The Copyeditor's Handbook and Workbook: The Complete Set

by Amy Einsohn, Marilyn Schwartz, Erika Buky

This set includes two essential resources for writers and The Copyeditor ’ s Handbook , now in its fourth edition, and The Copyeditor’s Workbook , the new companion to the bestselling Handbook .
 
Unstuffy, hip, and often funny, The Copyeditor’s  A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications   has become an indispensable resource both for new editors and for experienced hands who want to refresh their skills and broaden their understanding of the craft of copyediting. This fourth edition incorporates the latest advice from language authorities, usage guides, and new editions of major style manuals, including The Chicago Manual of Style . It registers the tectonic shifts in twenty-first-century preparing text for digital formats, using new technologies, addressing global audiences, complying with plain language mandates, ensuring accessibility, and serving self-publishing authors and authors writing in English as a second language. The new edition also adds an extensive annotated list of editorial tools and references and includes a bit of light entertainment for language lovers, such as a brief history of punctuation marks that didn’t make the grade, the strange case of razbliuto , and a few Easter eggs awaiting discovery by keen-eyed readers.

The Copyeditor’s  Exercises and Tips for Honing Your Editorial Judgment —a new companion to the Handbook —offers comprehensive and practical training in the art of copyediting for both aspiring and experienced editors. More than forty exercises of increasing difficulty and length, covering a range of subject matter, enable you to advance in skill and confidence. Detailed answer keys and explanations offer a grounding in editorial basics, appropriate usage choices for different contexts and audiences, and advice on communicating effectively and professionally with authors and clients. Whether the exercises are undertaken alone or alongside the new edition of The Copyeditor’s Handbook , they provide a thorough workout in the essential knowledge and skills required of contemporary editors.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

880 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2019

Reviews

[Zack Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is something so off putting about this text. I use it as a resource for copyediting, and I appreciate how detailed it is. And yet...

It is such a slog to read when you're trying to find something specific. That's because the book's text is not easy for readers to scan.

Rather, the preference appears to be for readers to start at the beginning and read all the way through each section. The main problem with this is that the sentences and sections are often really long. A second problem is that the sentences and sections just aren't very interesting--by that, I mean that they are all business.

So there is a Catch-22 effect for the reader: you can't scan the page and quickly find the specific sentence or two that you need to refer to, but when you submit to reading all the way through the dry-as-a-bone style can drive you nuts. I have closed the book many times in order to finish my search on the internet. Even when that doesn't work, I feel less frustrated than when I can't find something in this book that I know I read when I used it for my class.

It reminds me of being lost in a nice apartment complex with cookie-cutter decoration policies and vague labeling principles: you walk around the same area 6 times, and don't realize the apartment you're looking for is in the next building because there's no map, no helpful signs, and the order to the numbering of the doors doesn't appear to adhere to any known principle. This book is a little better than that, which is even more frustrating when you eventually get lost because for awhile you mistakenly think you're in great hands.

My hope is to use this thing long enough to memorize what I use most often and then can just leave it on the shelf.

[Kendra Richards Ohmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great workbook/handbook set for beginner copyeditors. It's redundant if you've worked as a copyeditor or have even a little experience, but as a copyeditor I can say it replicates what I do on a daily basis and gives you a lot of relevant tips and tricks for copyediting. A great educational aide.

[Hannah Ireland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought and read for ENG 3950-01 Professional Editing Fa21, but will always be on my shelf :,)

[Susan Stradiotto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book for technical copyediting.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for beginners and basic reference

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crucial for anyone want to get into editing.

[Phillip Howerton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Put down your pencil until you have absorbed these books. As an author, editor, and publisher, I argue that this set is the richest bargain on the global bookshelf.

[Miranda Vilar Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for beginning and seasoned copyeditors. Keep in mind that this was published before the recent update to The Chicago Manual of Style was released. The handbook should be used alongside the workbook.