Category Archives: Editing

What happens when an e-book gets corrected?

So, here’s the partial answer to a question I’ve been wondering about: Subject: Kindle Title [title] (ASIN:[ASIN]) has an available update Greetings from Amazon.com. We’re writing about your past Kindle purchase of [title] by [author]. The version you received contained some errors that have been corrected. An updated version of [title] (ASIN:[ASIN]) is now available. [...]

Also posted in books, business, e-books, Software, technology, Tools | 7 Comments

Cracking the coding code

Got an e-mail from a fellow book designer this morning asking, “Do you have a blog post about marking up a MS for the designer/typesetter?” Um, I couldn’t remember; had to search my own blog to find out. I found I’d written two posts in which such issues come into play— May I take your [...]

Also posted in advice, books, Design, production, Typesetting | 5 Comments

Having drunk the copy Kool-Aid

I love this article by Lori Fradkin, “What It’s Really Like to Be a Copy Editor” (TheAwl.com, July 21, 2010), though I take issue with her opening example: The word is douche bag. Douche space bag. People will insist that it’s one closed-up word—douchebag—but they are wrong. When you cite the dictionary as proof of [...]

Also posted in humor, Reading | 3 Comments

Wrong, all wrong!

The didn’t mention anything about how each character of the book is placed on the page using tweezers. Also? That guy at the 2:54 mark is really scary. (Via BoingBoing)

Also posted in books, business, humor, Video | 5 Comments

Build a copyeditor from scratch!

My stats page tells me that that nice Brian Winters has namechecked me again over at Metafilter. This time, it’s to Baethan, who wants to work in publishing. Her question was, What sort of courses, experiences, certifications, degrees, etc. should I pursue to tailor me for a career in editorial publishing? When I return to [...]

Also posted in advice, books, Lazyweb, Work | 2 Comments

The many delights of publishing

Bridget points out Rachel Toor’s “A Publishing Primer” in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Excerpts: French flaps: Extensions of the cover of a paperback that fold elegantly back inside the book and hold extra copy, in imitation of the flaps of the jacket of a hardcover book. Très chic. . . . Headbands: Adorable, colorful [...]

Also posted in books, production, Reading, Typesetting | Leave a comment

Speaking of reference books . . .

I just came across the lapsed bloglet Zimmer’s Words of the Week, which appears to have been abandoned some time in April. The archives are full of good stuff, though, much of it from the wonderful Erin‘s Weird and Wonderful books. Consider, for example, bouffage [boo-FAHG]a filling meal. From an Old French word glossed in [...]

Also posted in Reading | 3 Comments

Yes, there is such a thing as a stupid question

Even though their CD-ROM and its tech support suck, I still love the Chicago Manual of Style Q&A: Q. I’m editing a textbook that references a play. Should it be “Act 3,” “act three,” or “act 3”? A solution to this mystery would be greatly appreciated. I’ve looked at CMOS a hundred times for help [...]

Also posted in advice, humor, Reading | 11 Comments

Patience is bitter, but its fruit extremely sweet.

The production editors notes are in grey pencil, the copy editor’s in red, and mine in purple. It is at this point of the book production that I start to imagine opening the window and jumping out. Awesome cookbook author Rose Levy Beranbaum (The! Cake! Bible!) describes one of her least favorite stages in the [...]

Also posted in books, production | 2 Comments

Ha, ha, ha, . . .

“This, is an unsettling trend,” columnist William Sa,fire, told reporters. “We’re seeing a collapse of the grammatical rules that have, held, the English language, together for, centuries.” —“Commas, Turning Up, Everywhere,” The Onion Photo: a row of commas by moirabot / Moira Clunie; some rights reserved.

Also posted in humor, typography | Leave a comment