Though style sheets can seem confusing at first, they are among the most important tools at a copyeditor’s disposal. As long as you keep your style sheet organized and record all of your decisions related to mechanics and style, you should be all right. (Or is it “alright”? Better check the style sheet.)
Style Guide
Getting Started If You’re Not an Editor
By Brittney Finato @finatography
Communication is key! Once you’ve determined that you can’t find the answer, ask someone.
Is freelance editorial work right for you?
By Thomas Spoelhof @thomasspoelhof
As the publishing industry evolves, media and publishing independents have witnessed the dissolution of the full-time copy editor. Among magazine, news media, and book publishing entities, an in-house copy chief is often considered a luxury of days gone by. The expense of the full-time position is often too difficult to justify, and the responsibility of clean copy can fall on in-house production teams.
The Hybrid: When the House Style Guide Creates a Frankenstein
By Thomas Spoelhof @thomasspoelhof
Opinions are like . . . you know: everybody’s got one. House editing style guides and preferences are no different. Browse through any random collection of imprint house publications, periodicals, or online articles, and you’ll witness a menagerie of guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), the Associated Press Stylebook(AP), and a smattering of personal preferences seemingly chosen at random. The resulting style format can resemble an amalgamation of spare parts—something akin to a Frankenstein’s monster of house style. The curious aspect is the specific, obscure details individual editors decide to take a stand on—the hills upon which they choose to fight and die.
More than Dotting i’s and Crossing t’s
By Margaret Henry
Fall term has arrived and has brought with it students new to Ooligan Press, students new to the book publishing program, and students new to The Ocean in My Ears team. Joining our team this term we have the talented Brianne Robinson, who is not new to Ooligan but is new to our team, along […]
Manager Monday: Striving Toward Inclusive Language
By Olenka Burgess lennykata
This past April, while many of my fellow Ooligan students were at AWP 2016 in Los Angeles, I opted for a conference that was smaller yet just as important: ACES 2016, the twentieth anniversary of the American Copy Editors Society’s annual festival of unabashed grammar geekery and word nerdery, lovingly dubbed “Comma-Con” by some of […]