Here's the online description for those who may be interested:
I’m a professional US copy
editor, working since 2008, the first 5.5 years with a well-known traditional
publishing house. Since then I’ve worked totally with Indie authors. Over all
these years and these hundreds of books I’ve copyedited, what I find odd is how
the same grammar mistakes are made over and over by myriad authors, both pro
and newbie alike, akin to about four hundred unrelated Americans all having the
same dream on the same night. But our US English language rules are not easy to
learn, as the rules are not always consistent and do not always make common
sense. Plus the rules have exceptions. Some of those exceptions even have
exceptions.
Thus this book represents an
organized compilation of those “universal” errors I’ve collected over the years,
specifically gathered for American authors publishing fiction and nonfiction in
the United States, using accepted spelling and grammar practices for this venue—The Chicago Manual of Style (Sixteenth
Edition) aka 16CMS and Merriam-Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) aka Web11.
However, copy editors, like me,
do much more than catch grammar errors and misspellings. I also look for what I
call the:
The Nine Cs of Effective Writing are among the more than seventy topics
covered in this seventy-one-page (single-spaced) book, serving as a shortcut
for you, making your life easier and helping your writing shine brighter. You
may be amazed to find a rule or two that you didn’t know about. Better to read
these few pages than the 1,026 pages of the 16CMS or opening up Web11
fiftysomething times a day, right? Okay, you may still have to consult Web11
more than you thought possible, but my general hyphenation rule as to joining
base words with prefixes/suffixes will save you valuable time and will yield
the correct spelling more times than not.
As any professional author will
tell you, this writing career is all about continuing education, about the
growth of the author’s expertise. I’m here to help with that.
Let’s dig in.
"If your vocation
isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."
Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)
Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in
comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue. You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue. You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra
