=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 3, no. 13 (29 March 1998) Editorial mailing list Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: Q & A---new queries [2db] Quoting newspaper headlines [2dc] Reference source for place names [2de] Writing of dates [2df] Style for numbers FYI [3bx] Surveying contemporary English usage [3ca] BookReview -- Book Reviews and Review Discussion List Business matters---previous posting [4ai] Proofreading Business matters---new posting [4aj] Irritants [5] Bookmarks [6] Just for fun [8] Administration =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[2] Q & A --------------------------------------------------------- ** [2db] Quoting newspaper headlines Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 From: Petra Kopp, kopp@zetnet.co.uk I want to include a "montage" of newspaper headlines in the introduction of an open learning workbook for healthcare managers. They're real headlines, so I wondered whether I need to include their sources. I don't really want to do this, as the idea is just to give the learner a taste of the issues that will be covered in the book. Can anyone tell me whether I can get away without giving the names and dates of the newspapers? +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2dc] Reference source for place names Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 From: Petra Kopp, kopp@zetnet.co.uk I am working on a *huge* history project that covers the whole of world history from the year dot to the present day. Does anyone know of an authoritative reference source that might help me with the English spellings of place names, particularly of transliterated names, and with the many name changes of cities, rivers etc? For example, when did Danzig become Gdansk? When did the Oxus become the Amu Darya? And so on. A related question concerns the inclusion of diacriticals in place names, particularly in Chinese and Arabic names. Again, I'd welcome suggestions for a reference source that might help me in deciding which convention to follow. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2de] Writing of dates Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 From: Richard Harris, 100131.3564@compuserve.com An idle moment whilst copy-editing a manuscript lead me to think about the way dates are/should be written. For instance, for today's date I would typically write 25.3.98, and occasionally writing 25/3/98 -- but never 25 iii 1998 (as I have seen on some letters from mature correspondents). Which is correct? Butcher doesn't seem to talk about this, and so I am left puzzling this conumdrum alone. Is there a rule on when to use full stops and when to use solidi? Are there regional/country-specific approaches? (BTW, I know that when writing about tax years one does use a solidus, viz., "In the tax year 1998/99 ...".) +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2df] Style for numbers Date: Thurs, 26 Mar 1998 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@zetnet.co.uk The standard system for dealing with numbers in British English copy- editing seems to be widely adopted, at least in technical and academic publishing. By this I mean, briefly, the practice of spelling out numbers below 10 and using numerals for those greater than or equal to 10, exceptions being numbers associated with units, for which numerals are always used. I often edit books written by British authors but aimed at the American market, which therefore adopt US English. While publishers often given guidance on spelling and punctuation for this purpose, I have never seen any specific guidelines for numbers, and I suspect that American copy-editors would handle numbers differently. My question is, does the British approach to numbers look odd to American readers (or to readers of any other nationality, for that matter), and should editing to US English style cover such matters as well as spelling and punctuation? ---[3] FYI ----------------------------------------------------------- ** [3bx] Surveying contemporary English usage Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 From: Pam Peters, ppeters@srsuna.shlrc.mq.edu.au The Langscape questionnaire has aroused quite a lot of interest, and it's very good to have the responses of an organization such as yours. Kevin Taylor of CUP asked me to contact you about the electronic version, and to let you know that within the next ten days we will have the set of 6 questionnaires on the WEB. Rather than send further email responses to Kevin, it would be better for your members to hold off just until I can send you details of the new WEB site (in the next few days). ---- [Moderator's note: as soon as Pam sends me the URL for the new Web site, I will pass it on as a special EDline supplement.--IDB] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [3ca] BookReview -- Book Reviews and Review Discussion List Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 From: An-tAthair-Siorai Press Group, litterateur@t-online.de BookReview The Book Review Discussion List is a Moderated list dedicated to the review of books, and discussion of reviews. It may be used by anyone with an interest in books, and covers books which are old and new, obsolete, obscure or mainstream bestsellers. Reviews may be written by professionals or amateurs, people who have simply enjoyed or hated a book, authors and publishers, publicity agents and marketers. Discussion is split into three distinct areas, so that list members can choose whether they wish to read a review, discuss a review that has already appeared, or simply chat about reviews and reviewing in general. To subscribe go to: < http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/bookreview > ---[4] Business matters ---------------------------------------------- ** [4ai] Proofreading Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 From: Hilary Powers, HPowers1@compuserve.com Sandra Carmical asks: > Could you please help someone who is trying to find a proofreading job > at home? I don't know where to turn to but I understand there are such > jobs out there. I have an inoperabe brain tumor which means there is > no driving for me, etc. I love to read. I guess this was foolish. > Sorry to have bothered you. Thanks anyway. Sandra, there is a lot of work in publishing available to someone in a home office. It's an established cottage industry. If your tumor has left you the precision of eye to see what's really on the page and you have the knowledge of grammar and usage to fix it, you may well find work you love. Proofreading may not be what you're looking for, though. It involves checking a preliminary copy of a printed document against the manuscript and looking for differences, and it's very different from the sort of reading a person could love. There are several levels of editing that involve much more of a relationship with the subject matter. To get a feel for the craft along with some practical advice on getting started, you couldn't do better than to find a