Reviews for The copyeditor's handbook

The average rating for The copyeditor's handbook based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-04-01 00:00:00 Anda Luters It's been 44 years since I started my first job out of college, as a copy editor at Scott, Foresman, educational publishers. Throughout my incredibly checkered career, one consistent thread has been editing. No matter what the job or where it's taken me, my editorial switch just always seems to be in the "on" position. This is the context for my reading of Amy Einsohn's very useful guide to copyediting. Now that I'm retired from the completely engrossing field of user experience design, in which I worked as an information architect for many years, my dial is recalibrating to the somewhat less engrossing work of copyediting. I've been busy with this ever since I left VSA Partners, eager to abandon the "software du jour" requirements that made the job increasingly technical and ever more demanding. I knew I needed some help in navigating the Chicago Manual of Style, which had tripled in size since my first copy, the 12th edition, in 1968. The 16th edition is over 1,000 pages and is fondly referred to as "the orange monster" by some of my editor pals. So I signed up for a couple of refresher courses offered online by the Editorial Freelancers Association, based in New York. Einsohn's book is one of two texts for the course, and at a mere 500 or so pages it is the perfect companion piece to the CMS. The author writes with a light touch and a sense of humor. The language is simple and direct, and there are ample illustrations that accompany the text. Einsohn even includes exercises and an answer key. If you think you've got potential as an editor, this book is a good place to start finding out. Most of copyediting consists of mechanical corrections and not the improvement of poorly written manuscripts. Surprised? I was, too, but this is reflective of the change that the world of publishing has undergone in the last three decades. If you're already working as a copy editor, you may be surprised to discover that making writing better falls in the category of "we don't have budget for that" and "that" is considered heavy copyediting. One thing this book and this course have made me realize is that I've been undercharging for my services!

Review # 2 was written on 2020-11-19 00:00:00 David Schwendinger I read Einsohn once or twice a year. She covers so much, so well, that it's always a helpful refresher. In discussing editorial issues she goes beyond issuing decrees. She compares approaches from different style guides, and quotes contending arguments for a larger problem-solving view. In fact, I have to suspect that her intelligent middle path between dogmatic legalism and unprincipled permissiveness is indeed the key to world peace.