Getting
the Most out of Your Copyeditor:
The
Style Sheet
Click. Whirrrrrr.
I was downloading a new manuscript from my e-mail. As usual, I
was excited to start copyediting a new book. I love my job, and I
find that I always learn about new subjects as I work. This time,
I was to copyedit a political thriller set in a European country.
On the surface, the
book was well edited, and the editor had not sent me a style
sheet. American Book Publishing uses a standard form, with the
categories Abbreviations;
Numbers and Dates; Punctuation;
and Capitalization,
Hyphenation, Spelling, and Italics; for its style sheet, but
editors are not required to send them. A style sheet’s purpose
is to give the copyeditor information on unique features of the
manuscript.
Partway through the
first chapter, I discovered that all dialogue had been
italicized, rather than placed in quotation marks, as is the
usual American convention. This struck me as a huge departure
from the norm, and I was shocked that the editor had not had the
foresight to let me know. What followed were several days of
e-mails zipping around the world in a discussion between the
Director of Copyediting Services, the Director of Editing
Services, the editor, the author, and myself, negotiating the
unusual style of setting off dialogue. The long and short of it
is that the dialogue was left italicized in the end, but much
time and effort were wasted by all involved—simply because the
editor had not had the foresight to send me a style sheet. When
an editor tells me what he or she wants in a style sheet, I know
the issue is resolved, and can proceed as usual. When there is no
style sheet, however, if the issue is small and the Chicago
Manual of Style rules clear, I can usually resolve the issue
myself. When the issue is as large as an unorthodox and
potentially confusing way of treating dialogue, however, I need
input before I can alter it.
Copyeditors want to
give editors and authors what they want. I’m always happy when
an editor tells me I did a great job and helped a lot. But an
editor who doesn’t send a style sheet often ends up feeling
irritated that the copyeditor must then ask many questions as to
what his or her instructions are—or worse, makes changes that
are out of line with the editor’s and author’s wishes. Again,
a great amount of time is wasted, both on the part of the
copyeditor who did unnecessary work, and on the part of the
editor, who must then restore the manuscript to its
pre-copyedited condition.
What, then, belongs
on the style sheet? Here is a rule of thumb: Anything that makes
the manuscript unique belongs on the style sheet. It follows
that, since every manuscript is unique, every manuscript should
have a style sheet. Furthermore, the author’s or editor’s
style preferences should be explained wherever they differ from
those outlined in the Chicago
Manual of Style, 15th edition—and I have yet to see a
manuscript that followed CMS
to the letter in every detail, since CMS
contains general rules, and (I’m going to say it again!)
every manuscript is unique. Furthermore, from time to time, every
editor is bound to run into an issue which he or she does not
know how to treat. Copyeditors are experts in grammar and CMS
style, and are a great resource for answering such questions—or
at least at cobbling together a recommendation for truly novel
problems. Why, then, do editors not send style sheets? I suspect
that the main reason is that they really have no idea what sort
of information they should include in one.
Here,
then, are some suggestions and examples as to what to include:
Abbreviations
· In
the case of the books of the Bible, what system of abbreviations
does the manuscript use? CMS
lists two styles, but the author may prefer a style that does not
appear in CMS, in which
case, the editor should provide a copy of it for the copyeditor.
Are books outside the standard Protestant canon used, such as
writings from the Apocrypha or Book of Mormon? What version of
the Bible (e.g., Syr.—Syriac, LXX—Septuagint, AV—Authorized
King James Version) is being used? A book written primarily for a
Catholic audience should use the version and abbreviations those
readers would be most comfortable with. A book for Bible scholars
would likewise need to use the abbreviations most familiar to the
readers. The editor can ask the author these questions and then
choose the appropriate abbreviations and alert the copyeditor.
· The
editor of a nonfiction manuscript should give the copyeditor a
heads-up concerning obscure or specialized abbreviations and
their instructions, such as kHz (kilohertz, with a capital H)
or BP (before the present, capitalized, with no periods).
· Sample
style sheet comments:
-
“Author prefers to use KJV rather
than AV to abbreviate the Authorized King James Version.”
-
“Each chapter in this book
discusses one chemical element. For brevity, the author generally
uses IUPAC abbreviations in the text, rather than spelling them
out, e.g., Pd is preferred over palladium and Cf is preferred
over californium. Oxygen and hydrogen always appear as O2
and H2.”
-
“The author uses etc.
a lot, and I wasn’t sure how professional it looked. What would
you suggest?”
Numbers
and Dates
·
When
are numbers are treated differently than outlined in CMS?
For example, does the author prefer that numbers from one to one
hundred are written in numerals rather than spelled out?
