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There’s no question that, for better or worse, texting has brought about a whole new kind of written communication. Certainly, the way we speak heavily influences the way we text. But what should we think about our increasing tendency to speak the way we text? Some Examples A former colleague of mine was fond of saying "BRB" when she left the office. While there's absolutely no doubt that she,...
Read MoreAs editors, we use style guides and resources for particular projects to ensure that we follow consistent guidelines. Every now and then acquaintances ask me for simple answers to questions about grammar and spelling. I often have to say that “there is no right or wrong response; the answer to the question will depend on a few factors. ” Yes, it’s true that sometimes there are clear answers when...
Read MoreWith the advent of self-publishing, authors are seeking out good advice from editors who can help them navigate the process. There is so much to know when setting out to self-publish your own work. Here at TEC, we have edited the works of several self-published authors. Each one has brought a different set of questions and concerns to our attention. Based on these discussions, I would like...
Read MoreThis year, after many years of procrastination, failing, and heartbreak, I decided to give myself one last chance at success: I was going to win NaNoWriMo. For those unfamiliar with this perilous and crazy endeavour, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month: www. nanowrimo. org) is a challenge that comes about every November and entails writing 50,000 words in a 30-day period. All these words should amount to a novel, or...
Read MoreWhen I launched my small business over five years ago, I took a course at the Toronto Business Development Centre. One of the first things I learned was this: be sure you have three good people in your corner — a good bookkeeper, a good accountant, and a good lawyer. I have been fortunate to have met and worked with each of these professionals over the past five years....
Read MoreI’d like to take a look at two pairs of words that are increasingly, incorrectly interchanged. No, I’m not talking about your/you’re and it’s/its — not that it doesn’t hurt a little inside every time I read “your welcome” in online correspondence, or when a parking lot sign tells me that “Management is not responsible for any vehicle or it’s contents. ” No, these are two pairs of words that,...
Read MoreAnother November has rolled in, and with it a host of exciting and diverse projects for copy editing and proofreading from business reports to grant proposals to academic manuscripts and self-publishing projects. There are perfect moments in being an editing team, and one of those is when new or returning clients send us their projects knowing we’ll handle their writing with care and professionalism. In this edition of...
Read MoreI wanted to write about punctuation marks and symbols because I’m fascinated by their use. When used correctly — that is, according to style guides like Chicago or APA — they can turn an otherwise awkward or convoluted sentence into a concise, clean line that brings out meaning and strengthens tone (among other things). The Comma One of my favourite examples of how a tiny punctuation mark can bring...
Read MoreMid-October is that wonderful time of year when the air takes on a fresh new chill, the leaves turn their rich autumn colours … and rubber bats hang in doorways, cotton cobwebs appear in corners, and cardboard cut-outs of black cats, jack-o-lanterns, and monsters peer out from the doors and windows of homes and stores. It’s fairly well known that the word Halloween (now more commonly — and officially...
Read MoreI had the absolute pleasure of attending the eighth annual New York Art Book Fair a couple of weekends ago, an event I’ve been wanting to go to for some years now but never had the chance. The fair was organized by Printed Matter, the New York–based arts organization founded in the 1970s with the mandate of promoting artist publications. This year’s fair featured 283 exhibitors, over 60...
Read MoreThis Sunday, September 22, the streets around Queen’s Park will turn into a paradise for book lovers. Writers, book publishers, literacy organizations, bookstores, magazine publishers, and readers of all ages will gather for Word On The Street, Toronto’s annual celebration of words and the people who love them. Of course, with hundreds of exhibitors and dozens of readings and signings, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, plunk yourself onto a...
Read MoreCopy editing and proofreading of business reports, academic manuscripts, publisher’s manuscripts, website copy, grant proposals — the late summer has brought an array of projects to our office. As well, we have new talent joining us and their pencils are sharpened! All of us here at TEC are ready to get to work on your incoming projects. Here’s a look at what’s up at TEC as we launch into...
