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Person sitting at a desk with their head in their hands, with a computer, notepad and mug on the desk.

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Tackling That First Draft: How Editors Can Help Nervous Writers

Thursday September 25, 2025

© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter Coming up with a first draft is a challenge for almost every writer, even those with years of experience and walls full of awards. Few writers can sit down, flex those typing fingers, relax the shoulders and pour out a word-perfect manuscript on the first try. These tips for dealing with […]

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Open book with a castle with a rainbow behind it and a dragon flying over it, coming up from its pages. (Copyright: cienpies © 123RF.com)

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Allison Alexander

Six Tips for Editing Fantasy

Thursday October 9, 2025

Authors often create whole new worlds in fantasy, which can be daunting for editors new to the genre. But the scope and creativity are also why fantasy novels are so much fun to work on. Here are six areas to consider as you dive into editing fantasy fiction. 1. Be familiar with the genre and […]

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Allison Alexander editing editor advice fantasy tips

An open book with a page vertically displayed, with a pair of glasses, an ink pot and quill, plus a rose and butterfly in the background. (Copyright: denayunebgt © 123RF.com)

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Susan Glickman

Poetry Moment: Dear Trees (Part Two)

Thursday February 26, 2026

Conversation with the Author Last week, in our post, Poetry Moment: Dear Trees, , we spoke with Susan Glickman about our trade as editors, client work and questioning the bigger picture. We continue our conversation here in Part Two. Q: From an editorial perspective, what are your thoughts on how the publishing industry can deal […]

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editing poetry Susan Glickman

A young red-haired woman with orange-rimmed glasses sits, emotionless, in front of a computer, her torso wrapped several times with a white electrical cord.

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Kate Icely

DISPATCHES 6: Are Interns Taken Advantage Of?

Tuesday August 27, 2013

According to my recent articles, internships can be awesome. You get a ton of experience, and getting a job is a snap—all you have to do is follow the steps in my last post. But it’s not always like that. If it were, people wouldn’t complain about internships as much as they do. They’re a […]

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intern interns internships publishing

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Karen Virag

English can be so two-faced

Tuesday September 17, 2013

My head literally exploded when I read it! What text, you are wondering, could have caused such a messy and bloody scene? (And if my head literally exploded, shouldn’t I be dead?) Well, the text in question was from an article in Salon magazine (August 22, 2013) decrying the Merriam-Webster (MW) Dictionary definition of the word literally to […]

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definitions language lexicography literally The Baltimore Sun The Guardian usage

Getting an internship can lead to a job—but it might not be the job you were expecting.

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Kate Icely

DISPATCHES 7: Finding Work in Unexpected Places

Wednesday October 2, 2013

Getting an internship can lead to a job—but it might not be the job you were expecting. When I first started taking courses at Ryerson University, I didn’t have a clue about the variety of jobs available to me. I knew I could be an editorial assistant at a publishing company, but there were so […]

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editing editing jobs editorial skills finding work freelancing in-house work mentorship publishing transferable skills

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Victoria Neufeldt

Shy Words

Tuesday December 17, 2013

When I took on the commitment, a year ago, of contributing blog postings about language, I began bravely by tossing out a little ditty that came into my mind, inspired by Dr. Seuss: “New words, old words, shy words, bold words.” Well, I’ve talked about old words and new words, but shy words? What was […]

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etymology language lexicon shy words vocabulary

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James Harbeck

Topics, We Front Them | Linguistics, Frankly

Tuesday January 14, 2014

English is normally a subject-verb-object kind of language, but there are some interesting exceptions, especially in casual contexts. Consider examples such as the following: Poodles, we walk them. Labradors, they walk us. Chickens we have; roads, not so much. Not one of the clauses above follows standard English sentence order, and yet we understand them. […]

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grammar language Linguistics Frankly syntax usage word choice

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Susan Glickman

What Does It Take to Start Freelancing?

Tuesday April 8, 2014

If you’re just starting out as a freelancer, whether you’re a writer or an editor, keep in mind that the only way to survive is to be brutally efficient — which means you will have no social life. You should, however, get a gym membership and use it, because you’ll need to keep your energy […]

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editing editor editors at work freelancing writers writing

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Victoria Neufeldt

What’s an Editor to Do?

Tuesday January 6, 2015

The vagaries of language can cause even the most experienced editors headaches. Editors as a group are more attuned to the whims and ways of language than the average speaker, but many strange and challenging usages regularly fly under the radar and pass into public text, despite our best efforts. When should an editor accept […]

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editing editor's role grammar language usage word choice