Resources

By Gerri Berendzen ACES members have a lot of knowledge to share — and this week a couple shared information useful to the industry and beyond. Because, after all, copy editors know a little bit about everything. For most copy editors, at the top of all that knowledge is a keen understanding of grammar and…

By Paul Chevannes Sept. 24 is National Punctuation Day. The idea behind the celebration is to promote the correct usage of punctuation. At ACES, we’re all about proper punctuation (although we don’t claim to be perfect). But we also think National Punctuation Day is a good opportunity to learn some of the history of the…

By Gerri Berendzen Lists can make your life easier. Lists also can be thought provoking. Last week, three editing bloggers put together lists that are worth reading and thinking about. So in case you missed it, here are three blogs about copy editing to bookmark and discuss. TERESA SCHMEDDING On her personal blog, Teresa Schmedding,…

By Samantha Enslen Many folks reach out to ACES to share their interest in learning to be a copy editor. We’re happy to help by answering burning questions, sharing resources, offering training, and more. But the reality is that a career in copy editing isn’t right for everyone — any more than one spent performing…

By Samantha Enslen Here at ACES central, we field questions from editors around the world. Recently, a member wrote in with an issue that nearly all editors have faced. “We are constantly criticized for taking too long on projects,” she told us. “Are there statistics for how long industry pros spend per page editing? I…

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…

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,”…

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…

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…

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…