Read MoreFrom the Jersey Shore (anyone up for GTL?) to high government offices (the GOP signed an MOA with the DED!), abbreviations are handy little tools that save space and time. But they can trip up even experienced writers. When to use them? When not to use them? Capitals or lowercase? More like ACK!ronym, am I right? Take a deep breath and follow these six simple rules for abbreviating,...
Read MoreWay back in December of 2010, I was fresh off an editorial internship and looking for a place to put my newly sharpened skills to work. Back then, The Editing Company consisted only of Beth and Nadine, and they had just moved from Bloor and Spadina to a new office at 27 Carlton Street. A fresh start, this time with windows — and to make it even better,...
Read MoreA Road Trip Last month, my husband and I went on a road trip in California. It was a welcome relief from a crazy winter of study. We shifted from work mode into vacation mode quite easily, but there was another shift that we had to make. Rather than planning our trip out day-by-day with a rental car and a new...
Read MoreJuly is officially here — as is Toronto's annual tradition of pretending to be a furnace. Our tips for handling the heat and humidity: visit a library, grab a cold coffee — or, if you're like us, turn on the desk fan and get editing! Here's a look at what we've been up to lately. TEC AUTHOR WINS VOTES One of our Writers Support Package authors, Linda Rosenbaum, has been...
Read MoreDay One, July 14, 2013 I have signed on as a student of Steven Silbiger’s Ten-Day MBA program. Silbiger is a senior director of marketing at Plymouth Direct and the author of The Ten-Day MBA, now in its fourth edition (Harper Business, 2012). The book was suggested as summer reading by Tibor Shanto, a columnist with Report on Small Business (@GlobeSmallBiz) and principal of Renbor Sales Solutions Inc. (@TiborShanto)....
Read MoreI have a good friend who's a copy editor, just like me — except that she does it about 700 kilometres southeast of here. Or, in her estimation, about 450 miles. And therein lies a world of difference. Usually our professions bond us. We routinely update each other with the many awful spelling mistakes that we spot out in the world. But then sometimes we encounter...
Read MoreBased on our last few chats, it's pretty clear that the Digital Age of Books is well upon us. What that doesn't mean, though, is that the Digital Age has figured itself out yet. Plenty of issues still remain unresolved — questions like who owns which rights to what version of a given book, whether self-published authors are any better off than their industry-aided counterparts, and who really...
Read MoreThe Chicago Manual of Style and I disagree on something. This almost never happens. I look at Chicago the way some people look at the Bible: as a source of comfort, guidance, and authority. But section 5. 227 of Chicago says this: “The only gender-neutral pronoun in English is it, which doesn’t refer to humans. ” Oh, Chicago, Chicago, why hast thou forsaken me? In fact, gender-neutral pronouns...
Read MoreI am a reluctant adopter of the eBook. Much of the time I prefer to read physical books – to hold them in my hands. When I was starting my business last year I bought a few business books for inspiration. Since business books have more of a functional purpose I decided that I didn’t need a hard copy, so I to tried out a few eBooks....
Read MoreeBooks are a hot discussion topic among publishers and readers these days, but it's not always good press about the benefits of pre-ordering the next Dan Brown book. In fact, eBooks are often prone to sparking an awful lot of controversial discussions. On one front, we see the perpetual war where eBooks and print books compete with each other for higher sales numbers and legitimacy, each trying to...
Read MoreThe Cold Call As a college lecturer in Pakistan, I had never been reduced to making cold calls. As a newcomer to Canada, however, things were entirely different, and I had to turn to this very undesirable method of finding my way around the professional world. And with relief and some happiness I confess that cold calls are not all that bad. Or maybe it is the Canadian...
Read MoreIf you were anything like me as a child, then you too dreamed of having adventures when you grew up. Maybe future-you would be digging up dinosaur bones in the desert. Maybe you would be a code breaker, routing the forces of evil by figuring out their secret messages just in time. Maybe you dreamt your future was up in space, and you would help discover other...
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