What Books Should Copyeditors Read?
Plus, brand-new kittens
Welcome to the first Coffee Break Friday, where I chat about life as a freelancer and offer tips to new editors.
Book Recs for Copyeditors
I often see folks who are just starting out—or thinking about starting out—ask for resources on and about editing. Back when I was considering transitioning to a freelance career, I read books on the topic during my lunch break—and it paid off. When I finally made the leap, I felt grounded in the basics of how to get my business running. I booked my first freelance job the same week I went from employed to self-employed, and I’ve worked continuously since then.
These are the books that I recommend for copyeditors and copyeditors-in-training. Please note that I am an American working primarily with US English, and my recommendations are biased in that direction.
(I’m going to * the books I think are nearly essential to read before starting freelance work.)
Language and Usage:
*Purchase a copy of your main style guide and refer to it often. For copyeditors editing novels and trade nonfiction in the US, the Chicago Manual of Style is the go-to.
Editing Fiction at Sentence Level by Louise Harnby
Elements of Indigenous Style by Gregory Younging
This is an interesting style guide that can be read in a day or so, and it would have helped me be a more thoughtful editor at the start of my freelance career. I’ve been surprised by how often Indigenous issues have come up in work I’ve edited, even while I’ve not yet edited a book specifically about Indigenous characters.The Best Punctuation Book, Period by June Casagrande
This book uses Chicago style, but it complements the manual because it has many examples meant for fiction, while CMOS itself does not. I have the ebook version, which makes it easy to look things up quickly.*The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction by Amy J. Schneider
The Conscious Style Guide: A Flexible Approach to Language That Includes, Respects, and Empowers by Karen Yin
*The Copyeditor’s Handbook and Workbook by Amy Einsohn
This is used in the University of San Diego’s copyediting certificate course. It has editing exercises, offers straightforward insights on the step-by-step process of editing, demonstrates examples of different levels of editing (light, medium, and heavy), and serves well as both a workbook and a reference book.
Running a Business:
Improve Your Editor Website by Debbie Emmett
Networking for Freelance Editors by Brittany Dowdle and Linda Ruggeri
*The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors: How to Take Care of Your Business, Your Clients, and Yourself from Start-Up to Sustainability by Erin Brenner
*The Club Ed Guide to Starting and Running a Profitable Freelance Editing Business by Jennifer Lawler
*The Freelance Editor’s Handbook by Suzy Bills
The Paper It's Written On: Defining your relationship with an editing client by Karin Cather and Dick Margulis
*Louise Harnby’s Business Skills for Editors books. I’m actually just going to link to her Goodreads author page because she has a number of titles worth checking out: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7044479.Louise_Harnby
(Note: You don’t need to read 3, 4, and 5 before starting your business, but I highly recommend reading at least one of them. They cover many of the same topics, including handling taxes, how to bill clients, and finding your editorial niche. If you read more than one, you’ll see that all of these knowledgable editors have slightly different approaches to running a business. I found their varied viewpoints useful for deciding my own processes.)
Lifestyle:
The Copy Editor's (Life)Style Guide: Maintaining Your Joy (and Sanity) in a Rapidly Changing Profession by Jamaal Pittman
The Subversive Copy Editor by Carol Fisher Saller
Saller, editor for the Chicago Manual of Style, reflects on editorial work, building rapport with authors, keeping an open mind, and more. This one is a bit of a contemporary classic in the industry.How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis
This book isn’t about editing. It’s about how to keep your home functional and tidy while you’re busy. It’s a compassionate and practical book—and an easy audiobook read.
Tech Skills:
Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word by Jack Lyon
This is a free ebook that will save you time and increase your accuracy as an editor: https://intelligentediting.com/blog/free-e-book-wildcard-cookbook-for-word/Finally: It’s imperative to have an excellent grasp of Microsoft Word, the industry standard, if you’re editing manuscripts. If you feel like your tech skills aren’t quite there yet, I recommend looking up the 000 nonfiction books at your local library—even smaller libraries tend to stock up-to-date user manuals on Microsoft Office.
You can find a PDF version of this list here:
Happy reading!
Now for Serious Business: Kittens
This week I visited a friend who was recently tasked with rehabilitating three kittens: Faith, Dozer, and Charlie. They miraculously survived a construction crew working on top of them for about an hour before they were discovered. Their mother was nowhere to be found, so they were rescued. They’re about three weeks old.
Spending some time with these little kittens—while they filled up on formula, cuddled, played, and finally fell asleep, all tuckered out—was therapeutic. Their sweet little faces were so pure, and their mews melted my heart. <3
Okay, that’s all for this Friday. See you next week, and remember to take some time off. You need it! I can tell.
Until next time,
Hannah Varacalli
Copy & Developmental Editor
www.hveditorial.com