Copy edit hell


I got a manuscript back today that has been mauled - there's no other way to put it - by a copy editor from hell.

It's not the changes for no reason that piss me off - it's the words changed for no reason that change the sense and/or introduce errors that kill me. And so far, we're averaging three of those changes for every ten pages.

The question is - will I resort to physical violence before I finish reading the edit, or after?
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a drag. I have had two or three instances this extreme in the past decade and they drove me crazy. One prompted me to call my editor in anger and distress. As you know, some publishers won't volunteer your copyeditor's name, while others make it plain. At that time the publisher in question went out of its way to keep copyeditors anonymous.

"This is the reason we do it," the editor said after hearing my rant. "We've gotta protect their safety."

He seemed kind of amused.

I wasn't.

A Fellow Author

March 26, 2009 at 5:49 PM

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