2021, in part.

 I may run late, but I do plan to do an overview on 2021.  

For a brief recap of the past six months, I finally had knee surgery for my right knee, which had two tears in the meniscus. I'm just over two months out from that, and although walking is far, far better now -- stairs, not so much.  

Doing stairs is weirdly random too; I've managed to go into the basement a few times, but other days, my knee[s] will freak out.  Definitely will need to see physical therapists for that next month.

Another January death--STOP IT!!!

One of my editors died today (from Making Light and BoingBoing, respectively).

Astronomicon 12

Except I never edited with David Hartwell, at least not directly.  He was unfailing kind to me.  David knew I was part of NYRSF staff and was very enthusiastic about my work there -- so yes, in a way he was "my" editor.

Editing costs.

It's interesting how people vary from the "But -- this just takes you reading it, right?" to the "I want you to catch all the things in my writing!" mindsets.  With, of course, variations all along the range there.

This includes editors too.  I have had editors who thought I just took a few moments to copyedit, that it wasn't a process that involved much time at all.

Clave's this weekend!

October waxes, as does the Interweb.  Sigh.

The Sobering Saga of Myrtle the Manuscript.

Quality of slush pile items, a discussion on Absolute Write.


When in doubt, volunteer by Christie Yant.

A 2010 link collection post by Amanda Rutter; interesting in that it contains the 2010 online discussion about sexual harassment,* done by a former editor, among other things... but OT, there's the Mad Hatter on steampunk.


* For a lot of great advice about how to help anyone being harassed, ANYONE, read Brigid Keeley, who writes about this very topic.

Editing, CE job, Adam and my authors...

Can you teach editing?

Amy Einsohn thinks you can -- check out her PDF, Are Editors Born or Made?

I'd agree.  The people I meet who think they can edit and who prove amenable to being trained... are the ones who I think can learn not only how to edit, but how to become freelance editors.  Not everyone can do both.

Here's the shorter report Amy did for Science Editor in 2004, which includes the initial pages of her longer essay.

The Subversive Copy Editor (Carol Saller) interviewed Amy Einsohn in November 2011.

From Carol's blog I found Zombies and bogeymen, aka the zombie rules in grammar.

Links of interest...

Kameron Hurley: The Privilege to Publish; the Power to Persevere at Locus; also Spotlight on: David Pomerico, Editorial Director.

PW's March picks of last week.


Publishing's Big 6:  Who are they? from Scott Marlowe's blog in 2010.

Tobias Buckell's Together, let’s break the Amazon monopoly on Kindles! in 2010.  It isn't entirely what you think it is...  and Toby's piece shows his brilliance. [Context:  this is about the Macmillan-Amazon negotiations of 2010, and I've linked to Toby's blog there.]

He definitely demonstrates the weirdness of the original statement!

Action, punctuation, dialog!

Punctuating action beats inside dialog.  It's a little tricky if you haven't done it before.

Howe'er, after much hunting, I found the answers in the 2012 Grammar Tip Tuesday: Punctuating Interrupted and Continued Speech.  Which came from PMS's Em dash page.

Let me sum up...

Well, this won't count as summing up if you're Inigo Montoya.

But I think Bothersome Words explains what editing is, and why editors do it, very well.

For which I am very appreciative.


And as I have been very quiet here on my own blog, while I've managed to be somewhat active on my SH fan blog, it seemed high time to post here.  Finally.

Language and writing...

Definitions:  No problem -- an idiom -- and tits up, which in this context was an anachronism.

Meta Monday: Smallclothes.  Which the writer brought up because of history, and yes, GRRM.  Heh.

Recognizing Adjectives (a quiz).

Many helpful links via Ann Leckie, such as how not to cut adjectives and the evils of passive voice.

Framing Devices and Nested Narratives at Tor.com.

Paying it forward: Links and tips.

Five Overlooked SF/F/H Books of 2013  (Must point out that I copyedited the first book in the B and N list. And it's a wonderfully fun book.)

Waterstones offers Twauthors – The best authors on Twitter


Over on Goodreads, Steven Saus tells us The Write Agenda Can Teach You How To Avoid Untrustworthy People... Like Themselves. If you read nothing else, go read that. It will help you with contracts, with understanding the behavior of the anonymous troll -- and the vanity press publishers -- and the many MANY scammers out there preying on the new authors and future authors.

Writer Beware is a major example of paying it forward.


A Few Things a Writer Should Probably Do at Least Once from Doctor Doyle.  Since I'm in SCA, I can tell you that yes, these would indeed help you.  Have I done them all?  No.

As a copy editor, guns and other weapons are something I tend to research a LOT.

Shh: a simple tip for talking about race.

