Blog
How to write an apology letter to a client
By Erin Brenner Sooner or later it happens to every editor: you make a major mistake on a client project. The problem might be something that wasn’t completely in your control, such as a major hardware failure or a serious illness that put you out of work, but it’s perceived as your fault all the…
Read MorePicking at the pepper problem
By Andy Hollandbeck I used to like spicy food much more than I do now. I was never a fanatic about it — chomping on a ghost pepper has never been on my bucket list. But there are people out there who will jump at any chance to experience new levels of mouth pain whenever…
Read MoreHow to write great alt text — And why it matters
By Pamela S. Hogle and Deni Elliott As the editor or writer of digital content, you want to reach all the members of your audience. This is true whether you are writing news, a blog, marketing content, educational content — or something else. Alt text is an essential tool that makes your content accessible and…
Read MoreAP Stylebook Changes announced at ACES 2020 Online
By Gerri Berendzen The Associated Press Stylebook team announced a new gender-neutral language entry, an older adult(s) entry, and several other stylebook changes on May 1 as part of the ACES: The Society for Editing’s online conference. The “What’s New in the AP Stylebook” session lacked some of the drama that normally occurs at the…
Read MoreMake your mark as a 20-something Editor
By Lauren Filippini At my first ACES conference in 2019, I was thrilled to hear from so many editors with storied careers. Paula Froke teaching me about AP Stylebook changes? It was a fan-girl moment. But I was in the fourth year of my career, facing a problem I didn’t think would be solved until…
Read MoreEditing with OCD, or anxiety in general
By Anna Tribolet When you think of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), you might think of Hercule Poirot, Sheldon Cooper, or Monk: interesting characters whose disorder makes them good at their jobs and more than a little bit eccentric. These media portrayals of mental illness are often funny and are sometimes even glamorized, making OCD seem like…
Read MoreFact-checking tips for all types of editing
By Gerri Berendzen Whenever I watch a 1960s movie about the publishing industry, I often imagine there will be a scene in a cavernous room with row upon row of desks, walls lined with reference material and filled with workers dutifully fact-checking every word in the magazine. That’s one picture of fact-checking. Today when you…
Read MoreDeveloping a quality editorial process end-to-end
By Samantha Enslen and Cynthia Williams In your hands, finally, you hold sparkling copy: a good idea fleshed out in compelling prose, with no design flaws or typos. Everything worked out this time around. But to get those results every time, you need a foolproof routine: a standard editorial process that helps you create quality…
Read MoreEditing with head and heart: Balancing SEO and conscious language
By Jasmin Collier and Isy Godfrey Continual changes in expert knowledge, consumer trends, and technical know-how mean that the publishing industry always faces a wealth of new challenges. However, at Healthline Media, one ongoing challenge is particularly pertinent to us as copy editors: Striking the balance between search engine optimization (SEO) and our house style.…
Read MoreWords that glitter and splash
By James Harbeck We’re all familiar with onomatopoeia: bang, woof, moo. But we may not spend much time thinking about how it’s generally regularized and standardized: a dog can go woof, for instance, but whoosh is a fast-moving thing, whir is a spinning, vibrating thing, and whoop is an expression of delight or discomfiture. And…
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