Blog
AP state name switch is a good time to address clarity issues
By Gerri Berendzen Quick quiz: How do you spell the name of the state where the Red Sox play? Where does your mail go if the postal abbreviation is AS? Is Pennsylvania abbreviated Pa. or Penn.? * It’s a topical quiz for copy editors in a week where the Associated Press is changing a long-time…
Read MoreSlips and errata: A few famous typos for World Book and Copyright Day
By Merrill Perlman In 1631, about 200 years after Gutenberg printed the first Bible, Barker & Louis, the royal printers in London, were asked to print a new edition of the King James Bible. Here’s how they printed the Seventh Commandment: [1] “Thou shalt commit adultery.” For the omission of that tiny but oh-so-important word “not,”…
Read MoreUpdates to AP Stylebook include ‘over,’ hyphenation of Wal-Mart
By Mike Cirelli At the beginning of Thursday morning’s “Ask the AP Stylebook Editors” session, Associated Press editor David Minthorn told the audience not to expect any bombshell changes this year. But that didn’t stop the audience from gasping at a few of the updates that were announced. The audience seemed especially surprised when Minthorn…
Read MoreMore advice for Vice: Why hiring copy editors is a really good idea
By Fred Vultee Everybody has some advice for Vice Media in its quest to hire a freelance copy editor, from the folks at Gawker who noticed “for it’s upcoming Vice News website” in the ad (since corrected) to a former online and magazine editor whose suggestion was blunt: “Whatever you do, Vice, don’t hire that…
Read MoreNew handbook fills training gap in verifying user-generated content
By Gerri Berendzen Verifying information has always been one part of the copy editor’s job. But in the digital era, the amount of information flowing across your desk has increased while the time between getting it and publishing it has shrunk. When you throw in an emergency and social media, gathering and editing news can…
Read MoreKiss and edit: It’s all about word choice this Valentine’s Day
By Samantha Enslen One of the joys of being a copyeditor is feeling like you’ve helped a writer substantially improve his or her copy. Fixing punctuation errors, catching spelling mistakes—those are satisfying in their own right. But when you feel like you’ve helped a writer more successfully express their intended meaning—that’s really something. One of…
Read MoreEditing made easier: One search, two resources for AP Stylebook users
By Mark Allen The Associated Press announced the addition of Webster’s New World College Dictionary and a Web-based style checker to its growing list of online products this week. This means AP’s official dictionary is now available with the stylebook from a single search box for subscribers to apstylebook.com. AP Stylebook’s editors have picked up…
Read More12 style tips for Halloween
By Samantha Enslen In celebration of the best holiday of the year — Halloween, of course — ACES has put together an editorial style sheet full of ghostly terms. So dip your pens in ink (or blood) and start copy editing content about the season. You’ll have the confidence of knowing you’re using devilishly correct…
Read MoreCOLUMBIA MISSOURIAN: Another crack at an old problem of plagiarism
By ACES Staff The following column is being reprinted from the Columbia Missourian, with permission. The Missourian is a daily print/digital community news organization directed by professional editors and staffed by students in the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Tom Warhover is executive editor for innovation at the Missourian. By Tom Warhover Dear Reader, Let’s…
Read MoreProofreading: Catch mistakes before they cause a crisis
By Naif L. Bartlett University of Missouri A crowd so large it spilled into the Hilton’s hallway attended the proofreading session given Friday by John Braun, Sherri Hildebrandt and Sherrie Voss Matthews. Using examples of botched headlines and social media posts, some of which so funny that audience members couldn’t help but laugh, the trio…
Read More