=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 5, no. 9 (5 March 2000) Editorial mailing list Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: [1] Editorial Q & A---previous queries [2jn] How many times? [2jo] Freelance proofreading Q & A---new queries [2jp] Historical fiction [2jq] Prepositions in British English [2jr] Gender-free pronouns [2js] Time management [6] Just for fun [8] Administration =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[1] Editorial ----------------------------------------------- This will be the last EDline that appears solely as a weekly digest. From now on, please post your EDline messages either to ee_edline@listbot.com if you have subscribed to the automated system, or to bywater@zetnet.co.uk if you have opted to receive the digest. Jane Kerr and Iain Brown will compile a digest of postings from the preceding week. This will be formatted and sent to all subscribers electing to receive digests. If you wish to receive the EDline digests, please e-mail a blank message to iain.brown@ucl.ac.uk with "Subscribe [EDline digest]" in the Subject line. Jane Kerr Iain Brown Moderators ---[2] Q&A ----------------------------------------------------- ** [2jn] How many times? Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 From: Hilary Powers, HPowers1@compuserve.com Sue Fenton wrote: > How many times should a book editor read the book s/he is > editing? Working online, I *read* each manuscript at least twice -- and go through it many more times with specialized cleanup and checking routines. It's faster to pull out all the text cites, alphabetize 'em, and match them against the reference section all at once than to do them one by each as they show up in the manuscript. If the second pass involves a lot of rewriting, I'll do a third to make sure everything wound up in the right place. In the heat of a heavy edit, it's too easy to misread a correction as doing just what it's supposed to do when it's actually a couple of words out of phase on the line. --------------------- Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 From: Elizabeth M Murphy, emmurphy@ozemail.com.au How long is a piece of string? Once might be enough. Or maybe it will take many readings. Who knows? It depends on the density of the text and the level of edit you're undertaking. --------------------- Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@zetnet.co.uk I'm opting for the pragmatic answers: as many times as time and budget constraints allow. If a publisher offers you 300 pounds to edit 300 pages of manuscript, they obviously don't expect you to give every word your fullest consideration. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2jo] Freelance proofreading Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 From: Hilary Powers, HPowers1@compuserve.com Sandra Alston wrote: > I am interested in doing freelance proofreading from home. Can > you give me any tips? Check out the new-to-freelancing FAQ (frequently asked questions list) at < http://www.freelanceonline.com/ > --------------------- Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 From: Elizabeth M Murphy, emmurphy@ozemail.com.au Join your local Society of Editors, or something like that, and get into their freelance register if they have one. If they have a website, get listed on that too. Networking at meetings also produces a lot of work. Get qualified. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2jp] Historical fiction Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2000 From: Christine Headley, chps@globalnet.co.uk Someone on another list I'm on has written a non-bodice-ripping historical novel. It sounds very good, but I have no experience of the publishing side of this sort of thing. She has been told 'there's no market for historical fiction'. Does this ring true, or is it because she's Australian? Does anyone know of agents with a wider viewpoint with scouts/branches in Australia? +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2jq] Prepositions in British English Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 From: Lilian J. Mohin, Onlywomen_Press@compuserve.com When is THAT or WHICH most appropriate ? [I'm editing a novel where the author used 'which' throughout many simple, direct statements and lots of colloquial dialogue and a(nother) copy-editor deleted those and substituted 'that'.] guidance gratefully receieved. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2jr] Gender-free pronouns Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 From: Elizabeth M Murphy, emmurphy@ozemail.com.au In Sue Fenton's recent sentence "How many times should a book editor read the book s/he is editing?", who is this "s/he" person? I can't pronounce it. It's a hybrid that doesn't exist in real life. I hate it. It's long ago been accepted that "they" can be used again as a singular pronoun, so let's banish "s/he". Even government documentation in Canberra has now gone for "they" to a large extent, thanks to an excellent guide put out by the Attorney-General's Department. At the very least, write "she or he" in full. Anybody agree with me? +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2js] Time management Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 From: Sue Fenton, SFenton@dmg.co.uk Does any well-organised non-fiction book editor have advice on a system for editing a book in the most time-efficient way? What is the most logical way to proceed? How does one keep organised when being inundated with material? And is there a rule of thumb for how long it should take to do a page? Time management tips, please! --------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@zetnet.co.uk If it's an academic book with lots of references and you're responsible for handling queries, undoubtedly the best way to proceed is to check all of the references first, make lists of queries and send them out to the author(s)/editor(s), before you start on the editing proper. It's also a good idea to let the author know that these are merely preliminary queries and that there may be further, substantive, queries once you start going through the chapters. I always use lots of yellow stickies for this purpose, so that when (if!) the author sends the replies, I can pinpoint the place in the manuscript quickly. If the book has a lot of artwork, tables, case studies etc., I would also check these before making a start on the editing (or at least check that they all match their cross-references in the text). I always do the prelims last of all, although it's a good idea to skim through any prefaces, forewords etc. first, just in case the author has included explanations of his apparently bizarre choice of notation/font/use of bold etc., which you might otherwise alter in your editing. Another useful tip if you're dealing with a very large, multi- chapter work is to put sheets of coloured paper between the chapters: it speeds up the processes of checking cross- references (i.e. because you don't have to rifle through masses of pages looking for Chapter 8), and helps when you need to locate chapter title pages and reference lists. ---[6] Just for fun -------------------------------------------- Facts about the English Language, no. 7 The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. ---[8] Administration ------------------------------------------ EDline provides the opportunity for a weekly online discussion of matters editorial and editorial business. * To subscribe to the automated version of EDline Please send a blank email to: ee_edline-subscribe@listbot.com If you would prefer to read EDline as a weekly digest, send an e-mail to ElectricEds@bigfoot.com with "Subscribe [EDline digest]" as the subject line. * To subscribe to Grapevine To subscribe to Grapevine, the automated discussion list concerned with matters computing, please send a blank email to: ee_grapevine-subscribe@listbot.com If you would prefer to read Grapevine as a weekly digest, send an e-mail to ElectricEds@bigfoot.com with "Subscribe [Grapevine digest]" as the subject line. * To subscribe to LANGline To subscribe to LANGline, the automated discussion list concerned with modern languages, translation and editing in non-English languages, please send a blank email to: ee_lline-subscribe@listbot.com If you would prefer to read LANGline as a weekly digest, send an email to ElectricEds@bigfoot.com with "Subscribe [LANGline digest]" as the subject line. * Homepage and back issues: Visit the Electric Editors at: < http://www.electriceditors.net/ > 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) 2000, by individual contributors Design (c) 1996, 1997, Iain Brown Compilation (c) 2000, The Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= END OF EDline 5.9 Next digest issue: 12 March 2000 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=