Blog
Developmental editing: Starting conversations
By Tanya Gold A potential client reaches out to you. They say they have a fiction manuscript and need a developmental editor. What do you do? Your first step is to get samples from the work and information about the project. There are basic logistics to cover, such as title, word count, and timeline for…
Read More4 tips for mastering the art of editing different brand voices
By Chaviva Gordon-Bennett It’s human nature to seek out meaningful emotional connections — and not just from other humans. We want the brands we buy products and services from to have character and personality; we want their voice to resonate so we can relate to them and feel like they’re solving our problems because they…
Read MoreClamp down on unhelping verbs
By Andy Hollandbeck Give the bear a kiss. Give the teddy bear a kiss, or kiss the bear? One of the jobs of an editor is to help writers avoid wordiness and redundancy. One place to focus on this issue is in verb choice. Too often, writers will fall back on a verb–article–direct object structure…
Read MoreWays words get made
By Emily Brewster A dive into the various origin stories of the members of the English lexicon is best preceded by a quick swim in the details of the language’s basic composition. The heart of the language is Germanic, thanks to some fifth and sixth century invaders, and a huge number of its words are…
Read MoreHow to grow your freelance business: Three editors share their financial strategies
By Dorothy Hernandez While freelancers have their own reasons for forging their own paths, the reasons are variations on the same themes: autonomy and freedom. But keeping track of business finances, getting an accountant and marketing yourself can quickly dash those dreams of escaping the 9-to-5 grind and cube farms. That is a full-time job…
Read MoreHow to hook today’s student on editing
By Nolan Brey In her ACES 2018 session, Getting Student Journalists to Care About Editing in the Digital Age, Kay O’Donnell presented ways in which instructors can get their students to care about editing in a world with increasingly poor grammar and sloppy writing. O’Donnell is an assistant professor of journalism and the student media adviser…
Read MoreEditing for respect in the world of #MeToo
By Graham Colton, Online News Association University of South Florida St. Petersburg In 2018, The New York Times and The New Yorker both won Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage of the #MeToo movement. The prizes recognized the culmination of months of reporting on sexual misconduct that stretched from Capitol Hill to Hollywood. The movement has…
Read MoreTips to make digital content accessible to everyone
By Nolan Brey In her ACES 2018 session, Pam Hogle presented ways in which digital content can be made accessible to everyone, including those with visual or auditory impairments. Hogle writes about creating accessible digital content for eLearning Guild’s Learning Solution. Hogle is also a freelance writer and editor and a former trainer of service…
Read MoreReaching the fact-resistant audience
By Alexandra Martinez With credibility, reliability and the term “fake news” on the line, journalists are looking to see what they can do to keep audiences not only engaged, but trusting the media. In Her Thursday afternoon session at the national conference of ACES: The Society for Editing, Jane Elizabeth dove into what it takes…
Read MoreWhy every style book needs a ‘Dog Terms’ entry
By Kim Kavin The terms “puppy mill” and “dog rescue” have become ubiquitous. One is shorthand for the devils of the dog industry, the other a blanket description of the angels. “Adopt, Don’t Shop,” the saying goes, suggesting that rescuing a puppy and buying a puppy are mutually exclusive actions. How, then, was I supposed…
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