This month I was lucky enough to get my hands on a digital copy of Amy J Schneider’s The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction. Here are my first impressions!
I thought this would be similar to its big sister, The Chicago Manual of Style, focusing purely on the style questions fiction editors keep asking each other on social media and professional discussion boards. Well, it does all that and more. The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction is definitely a companion book and not meant to replace CMOS, but it also includes a wealth of wisdom that can only come from the decades of experience Amy has in the industry. It’s a welcome addition to my editorial library, and it’s already saved me a lot of time during my last edit.
“A good copyeditor helps the author remember the needs of the reader.”
In addition to the specific style advice I expected (like how to punctuate faltering speech in dialogue), Amy has provided insight into her process, including the most thorough exploration of how to set up and use the style sheet while editing fiction. Within a day of reading her book, I’d revised my style sheet completely, and I look forward to taking it out for a spin on my next book, which will be historical fiction with a lot of fact-checking and consistency checking needed.
“Not every style sheet is rated PG.”
She’s also got sections on the editor’s mindset, and why being a prescriptivist is probably not the wisest move when it comes to fiction. While some guides to style do exactly that—prescribe rules to follow—Amy’s carries on the “Well, you can do it that way, and if you do…” spirit of CMOS while leaving the door open to authors who like to bend the rules for the sake of art. You won’t find a doctrine against the use of adverbs here!
“Edit for clarity, but don’t edit the life out of the story.”
But that’s not all, folks! Amy’s included incredibly practical advice on efficiency tricks from how many monitors to use to how to set up your Word window for the most efficient styling. Her advice is practical, relevant, useful, and delivered with a great sense of humor. There are a few easter eggs for those who have been in the industry a while (and those who know of her gorgeous springer spaniels). And while she generously shares her own wisdom, she also points out other great names in the editing industry where you can dig a little deeper, like Adrienne Montgomerie (for Word hacks), and Katharine O’Moore-Klopf for resources on all things editing.
“If I’ve done my job correctly, my work is invisible—but it shows off the author’s creation to its best advantage.”
While it’s aimed at copyeditors, I think authors might benefit from the insight into how the editor is approaching their text. As for editors . . . This book has already saved me enough time that it’s paid for itself several times over. And just reading it once has already made me a better editor.
Which version to get?
I had already pre-ordered the print copy, and that’s winging its way over to Texas for me. But I wanted it ASAP and figured it might be useful to have a searchable version (I was right!), so I got the DRM-locked eBook version too. The searchability makes it a breeze to look something up when an author emails me asking why I suggested a change while copyediting their novel. A bonus? I can access it on multiple devices.
This is the best book I’ve bought this year.
