Cold War Books – an Editor in Frankfurt
Cold War books abound What are your favourite Cold War books? You probably think about John le Carré. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold. Smiley's People. Long raincoats and murky [...]
Foolish Copy-editors and Deluded Proofreaders
Foolish copy-editors need not apply So you have to interview copy-editors and proofreaders... What to ask? Foolish copy-editors are no good to you. Well, start with the unexpected. Do they [...]
Editors, Journalists and Slang – a Brief History
Journalists and slang Journalists and slang go way back. The old world of journalism was infested with slang words and phrases. Some obsolete now, others hanging on by the skin [...]
Never Proofread When Drunk
Should I proofread when drunk? There is a myth. I always drive much better after a pint. Reactions are just a bit quicker. In the good old 60s and 70s [...]
Editing and Fact-checking
Editing and fact-checking are not the same thing You’re copy-editing a book about climate change. Countdown to Zero. 500 pages. Maybe a £1,500 invoice! It’s packed with facts. Sea temperatures, [...]
Proofreading Side Hustle
Editorial side hustle We all know about the gig economy. But what about the side hustle? And are proofreading and copy-editing side hustles? Well, a side hustle is anything which makes extra cash. [...]
Editors, Proofreaders, Spies and Lies
Sixty years of John le Carré Call for the Dead, the first novel by John le Carré, is sixty years old. He wrote it in 1961, two years before The [...]
Death of a Proofreader
Lead piping in the loggia Sarah breezed in. Hot from the London train. Pleased to escape from an editorial meeting. Clive, the CEO of The Pretentious Press, was a bore. [...]
Proofreading In the Gazebo
Proofreading in the gazebo: a winning strategy Proofreading outside is trouble. Wind, rain, sun and wasps are enemies of the careful proofreader! But what about proofreading in the gazebo? Or [...]
Sliding Doors of Publishing
My sliding doors We all have sets of sliding doors. Trains we missed. Car crashes we avoided. Dates we went on. Those we skipped. Bugs we inhaled, and those which [...]