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More editing books
Apr. 1st, 2015 07:51 pmSo my last career move was to take a copy editor position at a place that was happy to hire me with just my experience in technical editing and proofreading, and then proceeded to have no training in copy editing at all, let alone the substantive and developmental editing that they also expected. In an unsuccessful bid to self-train, I read The Copyeditor’s Handbook, by Amy Einsohn.
Now, when I say this bid to self-train was unsuccessful, I do not mean that the book did not help me learn a lot about copyediting and improve, as nearly everyone I worked with regularly commented that I was improving. It’s just that it did not save me my job, as the people I worked with and the people who decided who stayed and who got purged were different people, and the latter did not consult the former.
But I am glad I read the book anyway, for it is really an excellent treasure trove of information about what copyediting is, how best to approach it, what makes it different from other kinds of editing (information I sadly had to ignore but which I have filed away for future use in other positions), how office copyediting jobs are usually set up (this was where it was most obvious that the subject of the book was traditional book publishing, which is not what I was doing), and most importantly, how to do it. This involved a lot of exercises. The exercises were particularly great because they had an answer key that not only gave the right answers, but explained them, including style variants that would affect potential correct answers. It’s also written in a lively, occasionally funny voice, and discusses the various controversies, myths, and general sticky points of language in a sensible, well-informed way. I also think it hits a good balance between teaching copyeditors to be conservative in their language use and edits without being cranky, backwards, or elitist.
I may need to invest in my own copy—it seems like a really good resource to have on hand and keep using.
Now, when I say this bid to self-train was unsuccessful, I do not mean that the book did not help me learn a lot about copyediting and improve, as nearly everyone I worked with regularly commented that I was improving. It’s just that it did not save me my job, as the people I worked with and the people who decided who stayed and who got purged were different people, and the latter did not consult the former.
But I am glad I read the book anyway, for it is really an excellent treasure trove of information about what copyediting is, how best to approach it, what makes it different from other kinds of editing (information I sadly had to ignore but which I have filed away for future use in other positions), how office copyediting jobs are usually set up (this was where it was most obvious that the subject of the book was traditional book publishing, which is not what I was doing), and most importantly, how to do it. This involved a lot of exercises. The exercises were particularly great because they had an answer key that not only gave the right answers, but explained them, including style variants that would affect potential correct answers. It’s also written in a lively, occasionally funny voice, and discusses the various controversies, myths, and general sticky points of language in a sensible, well-informed way. I also think it hits a good balance between teaching copyeditors to be conservative in their language use and edits without being cranky, backwards, or elitist.
I may need to invest in my own copy—it seems like a really good resource to have on hand and keep using.
