Traditional publishing, like God, is dead — at least as an industry. Like Pluto, publishing has been demoted: It is now simply a “function” — among many others — of business. And all because of the digital revolution. We no longer access information the way we used to. Like the power of the Catholic Church… Continue Reading
Nothing strikes terror through the heart of an editor like the sudden bolt out of the blue when you realize, belatedly ‘natch, that you’ve made a mistake. This happened to me a few minutes ago. I’ve been sending out my cover letter and resumé via email. In the email message, I write, “My cover letter… Continue Reading
I’m busy getting my resumé sent out. I laugh out loud sometimes when I’m tailoring my resumé to specific companies and job ads — the use of key words is so transparent. But it’s time for a quick editing lesson. I was reading an article by former NDP leader Jim Broadbent yesterday, when I came… Continue Reading
I’ve been searching for errors on storefront signs around the city. Today there was no shortage of offenders. The most common errors were as you might expect: An apostrophe s where none is needed (or vice versa): Are the materials for artists (no apostrophe), or do the materials belong to artists (apostrophe)? No apostrophe is… Continue Reading
I learned a few things today. First, I found myself looking up influential. I thought it might have been influencial because that’s how it appeared in an article I was reading. But no, influential it is. Second, the difference between brought and taken was brought (heh) to my attention. I was perusing the website of… Continue Reading
I spoke with the owner of Doo’s for Dogs today, and she said that Doo is indeed short for hairdo. The dog logo was created by a designer and is based on a photo of the owner’s dog. The owner said she and the designer together agreed on the end result. My sense is that,… Continue Reading
I continue to work on my sign exposé. This small business sign in my neighbourhood caught my attention: This is a classic misuse of the apostrophe — or is it? Maybe the owner’s name is, say, Dooley, and the name of the business is a clever take on that — you know, it’s Doo’s business… Continue Reading
Commas here, commas there, commas everywhere—except when they’re nowhere to be found, leaving a wake of confusion by their absence. Many writers liberally use commas to insert pauses that are pleasing to the ear—no less a writer than Margaret Atwood has admitted to using commas this way. But comma use is more structured than that:… Continue Reading
National Post columnist and talking head Andrew Coyne wrote a humorous column (last year already?!) about the research showing the health consequences of sitting all day. He ended the column with a call to arms, writing that “we can no longer stand for sitting.” All joking aside, I’m finding the transition from an active day… Continue Reading
I continue to take baby steps into the world of social media. Twitter is very useful for current info from the publishing world, but wading through all those tweets can be time-consuming. LinkedIn initially made me feel like a loser for a myriad of reasons — not least of which is the fact that I’m… Continue Reading