by Pat Dobie | Dec 17, 2025 | Classes & Events, Editing Nuts & Bolts
I’m line editing a novel right now. It’s contemporary fiction by a novice writer, and the story is good. However, the prose is not yet of publishable quality. I know this because: I’m an experienced editor I’m a writer myself I’ve studied fiction at the post-graduate...
by Pat Dobie | Sep 26, 2025 | Business Talk, Editing Nuts & Bolts
In her book The Writer’s Advantage: A Toolkit for Mastering Your Genre, Laurie Scheer writes, “No idea on its own is great enough to sell without knowing the marketplace you’re selling it within.” Scheer’s advice applies to both writers and editors. The writer...
by Susannah Noel | Sep 21, 2025 | Business Talk, Finding Work
I’m delighted by AI – but I’m terrified of AI. On the one hand, I’m in favor of tools that speed up my editing, increase accuracy and efficiency, and let me focus on the more subtle (and frankly, rewarding) aspects of copyediting and proofreading. On the other...
by Susannah Noel | Jun 30, 2025 | Editing Nuts & Bolts, Quizzes
You know what likes to hang out in fiction and creative nonfiction? Numbers. Which is fine, except you have to know how to style them. Do you spell them out? Hyphenate? Capitalize? Eek – italicize? Good lord . . . what about decimals?? As the copyeditor or...
by Susannah Noel | Jun 15, 2025 | Classes & Events
What’s the best way to learn how to edit a book? You can take editing classes. You can read books and style manuals. You can learn on the job. You can get an editing certificate. Or you can do all of the above! But no matter how you learn how to edit, practice is...
by Laura Sackton | May 9, 2025 | Finding Work, Inspiration
Editor’s note: This is a guest post by book reviewer Laura Sackton. I fell into reviewing books professionally a little by accident, and while I do enjoy it, I didn’t think it through when I first started. I just thought, “I love talking about books! What could...
