A new way to learn copy-editing skills

The Publishing Training Centre and Barbara Horn have launched Copy-Editing with exercises and model answers.

Author, Barbara Horn, is an enormously experienced editor, project manager and trainer. Among other things, she is one of the authors of the National Occupational Standards in Publishing (also published by PTC) and has led the revision of the British Standard and International Standard proof-correction marks. Barbara also wrote our Distance Learning courses: Copy-Editing, Editorial Project Management and the corresponding book, Editorial Project Management with exercises and model answers.

Copy-Editing (the book) is both a manual for new editors and a reference work for those with more experience. It works very much like a training course, gradually building up the reader’s level of knowledge and skills. Each chapter contains a number of exercises, which enable students to test their knowledge and reinforce their understanding.

Of course, no book can turn the complete novice into an expert editor, but this book does give the reader a genuine feel for editorial work by taking a real-world approach. It’s about more than the mechanical acquisition of technical skills; it’s also about the judgement required and the day-to-day issues involved in working on publications.

The job of the editor can vary considerably, depending on the kind of publication involved, and relevant differences are highlighted throughout the text. There are also sections covering different kinds of publication, including instruction manuals and poetry.

Although it’s fair to assume that most people reading this book will have a good knowledge of grammar and punctuation, Copy-Editing includes a useful chapter on the subject. It covers a number of common mistakes, including some that even experienced proofreaders and editors make, such as applying ‘rules’ that are not really rules at all (e.g. that you can’t end a sentence with a preposition) and stifling the author’s voice with a rigid adherence to correct grammar.

No editing manual would be complete without a guide to the relevant legal issues and Copy-Editing contains a good outline of these. In particular, it explains the basics of copyright law, as well as the rules of thumb used in publishing and the processes the editor must go through when seeking permissions.

All in all, this is an ideal guide for people who have editing experience and want to consolidate existing skills or widen their knowledge, and for those who have been proofreading for some time and now want to begin copy-editing.