Tag: copy editing

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Jennie Seitz

The Effects of AI on Academic Editing

June 20, 2024 by Jennie Seitz | 7 Comments on The Effects of AI on Academic Editing

OpenAI announced on May 13, 2024, that their new model, ChatGPT-4o — which, at its highest level, now appears to be capable of conversations almost indiscernible from those with a human — is now being made available to all users for free (with limitations). Given that ChatGPT already has over 100 million users per week, […]

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Melinda Martin

Document Prep Tips from a Book Designer

June 15, 2023 by Melinda Martin | 2 Comments on Document Prep Tips from a Book Designer

After a book has been professionally copy edited, a book designer will begin the layout. My goal is to help you, your self-publishing clients and their book designers work smarter, not harder. I often say, “It’s not the doing but the re-doing that costs.” More than just money, re-work costs us the most valuable asset […]

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Rosemary Shipton

An Editing Scenario for Discussion

November 24, 2022 by Rosemary Shipton | 12 Comments on An Editing Scenario for Discussion

You’re a freelance editor who has been building up your business for two years now. You’ve taken a few webinars related to copy editing, you consult the Chicago Manual of Style as needed and you’ve invested in PerfectIt. You’re excited because a prospective client has asked you to copy edit the detective novel he’s written. […]

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Gael Spivak

Grammar Matters

August 25, 2020 by Gael Spivak | 8 Comments on Grammar Matters

Antecedents and gerunds. En dashes and ellipses. Gripping topics for editors, right? Well, it turns out they’re not gripping for all of us. As one of the admins for the Editors’ Association of Earth groups on Facebook, I read almost every post and comment (one group alone had 310 posts and 5,611 comments in a […]

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Rosemary Shipton

The Editor’s Letter

July 14, 2020 by Rosemary Shipton | 5 Comments on The Editor’s Letter

The editor’s letter — the first substantive communication you have with a client — is the most important task in any editorial project. It provides the opportunity to give your assessment, raise questions and establish a relationship. If this exchange is successful, the myriad other tasks should follow seamlessly. In this scenario, you’ve been hired […]

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Natalia Iwanek

Making the Shift from Student to Freelance Editor

March 31, 2020 by Natalia Iwanek | 6 Comments on Making the Shift from Student to Freelance Editor

For novice editors, the transitional year from student to editor is often both remarkable and overwhelming. No amount of experience and education can prepare you for the phenomenon of imposter syndrome, the tendency to undervalue your work, and the persistent fear of failure. Above all, nothing quite prepares you for that first difficult client. Although […]

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Berna Ozunal

Letter to Non-Editors

October 22, 2019 by Berna Ozunal | 5 Comments on Letter to Non-Editors

This post is part of a series of case studies by and for in-house editors. The focus of this series is on the personal experiences and various roles of in-house editors. A post will appear on the Editors’ Weekly every other month. If you’re interested in writing a post for this series, please email the Member Services Committee. After […]

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Tilman Lewis

Professional Editorial Standards: What Does an Editor Do Today?

January 29, 2019 by Tilman Lewis | Leave a Comment

Editors Canada’s Professional Editorial Standards (PES) describe the responsibilities of an editor. The scope of PES is broad; this series explores how the standards apply to a variety of editing contexts. I’ve always found the granularity of PES daunting; I’m more inclined to “find the voice and let it sing.” But comparing the 2016 revision […]

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Standards Communication Task Force

Standards at Work: Fiction Editing

October 2, 2018 by Elizabeth d'Anjou, Standards Communication Task Force | 3 Comments on Standards at Work: Fiction Editing

Editors Canada’s Professional Editorial Standards (PES) describe the responsibilities of an editor. The scope of PES is broad; this series explores how the standards apply to a variety of editing contexts. Karen Conlin is a freelance editor specializing in speculative fiction and young adult fiction (YA). She does structural, stylistic and copy editing, mostly for […]

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Standards Communication Task Force

Standards at Work: Academic Editing

April 24, 2018 by Standards Communication Task Force | 4 Comments on Standards at Work: Academic Editing

Editors Canada’s Professional Editorial Standards (PES) describe the responsibilities of an editor. The scope of PES is broad; this series explores how the standards apply to a variety of editing contexts. I edit academic papers in preparation for submission to journals. My clients are researchers, and have usually settled the structure and content of their […]

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Standards Communication Task Force

PES in the Field: Raising (the Topic of) Our Standards

February 27, 2018 by Standards Communication Task Force | 3 Comments on PES in the Field: Raising (the Topic of) Our Standards

“I’m talking about making something less boring.” This was feedback from an Editors Canada member on a draft of the latest update to Editors Canada’s Professional Editorial Standards (PES). The 2016 update was a year-long process that incorporated feedback and comments from many members. When a draft of the new text was circulated for final […]

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Paul Cipywnyk

Mourning the Demise of Newsroom Copy Editors

February 16, 2016 by Paul Cipywnyk | 5 Comments on Mourning the Demise of Newsroom Copy Editors

I was fortunate to get my initial on-the-job training in journalism in the days when writers worked with desk editors, copy editors and proofreaders. At least three sets of eyes perused every story after it had been written, and sometimes four or five. Three or more brains worked on massaging and polishing copy and checking […]