· How
are amounts in foreign currencies written? Spelled out or in
numerals? Does the author prefer to say, for example, “three
hundred Canadian dollars,” “C$300,” or “Can$300”?
·
Sample
style sheet comments:
-
“All numbers should be rounded
off to the nearest hundredth (e.g., 267.34). Mark numbers that
are incorrectly rounded with a comment, but please do not change
them.”
-
“The author prefers to put the
day first in dates; she uses
31 October 2004
(no comma) rather than
October 31, 2004
.”
Punctuation
· What
unusual punctuation does the author use and what does the editor
think should be done about it? For example, does the editor
prefer that the copyeditor delete the author’s frequent commas
when unnecessary, or that the copyeditor allow the author to use
interrobangs (?!)?
· Sample
style sheet comments:
-
“The author used a lot of hyphens
when she meant to use an em dash. I think I found and fixed all
of these, but keep your eyes open for them, just in case I missed
one.”
-
“The author is enthusiastic, and
in order to keep the manuscript true to her voice, I allowed her
to use three exclamation points (!!!) in a row when she was
really excited about something. So, please don’t delete the two
extra exclamation points.”
Capitalization,
Hyphenation, Spelling, and Italics
·
What
specialized vocabulary does the manuscript use, and what should
the copyeditor do with it? For example, in one manuscript on
foreign politics I copyedited, the names of political parties
were sometimes capitalized and sometimes not; sometimes, because
I was not familiar with the politics of that nation, I didn’t
know if a word was the name of a political party or not. The
editor could have helped me out immensely in that case. Was isolationist
just an adjective, or the name of the Isolationist Party?
· Preferred
spellings: For example, Merriam-Webster prefers the spellings OK
and good-bye, but I
have copyedited books whose authors preferred the spellings okay
and goodbye.
· Does
the author prefer to italicize all foreign words or italicize
only the first usage of a foreign word that is used multiple
times? This depends on the category of literature the manuscript
falls into, as well as on how many foreign words occur.
·
Sample
style sheet comments:
-
“German nouns are capitalized,
e.g., Gesellschaft. I think I have remembered to capitalize all the nouns,
but if you see one you think should be capitalized, please mark
it with a comment. Also, all the German words should be
italicized, regardless of how many times they occur.”
-
“There are two characters with
hyphenated names: Ely Ran-to-the-River and Karen Smith-Johnson.
In the narrative, the author calls Ely by his last name, which
should be written out: ‘Ran-to-the-River telephoned his
sister.’ But the author most often calls Karen by her first
name.”
-
“The author prefers to use
Qur’an rather than Koran.”
Of
course, no standard style sheet could possibly cover every
contingency. Here are some other issues an editor might consider
including in a style sheet:
·
Questionable content, e.g.,
profanity and violent or erotic scenes: Since American Book has a
policy against questionable content, I expect an editor to let me
know about words and scenes he or she has approved. The style
sheet should say something along the lines of, “Allow the usage
of [profane word] on pages 25 and 56. Mark other usages.”
Editors, please note that copyeditors
are not allowed to edit out questionable words and scenes! I
once actually found an editor’s comment to an author on a
manuscript that said something along the lines of, “Well, you
really shouldn’t use this word, but if you really don’t want
to change it, let’s see if the copyeditor allows you to keep
it.” I’m sure the editor thought she had deleted that comment
before she sent me the manuscript. But let me repeat it if you
editors and authors didn’t catch it the first time: Copyeditors
cannot edit out questionable words and scenes. It is up to the
editor and author to do that.
·
Grammar
issues the copyeditor should double-check: For example, does the
author occasionally accidentally switch verb tenses in the
narrative? One editor had been working with an author on the
difference between which
and that. Because she
let me know this had been an issue, I was able to catch the
instances of which-that confusion that she had missed. I might not have been as
alert to the issue if she hadn’t said something.
· Changed
names of characters or places: Copyeditors absolutely need to
know if any names have been changed, as occasionally the wrong
name is left in the manuscript by accident.
· Documentation:
This is an area where authors frequently make errors, as the
rules are complicated and authors frequently have used a style
guide besides the Chicago Manual of Style in compiling them. Therefore, any special
instructions must be explicitly noted.
·
And
finally, the editor should note any questions that he or she has
on style. At the very least, the copyeditor can make a
recommendation or refer the editor to the appropriate CMS
rule.
These
are just some examples of issues it would be wise to include in a
manuscript’s style sheet. I cannot list every stone over which
a copyeditor might stumble, as every manuscript is unique, so an
editor should let that uniqueness be his or her measuring stick.
An editor should keep a notepad or separate Microsoft Word
document about issues he or she notices while editing a
manuscript and then include them in the style sheet. Doing so
saves time and hassle for everyone involved in the editing and
production of the book.
