The Subversive Copy Editor: Advice from Chicago (or, How to Negotiate Good Relationships with Your Writers, Your Colleagues, and Yourself)

Publishers Weekly

Longtime editor of the Chicago Manual of Style Online's deft, humorous Q&A page, Saller writes with wisdom and a great generosity of spirit in this singular survival guide to the copy editor's trade. Addressing issues essential to these professional perfectionists, who can easily develop compulsive or inflexible practices, Saller's improbably fun text also makes a cagey introduction to the field. Framing each chapter with a choice Q&A from her column (Q: "Is it ever proper to put a question mark and an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence in formal writing?"), Saller offers thorough advice on common obstacles, like an adversarial writer-editor relationship, or a seemingly endless task. Tried, somewhat obvious solutions-cultivating positive work habits, examining your motives, organizing your priorities-are thoughtfully re-established for overworked, under-appreciated editors. Practical considerations include the minefield of e-mail etiquette, understanding version control, maintaining transparency and the indispensability of back-up copies. With entire chapters devoted to the freelancer and the writer, and an extensive guide for further reading, this is an ideal complement to any style guide: practical, relentlessly supportive and full of ed-head laughs (A: "Only in the the event that the author was being physically assaulted while writing").
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Baltimore Sun "You don't say" blog

“Carol Fisher Saller is a nicer person than I am—not that that is any great feat. She maintains the question-and-answer feature at The Chicago Manual of Style’s online site, giving brisk, concise, helpful and sometimes amused answers to a barrage of questions from writers and editors. That same level-headed advice appears on every page of The Subversive Copy Editor. . . . If you are a copy editor, an aspirant to copy editing, or a writer dealing with copy editors, a $13 investment will be money well spent on your career. . . . . I wish I had had this book 30 years ago; it could have saved me from any number of rash actions and missteps.”—John E. McIntyre, Baltimore Sun’s “You don’t say” blog

— John E. McIntyre

Billings Gazette "Watch Yer Language" blog

“Serving the reader by working cooperatively with the writer? Sometimes throwing ‘the rules’ out the window? Clearing the decks of pet peeves, mythical prohibitions and intractability? That is subversive. And welcome.”—Craig Lancaster, from the Billings Gazette “Watch Yer Language” blog

— Craig Lancaster

Booklist

“A wonderfully concise yet nuanced guide for the working (or would-be-working) copy editor. . . . [Saller] wears her experience well, urging flexibility, transparency, and tact—along with, obviously, consistency and reason—in working with authors and their copy.”—Alan Moores, Booklist

— Alan Moores

Chicago Sun-Times

“An entertaining trip even for those who never plan to lift a red pen or use the editing feature of a word-processing program.”—Tom Frisbee, Chicago Sun-Times

— Tom Frisbee

Copyediting

“Carol Fisher Saller has hit this one out of the ballpark. Ms. Saller is knowledgeable and funny, her advice practical and relevant, and the book she has written is above all readable. So readable, in fact, that when I received a set of uncorrected page proofs for review, I could not put them down. . . . It was exhilarating, as if I’d been to a revival meeting where Ms. Saller was the preacher and I was the amen corner.”—Wendalyn Nichols, Copyediting

— Wendalyn Nichols

Examiner

"If sanity is subversive, so is this guide. . . . This book should be read by all who write or edit in the course of their professional duties."

Journal of Scholarly Publishing

"The author succeeds in maintaining momentum to justify these early revelations in the rest of the book. She has written a collection of simple, practical messages for copy editors and their authors, favouring a readable, chatty style that doesn't seek to overemphasize them. Saller's prose thus remains digestible, with sufficient examples to illustrate her message. Although much of the substance of this book will be common sense to an experienced, organized, thinking editor, it is nonetheless worth repeating, particularly in such a readable style."--Stephen K. Donovan, Journal of Scholarly Publishing

— Stephen K. Donovan

Lincoln Journal Star

"A treasure house of advice, stories, suggestions and how to handle the difficult author. If you work with copy or authors, you should have this book by your desk."

— Barbara Rixstine

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Carol Fisher Saller is a comedian in copy editor's clothing--or should that be comedienne? . . . This is not a book about where the commas go, but rather where an editor’s hand should and shouldn’t go. . . . While the book is probably most useful to new or would-be editors, some of its advice is universal—communicate quickly and directly, be organized but resist compulsion, take deadlines seriously, document everything. Each chapter is prefaced with a question, with the clever answer placed at the end, and her stories from the front lines (the writer who described someone hiking 5,723 miles up a mountain, the editor who used a phone to anonymously wake her napping boss) keep things entertaining.”—Jim Foti, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

— Jim Foti

New York Times

“An insider’s book to cure writers . . . while shoring up editors. . . . Good advice.”—William Safire, "On Language," New York Times

— William Safire

New York Times blog "Papercuts"

“I've got dozens of books concerned with the nuts and bolts of copy-editing, but this is the only one that teaches the fine art of chilling out. . . . Saller’s project, in about 100 pages, is to (a) civilize the editing process, and (b) keep copy editors—meticulous and learned and hard-working, but also stubborn and obsessive, sometimes injuriously so—from going insane. . . . There’s advice here on deadline management, e-mail etiquette and how to handle ‘the difficult author'. . . . 'The Subversive Copy Editor' will remain on my shelf. I think Mr. Bernstein and Messrs. Strunk and White will find Saller to be good company."--Jennifer Balderama, from the New York Times Papercuts blog

— Jennifer Balderama

Publishing Research Quarterly

“In this slim volume, Saller not only presents the sometimes muddy art of copyediting in a clear, matter-of-fact way; she has a lot of fun doing it. . . . The Subversive Copyeditor is a wonderful read for anyone involved in copyediting and an especially good ‘welcome’ gift for the many enthusiastic—and regrettably underpaid—interns now entering the publishing field.”—Publishing Research Quarterly

Science Editor

"The Subversive Copy Editor is a delightful book. I haven’t had this much fun reading about things editorial since devouring Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. . . ..[ Saller’s] book is filled with excellent advice and illuminating anecdotes, and Saller has an engaging writing style and a wonderful sense of humor.”—Stephanie Deming, Science Editor

— Stephanie Deming

Technical Communication

“Saller writes with equal parts of experience and heart. . . . Whether you are a casual editor, a teacher, a student, or a communications professional, you likely should read this book, if not for the concise fount of wisdom it is, then at least for a knowing chuckle or two. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll take notes.”—Gary Hernandez, Technical Communication

— Gary Hernandez

The Writer

“Anyone who has struggled with how to apply various rules to improve her writing would benefit from reading Saller’s book. Though it isn’t a style guide itself—that’s what the Chicago Manual and other guides are for—the book is a perfect complement to such guides.”—Sarah C. Lange, The Writer

— Sarah C. Lange

Time Out Chicago

“While copy editors are Saller’s target audience, The Subversive Copy Editor includes wisdom that applies to just about anyone: how to ask questions without making them sound like accusations, and how to prevent your in-box from becoming an unmanageable mountain of e-mails.”—Robert Loerzel, Time Out Chicago

— Robert Loerzel

TLS

“One of the great virtues of this book (which has been very well copy-edited) is the many helpful examples of exchanges and situations Saller uses to illustrate her points. Many are real—and some, incidentally, very funny.”—TLS, “In Brief”