Bonus:  Until this paragraph, this entire post was an example of paragraphing style.  [Which Nero Wolfe will tell you all about in Plot It Yourself; you should read that.]  I tend to do mine a certain way, and I vary it deliberately while writing to make it easier on readers.  And just for variety's sake too.

Business Rusch: Revisions and editors.

I admit, I'm sporadic about reading blogs, even ones I like...

But if you are in this business, it's important to keep track of what's going on.  So I do my best.  I'm very fortunate that my fellow editors often provide useful links via Twitter.


I look for definitions of editing all the time.  Why?  Because people ask me to explain my job.

Kris Rusch, who is an amazing source of publishing knowledge, provides a little two-week course on editing.

Part 1:  Editorial Revisions
Part 2:  Hiring Editors

If you're a writer do go and learn from her, I pray you.  Whether you're publishing your book, or in traditional publishing, or just trying to find out what all this means, Kris will help you at the Business Rusch.

Freelance and editing links.

How Do You Know When You Know Enough?

What is substantive editing?

Fact-checking a new word, part 1 and part 2 from Copyediting.com (link found through EditFish's reading list 5-Sept-12)


Freelancing:

10 Marks of a Self-Disciplined Freelancer


Also be sure to read the comments, as Angela Booth says:

If you decide you want to work with a company, don’t quit if they ignore your first dozen pitches. Keep pitching. Decide that you won’t stop pitching that company until one of three things happens: they go out of business, you die, or they offer you a contract.

Not only the best attitude, but she wins my vote for the best way to put this!

Adventures in full-time self-employment (Libro) has written Going It Alone at 40 in case you feel a need for encouragement.

Sept. 2013 links.

Writing resources for getting writers thinking about the craft of writing, from Rose Fox of Genreville fame.  (Which mutated into a subsection of Publishers Weekly's blog PWxyz when I wasn't looking.)

From Rose, I got Ursula Vernon's post about Three Gray Fandoms.

To which I say, YES.  SF is getting older, and the young people I see are mostly the kids of the other fans I know.


11 Things Happy Authors Don't Do by Rachelle Gardner.

20 Great Writers on the Art of Revision -- Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, Raymond Chandler, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King...

From Apex Books:  Books. Lots of Books. And a Magazine.

Training: So You Want to Be an Editor.

This being September, my c/e anniversary month, I suspect more c/e and freelance info will be posted.  Keep an eye out...

Starting with the Editors' Association of Canada (EAC 2011) and So You Want to Be an Editor because So You Want to Be a Wizard is still one of my favorite Diane Duane books.

Make sure you look at that first link carefully...  I'd say that 90 percent of freelance editors still make the lower median wage.


Copyeditor Training Parts 1 (Various Courses), 2 (Other Options), and 3 (More Choices) by Erin Brenner.

KOK Edit (Editor-Mom) adds her views on training -- check her list for many colleges and associations and their editing courses.  Here's how to join the Copyediting-L list to learn more about other copy editors' thoughts on Editing or experience?

She also has the priceless Copyeditors' Knowledge Base.


Does Training Matter? What Publishers Say about Proofreading and Editing Courses by Louise Harnby, proofreader.  Also from Louise Harnby: Proofreaders-to-be: Loving Books Isn’t Enough.

Are Editors Born or Made? by Amy Einsohn [PDF].

Freelance copy editor training.

The importance of training:

Buyer beware!

CPD:  Training counts

Why train?


If you're interested in freelance editing, you should look into training.  I really can't stress this enough.

Some publishers won't hire freelancers without training or certification.  In the USA, we have the Editorial Freelancers Association; they offer online courses.  Other organizations exist, but I check EFA courses first.  The EFA's invaluable.


Margaret Aherne talks about Advanced Copy-Editing

What a publisher looks for before hiring you as an editorial freelancer

[Links broken.]

Many thanks to the SfEP and PTC, who provided these links originally (barring the EFA link, of course).

Much valuable advice for authors.

"Why I am Going Hybrid" by Bradley P. Beaulieu.

Slipping into fandom and your part in the all-volunteer group known as fandom (which runs cons...  How to change a Worldcon.

The advantages of having an agent.

Debut author lessons: Hate mail by Mary Robinette Kowal.  And do go check out the others (Debut author lessons) as I happened to see this at Lesson 14 of 14.

The Care and Feeding of an Author.

So You Want to Be a Writer by Lawrence Watt-Evans.

And because by the time you finish a book, and finish the revisions, you will reach the copy-edits... Edit Your Shit.  Part One of a series by the ineffable Chuck Wendig.

New job at EV

An editing position. :D

http://blog.electricvelocipede.com/2008/11/announcement-1-introducing-anne-zanoni.html