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Questions for a Senior Copy Editor: Christine Steele
Christine Steele has been editing for about 25 years, the last 7 years as a senior copy editor in investment communications at American Funds (a Capital Group company). Christine is also an American Copy Editors Society board member and one of the panelists for our upcoming audio conference, “Weathering the Publishing Storm: Copyediting in the Digital Age.” How’d you get into editing, Christine? I always loved spelling and the English language and majored in communications and journalism. I pursued jobs in proofreading/editing and always wanted to work for a newspaper. Instead, I was able to find editing jobs in non-newspaper fields and they offered better pay and a daytime schedule. What do you find...
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Most Recent Issue
Title
April 2012
Last fall, I attended Communication Central, a conference geared toward freelance publishing professionals. Many of the sessions focused on ways to use Word more efficiently and to edit more quickly. Macros were a big part of that conversation. Since then, I’ve been playing with macros, watching my habits and thinking about which ones could be automated. I’ve also tried out a few macro products and read about macros specifically from an editor’s perspective. This issue’s Technically Speaking is the result of my playing, thinking, and reading. I hope my research can help you edit more efficiently.
And speaking of Communication Central, the conference owner, Ruth Thaler-Carter, once again graces our pages. In this issue, she talks about the decision all copyeditors face sooner or later: how deeply should I edit this document? There are several factors that go into that decision, and Thaler-Carter walks you through them one by one.
From our contributors, you’ll find
Talking With…: Copyediting web editor Dawn McIlvain Stahl returns to interview AHD’s supervising editor, Steve Kleinedler.
Grammar on the Edge: Andrew Johnson ponders the use of adverbs
Currents: Mark Farrell examines phrases that have been annoying copyeditors recently.
In Style: Paul Martin weighs in on data and none.
—plus Mark Peters’s Word Resource Roundup and a lot of little nagging questions answered in Ask the Editor. Don’t forget that you can send your editing questions to me at editor@copyediting.com anytime.
Other Recent Issues
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February 2012
Being the editor of Copyediting has its privileges, and one of them is the opportunity to dig into new resources and review them for you. This issue, I get to review new editions of old favorites: The American Heritage Dictionary (AHD) and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COD). A dictionary is a copyeditor’s best friend, so having two new editions to reference can be a real lifesaver.
The new edition of AHD is long overdue, with AHD4 having been published in 2000. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt took the update seriously, adding 10,000 new words to the new edition and creating a website and a smartphone app for the digitally minded. COD is now in its 12th edition, with 400 new words, 400 new spellings, and 300 new senses. COD now has a website and an app as well, and they’ve been updated along with the print edition. It’s enough to make a word nerd like me swoon.
From our contributors, you’ll find
Grammar on the Edge: Andrew Johnson rethinks expletive constructions.
Currents: Mark Farrell tackles the thorny subject of objectionable copy.
Technically Speaking: Adrienne Montgomerie teaches you to work more efficiently in Acrobat.
In Style: Norm Goldstein looks at state abbreviations across style guides.
Plus, Mark Peters gives us a new resource in Word Resource Roundup, and I answer a lot of little nagging questions in Ask the Editor.
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December 2011
As you may know, the Copyediting website has been redesigned. Our goal with the redesign was to give you more content, on a more frequent basis, particularly through the blog, which now publishes three times a day. Our coverage on the blog includes new words and news stories of interest to copyeditors. As a result, we’ve retired In the News and Dictionary Update from the newsletter. In their place, you’ll find Grammar on the Edge by Andrew Johnson and Word Resource Roundup by Mark Peters. Grammar on the Edge will discuss unusual grammar points, while Word Resource Roundup will aim to teach you to be your own lexicographer using available tools and resources. Let us know what you think of them.
Try and make some sense! See how that doesn't make any sense. You try to make sense. You don't try and also make sense while you're at it, or make
