Category Archives: Writing and Editing

Authors You Love to Hate?

All the recent publicity about W.W. Norton’s decision to stop distributing and publicizing Blake Bailey’s biography of Philip Roth because of accusations of his inappropriate behavior with women, including underage students when he was a teacher, has made me begin thinking about what turned me against the author at the top of my love toContinue reading “Authors You Love to Hate?”

Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #10 Phrasal Verbs

This is the tenth in a series of posts to address common issues I have found in manuscripts with my suggestions for how to improve them before turning them over to agents, editors, and the many other individuals involved in the process of turning a manuscript into a book. #10. Phrasal verbs vs HYPHENS AsContinue reading “Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #10 Phrasal Verbs”

Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Correction: #9 British vs American Spelling

This is the ninth in a series of posts to address common issues in manuscripts with my suggestions for how writers can improve their manuscripts before turning them over to agents, editors, and the many other individuals involved in the process of turning a manuscript into a book. #9 Preferred Spelling Choices, Per Merriam-Webster CommonContinue reading “Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Correction: #9 British vs American Spelling”

Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Correction: #8 Sentence-ending Punctuation

This is the eighth in a series of posts to address common issues in manuscripts with my suggestions for how writers can improve their manuscripts before turning them over to agents, editors, and the many other individuals involved in the process of turning a manuscript into a book. #8 Use only appropriate Sentence-Ending Punctuation ThereContinue reading “Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Correction: #8 Sentence-ending Punctuation”

Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #7 Scare Quotes

This is the seventh in a series of posts to address common issues with my suggestions for how writers can improve their manuscripts before turning them over to agents, editors, and the many other individuals involved in the process of turning a manuscript into a book. #7 Removing scare quotes and single quotes used toContinue reading “Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #7 Scare Quotes”

Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #6 Foreign Words

This is the sixth in a series of posts to address issues I have seen in the work of others with my suggestions for how writers can improve their manuscripts before turning them over to agents, editors, and the many other individuals involved in the process of turning a manuscript into a book. #6 ItalicizingContinue reading “Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #6 Foreign Words”

Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #5 Commas

This is the fifth in a series of posts to address common issues with my suggestions for how writers can improve their manuscripts before turning them over to agents, editors, and the many other individuals involved in the process of turning a manuscript into a book. #5 Removing commas from where they don’t belong andContinue reading “Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #5 Commas”

Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #4 Hyphens and Numbers

This is the fourth in a series of posts to address common issues I have found in manuscripts with my suggestions for how to improve them before turning them over to agents, editors, and the many other individuals involved in the process of turning a manuscript into a book. #4 Putting Hyphens and Numbers togetherContinue reading “Common Issues in Manuscripts Requiring Corrections: #4 Hyphens and Numbers”