the past 25 years. His first 10 years in the working world were spent primarily at newspapers, including dailies and weeklies in the Boston and Washington metropolitan areas. Mark grew up in Massachusetts, where he attended Stonehill College and Boston College. He received an MA in American studies from BC in 1989. 

Mark moved to the Washington, DC, area in 1992. He is a teacher for a youth foundation and tutors several students while continuing his freelance editing and writing career. He enjoys basketball, golf, music, and reading.

Norm Goldstein
Norm Goldstein is a columnist for Copyediting. The editor emeritus of The Associated Press Stylebook, Norm worked for the Associated Press as a reporter, editor, and author for more than 40 years.

Besides editing the Stylebook, Norm directed the AP’s Special Projects division and was supervising editor of the news service’s Special Features department. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Andrew Johnson
Andrew is a copyeditor and columnist for Copyediting. He finagled an internship with the newsletter in 2002 (when it was still called Copy Editor) and refuses to relinquish it. He has worked as an expert on marine mammal care for over 28 years; since 1998, he has managed the Sea Otter Research and Conservation program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Andrew earned a Specialized Certificate in Copyediting from UC San Diego Extension in 2005 and serves on the editorial advisory board of Soundings, the magazine of the International Marine Animal Trainers Association. He lives in Pacific Grove, CA, with his wife, Elin, and his kids, Kip and Esmé.

Danny Marcus
Danny Marcus is the proofreader of the Tip of the Week. After discovering his occupational niche in life at “the bluest of the blueblood” law firms in Boston, he became a freelance proofreader and copyeditor. His career highlights include contributions to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Encyclopedia and proofreading a book about Martin Luther King that won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1987.

Danny teaches a twenty-hour class in proofreading, which, while training beginners how to become his competitors, has also made him the most famous proofreader in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Danny has a certificate in publishing from Northeastern University and a second one from Emerson College.

Paul R. Martin
Paul Martin is a columnist for Copyediting and a member of Copyediting's editorial advisory board. He is the editor of The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Style and Usage (aka the WSJ stylebook) and editor of Style & Substance, the Journal's bulletin on copyediting and style matters.

A 42-year veteran and former assistant managing editor at the Journal, Paul received the Elliott V. Bell Award of the New York Financial Writers Association in 2000 for his “significant, long-term contribution to the profession of financial journalism.” He lives in Staten Island, New York.

Christine Parizo
Christine Parizo, a copyeditor for Copyediting, is a freelance copywriter and copyeditor. A former technology journalist and paralegal, Christine now spends her days crafting snappy yet grammatically correct training and marketing materials, searching for misplaced punctuation, and staunchly defending the Oxford comma. She’s written bylined articles for IDG News Service, TechTarget, National Paralegal Reporter, and eHow.com, among other publications.

Christine holds a bachelor of science in journalism and public information, with a minor in advertising, from Emerson College in Boston. She lives in West Springfield, Massachusetts, with her husband, two small children, and two mismatched cats. Follow her on Twitter @cparizo.

Nancy Paschke
Nancy Paschke is a copyeditor for Copyediting. She is the associate director of publications for Buffalo State College, part of the State University of New York system, where she has worked for 15 years. She is currently the managing editor of 1300 Elmwood, the college’s alumni magazine, and chief of copy for print. She earned a master’s degree from Buffalo State with a concentration in English and journalism that included internships on the copy desk of the Buffalo News and as a reporter for WBFO-FM 88.7, one of Buffalo’s two NPR affiliates.

Mark Peters
Mark Peters is a language columnist and humorist from Chicago who has written for Esquire, The Funny Times, GOOD, New Scientist, and Psychology Today. He writes regularly for Visual Thesaurus and the Oxford University Press blog while maintaining The Pancake Proverbs and The Rosa Parks of Blogs, a collection of absurd comparisons along the lines of “The Tom Petty of Christmas tree ornaments” and “The Jennifer Lopez of plants.” As wordlust on Twitter, he provides valuable advice, such as “Never micromanage your nanobots.”

Dawn McIlvain Stahl
Dawn McIlvain Stahl is the online editor for the Copyediting website. She began her career in the publishing industry nearly 15 years ago, developing and publishing standardized tests (for which she is duly penitent, kids). Since then, she has been a production editor of college texts, a scholarly copyeditor and associate editor at the University of Illinois Press, and a full-time freelancer editing and proofreading a variety of formats, genres, and topics. She claims a number of interests but seems most enthused about words, pie, and Muppets. You can follow Dawn on Twitter @PurplePenning or find her on Google+.