I would venture to guess, based on my relatively small sample size of conversations I’ve had in nearly 20 years since I first took editing classes in graduate school, that, unless you have ever worked in the field of editing, you may surmise that an editor is merely a…
As a story teller, I love analogies. I think that everyone can gain additional perspective if an analogy enables them to relate to an unfamiliar situation. For me, many of my new editing are first-time authors who haven’t worked with an editor before. Many people however, have had…
I find that many authors who I work with end up putting off and rushing what I call “the supplemental parts” of a book at the end of the editing process. But those are also important parts—the back cover copy, the introduction, the preface, the contents page, the title…
Yesterday I gave you some tips about the importance of a book’s back cover copy. Today, I’m going to put on my creative director hat (I worked for a large organziation for several years in that capacity) and share some design insights with you for the back…
A few weeks ago, one of my clients who is a book author called me a silversmith. I didn’t realize how profound—and accurate—that analogy was until I did a little more research about what a silversmith does. A silversmith holds the silver into the hottest part…
Add commas after subordinate clauses when they start the sentence. Use a comma after a clause beginning with when, after, because, since, etc. The comma is not used when the subordinate clause follows the independent one. Remove the serial comma. This style seems more common in an article, blog, Website…