When Page Numbers Don’t Help
Editors are never happy. First they throw a fit if you send in a manuscript without page numbers, but once you send them a paginated work, they complain when you try to discuss a sentence on page 67.
“Ain’t Misbehavin’ ”: When Quotation Marks and Apostrophes Collide
In 1929, when the song “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” became a big hit, composers Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks probably weren’t too worried about that final apostrophe.
What Does an Editor Know? A Quiz
To celebrate the end of another decade, we’ve put together eleven questions designed to test your knowledge of some random editorial facts.
“Had had”? Flashbacks and the Past Perfect
What exactly is the past perfect? And what’s wrong with using it?
How Strunk Lost His Comma
Chicago style doesn’t require commas when “Jr.” or “Sr.” follows a name. Until just a few decades ago, however, commas were the norm.
Chicago Style Crossword No. 2: Specialty Publishing
Welcome to our second “Chicago Style” crossword puzzle. The theme this time is specialty publishing.
Can I Put an iPhone in My Novel?
Now and then, a writer or editor asks our online Q&A whether mentioning a brand name in a work of fiction requires permission or the addition of the trademark (™) or registered (®) symbol.
Space Breaks in Fiction
A few weeks ago at my local library I came across a novel I’d been wanting to read. I didn’t have time for another book, but I took it home anyway.
Chicago Style Workout 40: Grammar, Part 4
This month’s Chicago style workout, “Grammar, Part 4,” focuses on paragraphs 5.39–51 of CMOS 17, which cover personal pronouns, including their possessive and reflexive forms.
Making Word’s AutoCorrect Options Work for You
Microsoft Word does a lot of things automatically, and it does them by default. Some of these interventions are welcome. But to a copyeditor, Word’s meddling can be dangerous.
Preparing an Audiobook for a Narrator Who Isn’t You
Recently I read through a book to make notes for a professional voice actor who would be reading it for an audiobook production.
