Last week, one of my corporate clients asked me to do a rush proofread on a PDF file. Time was short, but the team publishing the document had reviewed and approved all the text. There had been no copyediting stage, however. Oh boy. The Problem I work frequently for this company. I’m well … [Read more...]
Evaluate Your Networking Efforts
Yay, someone recommended you for an editing assignment! This word of mouth is the most common way that editors get work, whether freelance or as a new employee. Well, that’s true of any professional, really. It’s what networking and making a name for yourself is all about. What have you learned … [Read more...]
Lunacy and the Moon
It seems that everyone is getting a little moon-struck in anticipation of next Monday’s full solar eclipse. If all the hype, excitement, and merchandising surrounding this celestial event seems like lunacy to you, you hit the nail on the head. The word lunacy — as well as lunatic and even looney … [Read more...]
Checklist for Editing Tables
Tables are used to convey raw data, to show relationships among information, and to present a lot of information in a small space. As with anything we edit, a checklist helps ensure we are thorough and consistent. Here is a checklist for editing tables. It’s not tied to any specific style guide. You … [Read more...]
Write a Better Style Guide
Copyeditors are sometimes called upon to write their employer’s or client’s style guide. More than a style sheet, a style guide documents the company’s overall style. It often includes rules for describing the brand, style notes on specific publications, specific rules to follow from the governing … [Read more...]
Wordoku Answer: Jocundity
In the August–September 2017 issue of Copyediting newsletter, we challenged you to solve the Wordoku puzzle for jocundity. Here’s the answer: You can play more word games on our blog. … [Read more...]
Yes, You Can Track Edits in PowerPoint Slides
When we editors are faced with editing in presentation software, we don’t get Track Changes and other helpful features we’re used to having in Word. Showing the writer what changes we’ve made is a challenge, and checking that changes were handled correctly becomes a nightmare. We could manually … [Read more...]
Confusables: Empathy and Sympathy
Like many of the subjects I write about here at Copyediting.com, today’s topic was chosen because it's an area that I have difficulties with myself. Maybe you can sympathize. Or maybe you can empathize. Or maybe, like me, you aren’t entirely sure which one you can do. At the heart of the … [Read more...]