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Sue Archer

EAC Conference Speaker Profile: Carol Saller

June 2, 2015 by Sue Archer | 7 Comments on EAC Conference Speaker Profile: Carol Saller

Editing Goes Global is right around the corner! This week, the Editors’ Weekly is holding its final conversation with keynote speaker and editor extraordinaire Carol Saller. In addition to her keynote speech on “‘Subversive’ Editing: Or, What Bugs Editors and How to Fix It,” Carol will be co-delivering the session “Hiring Other Freelancers: Expanding Your […]

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Adrienne Montgomerie

PerfectIt 3: Quality Software for the Experienced Editor

May 5, 2015 by Adrienne Montgomerie | 17 Comments on PerfectIt 3: Quality Software for the Experienced Editor

Editors use add-ins to Word to make their work faster and more consistent. PerfectIt is one of the more well-respected add-ins for Windows users, and Intelligent Editing was kind enough to provide the Editors’ Weekly with a copy of the newly released PerfectIt 3 for review. Contributor Adrienne Montgomerie has written a detailed review of the […]

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Rosemary Shipton

Should Editors Be Able to Write?

April 28, 2015 by Rosemary Shipton | 15 Comments on Should Editors Be Able to Write?

We editors talk at length about different kinds of editing and who does what, and we generally assume that we’re working on a text written by someone else. Together with the author, we massage the content, the structure and the presentation into the best possible shape for its intended readers. But should we also be […]

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Sue Archer

Review: The Editor’s Companion by Steve Dunham

March 3, 2015 by Sue Archer | 10 Comments on Review: The Editor’s Companion by Steve Dunham

When I first read the title of this book, I thought it would be a comprehensive “how to” guide for people learning how to edit, like The Copyeditor’s Handbook by Amy Einsohn. The focus of this book is somewhat different. The Editor’s Companion is aimed at professionals who already know something about communications, but are […]

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Dwain Richardson

English Editing in Quebec: Local Realities — Quebec City and Area, and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean

February 17, 2015 by Dwain Richardson | Leave a Comment

♪♫ À Québec au clair de lune. Comme il fait bon… ♪♫ On those first few words of Marius Delisle’s 1959 hit, I make my way to Quebec City and the surrounding area to find out how language professionals fare with English on a daily basis. Of the more than 700,000 inhabitants of the Quebec […]

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Dwain Richardson

English Editing in Quebec: Local Realities — Western Quebec and Eastern Townships

December 16, 2014 by Dwain Richardson | Leave a Comment

If you live in the vicinity of Canada’s capital region and are aspiring to become a language professional, you’re in for a treat. For starters, the cities of Gatineau and Ottawa and their surrounding areas are home to most federal government departments. Localities on either side of the Ottawa River have municipal administrations and provincial […]

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Rosemary Shipton

Twelve-Step Editing

November 4, 2014 by Rosemary Shipton | 23 Comments on Twelve-Step Editing

One project, one editor — that’s the norm in Canada today. Only a few large trade publishers and a small number of government departments still divide editing between structural/stylistic editors and copy editors, while the rapidly dwindling group of educational publishers distinguish between developmental editing and copy editing. Almost all the other publishers, institutions and […]

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Dwain Richardson

English Editing in Quebec: Local Realities — Montreal and Area

October 21, 2014 by Dwain Richardson | 5 Comments on English Editing in Quebec: Local Realities — Montreal and Area

It’s a well-known fact: Quebec is the only French-language province in Canada. According to recent statistics, la belle province is home to over eight million inhabitants.[1] Of these inhabitants, 78 per cent are native French speakers and over seven per cent are English speakers. In the Greater Montreal Area, 47 per cent of residents identify […]

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Adrienne Montgomerie

Software for Editors

June 3, 2014 by Adrienne Montgomerie | 6 Comments on Software for Editors

The editing of words is well into the technological age now. While paper still exists, it would be surprising to find an editorial or production workflow that doesn’t involve computers. What programs are editors using? Editors I interviewed when writing the technology section for the third edition of EAC’s Editing Canadian English said this is […]

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Rosemary Shipton

What Should an Editor Be?

January 7, 2014 by Rosemary Shipton | 26 Comments on What Should an Editor Be?

We were nearing the end of a Stylistic Editing seminar — a group of about 30 people of varying ages and experience working in-house or freelance for book publishers, magazines, businesses or governments. A woman in the third row raised her hand: “In my work I’m the only editor,” she said, “so I don’t really […]

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Wilf Popoff

WASTED WORDS: A World Without Problems

June 11, 2013 by Wilf Popoff | 1 Comment on WASTED WORDS: A World Without Problems

“Houston we have a challenge!” “This is Houston Apollo. What do you mean by challenge?” “A power drop in one of the two main electrical circuits.” “That’s a problem Apollo. Can’t copy challenge.” I’ve altered parts of this celebrated exchange from 43 years ago to support my case. At the time challenge was a word […]

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Anita Jenkins

What’s an editor to do?

February 19, 2013 by Anita Jenkins | 4 Comments on What’s an editor to do?

Virginia Durksen recently stated in her blog post The Inner Editor: Reflections on Editing as Mindful Practice that an editor must “respect the writer’s voice and suggest only those changes that serve the writer first, and then the writer’s reader.” Certainly I agree; it’s a big mistake to indiscriminately apply a standardized style so firmly […]

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