Blog

By Brit Stamey While many spring holidays across many religions and traditions hover around themes of rebirth and hope, a huge range of traditions and practices fall during the spring months. This article aims to describe a selection of these holidays including how they are celebrated, how to describe them, and how to greet someone…

By Erin Brenner It’s the moment every new freelance editor dreads. You’re finally about to land your first client, and they ask, “How much will this cost?” Gulp! Panic sets in. How do you figure out cost? What pricing structure should you use? Hourly seems logical, but some editors you know insist that the project…

By Emily Primeaux I’ve followed a rather interesting writing and editing path over the course of my career. My most recent six-and-a-half-year tenure as the associate editor at an association magazine has been some of the most enlightening work yet—it forced me to be more flexible, creative, and innovative in how I managed the magazine’s editorial…

By Frank Steele “Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think there are no little things.”—Bruce Barton That’s certainly true in editing. Little errors, problems, or inconsistencies can drag a manuscript down, while little editing tips or procedures can make it shine and make clients (and editors)…

By Maggie Gigandet Before I became a freelance writer and editor, I was a trial attorney. Those who are surprised by my career transition usually believe that these fields are unrelated. But I see more similarities than differences. The goal of each occupation is to get a message to an audience as clearly and precisely as…

By Adrienne Montgomerie Though we love to hate it, there’s no getting around the fact that Microsoft Word is the defacto standard for word processing in editorial and publishing processes. And it does have features, functions, and plug-ins that no other word processor can compare with. Software that purports to be equivalent simply isn’t, and…

By Jessica DiDonato Like any good craftsperson, an editor has tools for the trade: computer, editing software (or a trusty red pen), dictionary, style guide, and go-to sources for fact-checking. But what’s missing is a critical asset that can bail us out like no other tool in our kit: mindfulness. When overthinking or distractions interfere…

By Ashly Stewart In the Feb. 18 ACES webcast, Ashly Stewart talked about the magic that happens when the right words and design work together to tell powerful stories. But in the same way we’ve learned that the course of true love never did run smoothly, the path to writers, editors, and designers collaborating well can…

By Christine Steele I didn’t think too much about personal pronouns until this past spring, and now they are on my mind often. I’ve learned the importance of why they matter. The copyediting courses I teach online were moved to a new learning management system, Canvas, in April. Canvas offers a drop-down menu in the settings to…