The Fine Art of Copyediting

Elsie Myers Stainton, former managing editor of Cornell University Press, is the author of Author and Editor at Work: Making a Better Book, and numerous articles on writing and editing.

Preface to the Second Edition Introduction 1. Basics The Copyeditor's Job; The Copyeditor's Stance; Kinds of Editors; The Value of Copyediting 2. Legal and Contractual Aspects of Publishing Mutual Dependency; Libel; Indiscretion (Bias); Copyright and Permissions Design: Illustrations; Jackets Other Contractual Specifics: Titles; Proofs and AAs; Index 3. Types of Editing Books:Trade Books, Scholarly Books, Textbooks, Scientific and Professional Books Reference Volumes: Dictionaries of the English Language; Other Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Miscellaneous Journals 4. The Editor's Dilemma Personal Relations: Praise; Differences of Opinion Difficult Manuscripts: Editor's Ploys; The Confident Bad Writer The Role of Appreciation 5. Editorial Procedures Basics: Choices; Generic Coding Preliminaries: Chapter Titles and Headings; Illustrative Material; Notes and Bibliography or References; Front Matter Copyediting: Errors, Ambiguities, Inconsistencies; Style of Writing Style Sheet: Capital Letters; Italics; Hyphens Special Problems: Corrections Finishing Up: Running Heads; Spine Copy; Review Editor to Author 6. Computer Technology The Publishing House; Computer Aids; Editor on Computer; Author on Computer; Computer Language; Results 7. A Concise Manual of Writing Style for Copyeditors General Guidelines; Rhetoric; Readership; Ambiguity; Repetition; Pretentiousness Details: Spelling; Capitalization; Italics; Compound Words and Hyphens; British Spelling and Punctuation Grammar and Usage: Parts of Speech; Mistakes in Grammar; That and Which; Punctuation; Abbreviations; Cross-References Tables Bias-Free Writing 8. The Fine Art Sentences Punctuation Figures of Speech: New Uses for Old Words; Metaphors New Words Changing Usage 9. Notes, References, and Bibliographies Numbered Notes: Content and Placement; Shortening Parenthetical References Bibliographies (and Notes) References (and Parenthetical Citations) Page and Volume Numbers Alphabetization Summary on Documentation Basic Serviceable Forms of Notation and Reference: Numbered Notes and Bibliography; Parenthetical Notes and References 10. Special Editing Problems Authors' Foibles: Faulty Research; Stubborn Author; Venerable Author; Problem Prefaces and Introductions Special Cases: Lectures to Books; Multiple Authorship; Transliteration; Translations Scholarship: Hebrew and Other Scripts; Authoritative Sources and Accuracy; Final Checking 11. Proofs and Index 12. Job Satisfaction Annotated Bibliography Dictionaries Manuals on Grammar and Format Stylistic Aids on Writing Reference Works Appendix Figure 1. Sample of Computer-Edited Copy Figure 2. Explanation and Illustration of Editing Changes on Hard Copy or Typescript Figure 3. Abbreviations for Notes and Bibliographies Figure 4. Signs for Correcting Proof