by Jamie Chavez | Mar 21, 2015 | Your Editor Says …
I just sent back a first pass edit on a well-researched novel set in the Middle Ages. I can tell you this only because it rang true; the few facts I know about medieval life could dance on the head of a pin with room to spare for several angels. But I knew enough to...
by Jamie Chavez | Dec 7, 2013 | The Writing Craft, Your Editor Says …
We’ve talked about “writing rules”* before. Some are inviolable, like No Double Spacing After a Period. Some have to be reconsidered, like my stance on the singular they. Some fall into gray areas depending on the audience you’re writing for or which side of the pond...
by Jamie Chavez | Aug 22, 2013 | Your Editor Says …
When I was a kid, some of my best friends were teachers. What grade was I in when my teacher read aloud to us every day after lunch? The Story of Doctor Doolittle (by Hugh Lofting, published 1920) influenced me in many more ways than just giving me a delight for...
by Jamie Chavez | Nov 29, 2012 | Your Editor Says …
I was delighted when I happened upon this article about the ten most common errors this copyeditor (the author uses “a manuscript editor”) encounters—and she works on academic books. Oh, you mean this isn’t just my little problem? (Cue the hysterical laughter.) Or—put...
by Jamie Chavez | Jul 16, 2012 | Authors & Other Writers, The Book Biz
A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can. —Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (1817) A couple years ago it was big news: “Manuscripts Suggest Jane Austen Had a Great Editor” was the headline at NPR’s online...