Category Archives: Editing

For anyone else who ever wondered

So I was trying to find an example of a paragraph-styled bibliography in the Chicago Manual when I had one of those irrelevant thoughts that so often interrupt my work: “I wonder if, using the magic of the internet, I could find out what books these sample pages are from?” —Languagehat: Fun with the Chicago [...]

Also posted in books, Reading, Tools | 1 Comment

Now’s your chance

Remember Merrill Perlman, the New York Times copy queen who did a loooooong Q&A last year? Well, she’s just started another one: Talk to the Newsroom: Director of Copy Desks Merrill Perlman. So now’s your chance to have those burning editorial questions finally doused. One of my esteemed former colleagues at St. Martin’s has a [...]

Also posted in books, Work | Leave a comment

Join the Semicolon Appreciation Society; look sharp.

See? I told you Erin is brilliant. She’s made not only T-shirts but also stickers for the Semicolon Appreciation Society, so you can upgrade the punctuation on signs.

Also posted in humor, Textiles, typography | 5 Comments

I say! A subterranean semicolon!

[W]hatever one’s personal feelings about semicolons, some people don’t use them because they never learned how. In fact, when Mr. Neches was informed by a supervisor that a reporter was inquiring about who was responsible for the semicolon, he was concerned. “I thought at first somebody was complaining,” he said. From “Celebrating the Semicolon in [...]

Also posted in Reading, typography | 3 Comments

How stylish are you?

How do you name your style sheets, those of you who bother to use them at all? Below are some of the most common style names I use for book work, which are cribbed from various sources. I use these same abbreviations to key manuscripts on those rare occasions when I’m copyediting text for someone [...]

Also posted in Design, Typesetting, typography | 18 Comments

A window into our world

On Monday my bossfriend, Joanna Smith-Rakoff, explained to Bookslut what it is that we do all day at the mysterious place where we work. What would you say a normal day at Nextbook is like? Our days vary somewhat greatly and they’re different for different members of the staff. Let’s see: In the morning, we [...]

Also posted in art direction, Reading, Work | 2 Comments

The Impotence of Proofreading

(via Making Light’s particle beam)

Also posted in humor, Video | 4 Comments

What typefaces writers compose in, and why

Slate presents “My Favorite Font: Anne Fadiman, Jonathan Lethem, Richard Posner, and others reveal what font they compose in and why.” Some bits I appreciated: I like Courier because it seems provisional—I can still change my mind—whereas Times New Roman and its analogues look like book faces, meaning that they feel nailed down and immovable. [...]

Also posted in Reading, typography | 9 Comments

Ask the copy desk

Last week my friend James sent me a link to a New York Times piece from March 6, 2007: Talk to the Newsroom: Director of Copy Desks Merrill Perlman. I didn’t get to look at it until now, and wow, is it long—thirteen pages. Interesting, but long. And because it’s a series of Q&As, written [...]

Also posted in Reading | 2 Comments

Thank you, Microsoft!

Now I will never have to buy any of your products again! The latest issue of Editorium Update has arrived, and Jack Lyon reports the following: Word 2008, for Macintosh, isn’t out yet but will be later this year: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-09MacworldPR.mspx Like Word 2007 for Windows, it will feature the Ribbon interface, with all of the [...]

Also posted in Rants, Tools | 3 Comments