copy of *Copyediting: A Practical Guide* by Karen Judd. Work through all the exercises, and by the end of the book you'll have a fair idea of whether the field is worth pursuing further. Good hunting! +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [4aj] Irritants Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 From: Ian Kingston Prompted by yet another new client who contacted me to see if I could do an urgent job, and then asked me to take a copy-editing test first, I feel provoked to start listing some of the most irritating habits of publishers in their dealings with freelances. Here are three that leap to mind; what other big irritants do people have? 1. Tests I've been working as an editor, in-house or freelance, continuously for over 15 years. Why do so many publishers think that half a dozen pages of deliberately awkward test material will tell them anything more than the evidence of my CV? And another thing about tests: whenever you pass one, the publisher says 'Excellent! We'll send you some work as soon as we have something suitable'. And no work ever arrives. 2. Slow payment No need to explain this one. 3. Disappearing jobs You've been expecting a particular job for weeks (you've turned down other work to keep time free), when the client suddenly calls and says that it's been delayed or cancelled. 'We haven't got anything else for you just now. Sorry!' That's if they bother to tell you, of course. 4. The message on the answering machine. After a brief trip out to the post office, you get home to find a message from a client saying: 'Please call. I have a job I'd like you to do.' You call back immediately, only to be told, 'Oh. I've given it to someone else'. Lest anyone think that I am anti-publisher (they do, after all, provide me with a decent living!), here are a couple of my gripes about freelances, remembered from my in-house days. Again, any in-house (or former in-house) staff are welcome to add to this list. 1. Late delivery I found that over half of all copy-editing jobs were delivered late, usually without warning or explanation. With a commissioning editor and a production controller screaming for rapid publication, freelances who could meet deadlines were always likely to get more work from me. 2. Endless questions Some freelances didn't feel capable of making a decision on their own - some would telephone several times in a day to ask for guidance. Saving up the queries for a single phone call would have helped. If you've got a pet peeve about either freelances or publishers, send it to EDline. Both sides might learn something... ---[5] Bookmarks ----------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 From: Petra Kopp, kopp@zetnet.co.uk Inkspot A site with guidelines for writers and an associated newsletter. A lot of resources for writers. < http://www.inkspot.com/index.html > ---[6] Just for fun -------------------------------------------------- "Lines from the slushpile", no. 27 Josh was at his sexual peek. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ "Inspiration" no. 1 Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 From: Jo Fletcher, JoFletcher@compuserve.com Isn't it nice to know that, in our own little ways, we're probably helping to perpetuate this type of thing... Inspiration This prize is awarded every year to the author of the worst possible opening line of a book. So successful has this been that Penguin now publishes five books-worth of entries: "Fightin' Joe" Steerforth thought he was tough until the day he met Annie ("Big Bucket") McGillicuddy and she left him battered and spent like a punch-drunk prizefighter on the ropes of love. Just beyond the Narrows the river widens. With a curvaceous figure that Venus would have envied, a tanned unblemished oval face framed with lustrous thick brown hair, deep azure-blue eyes fringed with long black lashes, perfect teeth that vied for competition, and a small straight nose, Marilee had a beauty that defied description. Andre, a simple peasant, had only one thing on his mind as he crept along the east wall: "Andre creep . . . Andre creep . . . Andre creep." 'The horizon coughed up the morning sun much as if Atlas had lowered the world from his mighty shoulders and given it the Heimlich manoeuvre.' "This is almost worth the high blood pressure!" he thought as yet another mosquito exploded. Stanislaus Smedley, a man always on the cutting edge of narcissism, was about to give his body and soul to a back-alley sex-change surgeon -- to become the woman he loved. Although Sarah had an abnormal fear of mice, it did not keep her from eeking out a living at a local pet store. ---[8] Administration ------------------------------------------------ EDline provides the opportunity for a weekly online discussion of matters editorial and editorial business. * POSTING MESSAGES TO THE LIST All messages to be posted to the list should be sent to Iain Brown, at: i_brown@compuserve.com Include as the subject line, "EDline [topic]", where [topic] is the subject under discussion. Topics might include areas such as Grammar, Spelling, American English or Punctuation. Messages should be pertinent to the basic premise of the list; they may be withheld, or redirected if more pertinent to one of the other mailing lists. The spelling and grammar of messages will *not* be corrected, but some editing of length may be undertaken. Quoting from previous messages: quote as much as you need to make the context of your reply clear, but no more. The sections of EDline are as follows: [2] Q & A -- questions and answers [3] FYI -- items of general interest [4] Business matters -- items of a business nature [5] Bookmarks -- useful Web pages [6] Just for fun -- time for letting hair down! [7] Miscellaneous -- odds and sods * Administration All messages of a subscription or administrative nature should be directed to Jane Kerr, at: bywater@zetnet.co.uk with "EDline ADMIN" in the subject line. * To subscribe to Grapevine To subscribe to Grapevine, the discussion list concerned with matters computing, please e-mail Electric Editors at: ElectricEds@bigfoot.com with [Subscribe Grapevine] in the subject line. * To subscribe to LANGline To subscribe to LANGline, which discusses modern languages, translation and editing in non-English languages, please e-mail Electric Editors at: ElectricEds@bigfoot.com with [Subscribe LANGline] in the subject line. *Homepage and back issues: Visit the Electric Editors at: < http://www.ikingston.demon.co.uk/ee/home.htm > Back issues of all three mailing lists are available on the Mailing Lists archive page. --------- ** The views expressed in this mailing list are strictly those of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the moderators or of the Electric Editors. ** Articles (c) 1998, by individual contributors Design (c) 1996, 1997, Iain Brown Compilation (c) 1998, The Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= END OF EDline 3.13 Next issue: 5 April 1998 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=