Thanks so much for taking the time to share your copyediting thoughts and experiences!

I am very interested in any advice you could give me as to becoming a copyeditor. Although I’ve wanted to become a fantasy author for many years, I find that I actually much more enjoy critiquing and editing the manuscripts of the members of my writing group. I am also one of those readers who will spend a great deal of time backtracking in a published novel to verify facts and check details. I’ve worked as a paralegal for the better part of 17 years and am almost daily proofing and editing legal briefs for my attorney but am becoming more and more interested in fiction copyediting as a freelancer.

Thanks for any words of wisdom!

What books or courses of study would you recommend for a wannabe copyeditor? Or for that matter, for an author who wants to make her copyeditor’s job easier.

And I don’t mind hearing about the kids either :)

Reading your copyediting posts made it clear to me how much work goes into a novel between author and shelf, by people like yourself. That realisation has made me push that bit further in my own writing, not just because I owe it to myself, but because I also owe it to those others who will (hopefully!) go on to work on it. The writer is just the first link in the chain. :)

I suppose I didn’t realise quite how true that was until I found your blog.

So, that’s one perspective on the popularity of the copyediting posts for you! Also, it’s great to have such a human insight into what can seem a very harsh industry - and I think the ‘kiddo’ posts only add to that human feel your blog has. :-)

Your kids, your cooking, you in general, all good.

As for copywriting, I guess I’m curious as to your involvement in continuity and what it is you turn back to the author.

BTW: the lovely cranberry dish lasted until Christmas and was incredibly good by then. All the tastes mellowed together until it was more like dessert than the usual turkey addition.