For the last three years, I’ve been running two businesses: this one and Pilcrow Group, which owned Copyediting, publisher of content and training for copyeditors. Before that, I was the editor-in-chief of Copyediting with its previous owners for five years. Running two business has been fun, if challenging. I’ve been able to dig deeply into
Right Touch Editing’s Writing Takes the Gold!
Representing Copyediting, Right Tough Editing won the New England Direct Marketing Association’s (NEDMA’s) 2018 Gold Award in the Collateral category (brochures, catalogs, annual reports) for work on the Organization Subscription Package. Brenner worked with Copyediting training director Laura Poole to put together a promotional package for prospective organization members. The packet consists of an informational
The Copyeditor’s Marketing Vocab Primer
Every industry has special vocabulary—that is, jargon—it uses to refer to well-known but complex ideas in a short space or to sound like an insider. Jargon can become a problem, though, when it’s used to avoid addressing that complex idea or when it overwhelms the copy itself. The copyeditor’s job is to determine when the
Right Touch Editing Wins Award for Writing!
Last night at the NEDMA Awards, Erin Brenner accepted the Bronze Award in the Collateral category (brochures, catalogs, annual reports) for her work on SAP’s Revealed: The Insider’s Guide to SAP’s Employment Brand. Brenner wrote the book that SAP uses to market its company to potential employees. Brenner and the Right Touch Editing team have
Social Media News & Tips from #NEDMA17
[View the story “Social Media News & Tips from #NEDMA17” on Storify]
Punctuation Point: Defending the Em Dash
I’ve written about dashes previously, but a recent Slate article by Noreen Malone is encouraging me to revisit the subject. In her article, Malone demonstrates what overuse of the dash looks like. Her article is so overloaded with em dashes that the reader is left dizzy and confused. A paragraph would have done the trick
Content Marketing: Bigger. Braver. Bolder.
On October 27, Ann Handley, chief content officer for MarketingProfs and content marketing guru, spoke to local marketers about how to improve their content marketing. Check out this Storify article for a review. [View the story “Content Marketing: Bigger. Braver. Bolder.” on Storify]
Grammar Bite: Making Media Agree
Subject-verb agreement is a deceptively easy grammar rule: a single subject gets a single verb, and a plural subject gets a plural verb. Yet deciding when a noun is singular and when it’s a plural is harder than it looks. In “10 Subject-Verb Agreement Rules,” I outlined 10 subcategories of subject-verb agreement, noting that Amy
10 Subject-Verb Agreement Rules
Subject-verb agreement sounds easy, doesn’t it? A singular subject takes singular verb: Tom rides his bike to work every day. A plural subject takes a plural verb: The boys are climbing the walls like caged animals. Yet The Copyeditor’s Handbook lists no fewer than 25 cases that aren’t so clear cut, and Garner’s Modern American
NEDMA16, Part 2: Email, SocMed, and Peanut Butter
In part two of my look at NEDMA16, you’ll get a hatful of tips for email and social media and a chance to weigh in on GIF/JIF debate! (What’s missing: all the great lessons I learned from Steve Tharler’s copywriting workshop; it was so intense I forgot to tweet!) [View the story “NEDMA16, Part 2:
