Comments on: The Making of a Professional Editor

By: The Commandments: Thou Shall Use a Professional Editor | An American Editor

The Commandments: Thou Shall Use a Professional Editor | An American Editor — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:02:01 +0000

[...] hashed through some of the arguments in previous posts; see, for example, The Making of a Professional Editor, Professional Editors: Publishers and Authors Need Them (Part 1), Professional Editors: Publishers [...]

By: Garden Bay Gardening Supplies

Garden Bay Gardening Supplies — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:25:37 +0000

You’ve spent hundreds of hours writing, perhaps hundreds more reading and re-reading and fine-tuning. Your friends and family can’t say enough great things about your writing, and they eagerly ask you about it whenever they see you. Frankly, you’ve written something that is unlike anything else, and people will be knocking down your door. But now and then, you wonder if it’s really that good, you suspect your friends and family can’t offer critical feedback, and you start to think about hiring a professional editor.

By: americaneditor

americaneditor — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:59:25 +0000

I, too, use a rolling computer table in my office. I use it to hold (on a book rack) the key book I need for the current editing project — perhaps a dictionary or a style manual or The Merck Index or some other reference book. Works quite well.

By: Michelle Dear

Michelle Dear — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:34:41 +0000

Lifehacker recently had an article on how to handle the issue regarding frequently used books. I’ll have to go find it, but it was brilliant. Sometimes the most common solutions elude us. They suggested (and provided a simple way for us to create our own) that we use a mobile library cart. How wonderful is that idea?
I don’t know if that would work in a tiny NYC apartment, but it might. In my office, I have botched together a number of solutions, and it is quite funny to look at. I have one of those rolling computer tables that one would use at the couch that I use aside my desk as a pseduo-credenza to hold my postits, pencils, pens, and current editing materials. I have two TV tables that hold my books and various other things that sit astride my desk on the other side. The other thing that I used to do when I had the room is use a long conference table instead of a desk. The kind I purchased were the inexpensive folding kind–not an actual conference table. If your office accommodate the same, I wholly recommend this. Better yet, move your office to the dining room. Few people use their dining rooms anymore anyway. Please excuse any horrible grammar and punctuation. I wrote this quickly, and have to run off to work!

By: americaneditor

americaneditor — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:36:21 +0000

My two favorite books for grammar are Who's (...oops) Whose Grammar Book Is This Anyway? by C. Edward Good (ISBN 1567315763) and The Gregg Reference Manual by William Sabin (ISBN 0072936533). Believe it or not, Good's book is published by Barnes & Noble and generally sold on their remainders shelves. It's available online for as little as $1.75 in hardcover. Years ago, I bought copies for every editor who worked with me. Although I have Strunk & White's The Elements of Style, I've never found it to be either very authoritative or useful. Although not a true grammar reference, Stanley Fish's How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One (ISBN 9780061840548) is excellent and probably should be required reading by every professional editor. Also worth reading is Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (ISBN 9781592404889), although much of what she "advocates" should not be taken as gospel. I think her title really says it all. What is a "grammar" book? Isn't, for example, Chicago Manual of Style also a grammar book? Aren't all of the style manuals also grammar books? Is "style" really something separate from "grammar"? So perhaps the best thing to do is to say that in addition to other books, I also make use of supplemental resources, such as The BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations by Benson, Benson, and Ilson (ISBN 1556195206), Word Parts Dictionary by Michael Sheehan (ISBN 0786408197), and an oldie but particularly excellent book that I found in a used bookstore, Composition of Scientific Words by Roland Wilbur Brown (rev ed 1956). When I consider grammar, I consider more than nouns, adverbs, adjectives, commas, periods, and so on. Consequently, although I do make use of strictly grammar books, I more often make use of usage guides, etymological resources, and construction guides like the Composition of Scientific Words. Ultimately, the key to goo writing, I think, is the conveying of the message clearly, not adhering to a strict grammar rule. A signifcant part of conveying the message clearly is choosing the correct words; to choose the correct word, one needs to understand a word's construction and origin.

By: Dr. Mary-Anne Pops

Dr. Mary-Anne Pops — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:27:43 +0000

You do not mention which book(s) you rely on for grammar. You mentioned usage, but not grammar. Could you tell me which book(s) on grammar you use?

Thank you
Mary-Anne Pops
One-on-One Editing

By: Liz at Libro

Liz at Libro — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:32:28 +0000

What an interesting and useful article, and one to which I will direct people when they ask what on earth an editor is (does anyone else get asked: “how many books have you written?” or is that just me?) I got so tired of answering questions on the difference between an proof-reader and a copy-editor and, especially, the question, “I fancy being a proof-reader, how do I do that?” that I ended up writing my own articles on those topics.

I also have a groaning shelf, particularly as I work with UK and US clients so have to have reference books for both. I wouldn’t trust myself if I didn’t have a CMOS, an AP Stylebook and the Oxford reference books at very least. I only actually have one client who uses AP Stylebook, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get the new version when it comes out!

Thank you for bringing this issue to people’s attention. I call myself an editor, not a professional editor, but maybe I will add in the p-word now!

By: Ruth E. Thaler-Carter

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:44:22 +0000

I have no problem with someone who doesn’t have a lot of style manuals at hand, but – as the person who started this discussion by “outing” the so-called editor who didn’t know what Chicago is – I do with someone that ignorant of a basic tool of the trade. There probably are people who can improve writers’ work without having a lot of experience or a bookcase full of style manuals, dictionaries and other useful resources, but I wouldn’t trust my work to them!

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:09:20 +0000

I have at least 11 different book style guides, including specialized science style guides like “Mathematics Into Type” and guides from specific publishers like Wiley and McGraw-Hill, as well as newspaper style guides and usage guides. The problem is, everyone keeps changing preferred style, and updating them and then going through each new one to see what had changed would be both expensive and time-consuming, which is one reason I don’t edit books anymore.

I began after spending 8 years editing at a newspaper and thought I knew how to edit. None of my clients complained about what I did, but I gradually realized how little I really knew about book editing. So I am somewhat empathetic toward the editing newbie who doesn’t have 11 different style guides, even more usage guides, and a lot of experience, although I agree it’s rather shocking that an “editor” has never heard of CMS.

By: americaneditor

americaneditor — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:32:37 +0000

I wish, Jayne, that I had an answer. I have a similar problem — not only where to house my editing reference books, but also my permanent library of hardcover books. I have bookshelves all over the house — on every floor and in most rooms, and I am continuing to stack books. I have thought about, and probably will do in the not too distant future, double-rowing the bookshelves; that is, adding another set of bookshelves in front of current bookshelves in my library. I can’t do that in my office or there would be no room for me, but lack of shelving space doesn’t stop me from buying more books. Alas, if I could, I would take my books with me upon my demise, but no baggage is allowed on that trip.

Although a lack of space is a problem for many of us, I do not, in all seriousness, consider that a sufficient excuse to not have the resources we should have for our chosen profession. We wouldn’t accept an excuse from our physician that he/she didn’t have time to keep up with happenings in his/her field because he/she lacked shelf space, so I see no reason to accept such an excuse from professional editors.