News:
01. Copyedits for Cracked Up to Be are on their way! I’m looking forward to it but also I’m terrified. I have this irrational fear of copyedits because they seem so concise and mechanical and I don’t brush my hair if I can get away with it and wear Winnie the Pooh pajama pants outside and stuff so that’s probably a good indication of… something. I just basically feel like copyedits are the MATH of the publishing process. Math also terrified me. Once, in eighth grade, my teacher called on me to do a problem at my desk and I just couldn’t take it and I started freaking out and I was like, “I don’t know I can’t do it you can’t make me do it aaah!” It might even have been tearful. ANYWAY, my teacher was like, “Okay! Never mind! Next person!” And then I was like, “… Why didn’t I do that sooner?!” And then years later I looked it up and there IS such a thing as Mathematical Anxiety! The vindication! I can’t even tell you.
02. But for some reason I have become this huge Sudoku nut in the last few weeks, even though it has numbers in it. I’ve completed two (TWO!) puzzles… without cheating! This is huge, people! Even if the skill level was easy. I tried a medium puzzle tonight but it got difficult so I quit because those are the kind of principles I have. Also, Survivor was on.
03. Oh, Survivor. What a season. Jeff Probst wore shorts tonight! Has he ever worn shorts on Survivor before? And I swear they had stripes. I should be ashamed for noticing but I don’t think it’s every day Jeff Probsts wears shorts on television. Or maybe it is. Who knows. NICE LEGS, PROBST!
04. courtneysummers.ca is in the process of being redesigned by some talented guys who know their stuff (read: they are WordPress Masters). Now, yer not going to wake up and see a new site tomorrow or anything but I’m just giving you a head’s up so you can adjust your anticipation levels accordingly (tip: set them to high.).
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publication date
Friday May 9th, 2008 @ 12:19am
355 words, 48 sentencesmeta stuff
categories: cracked up to be,personal,site,television
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good luck with copy edits. I hear they come on post-it notes with paper clips!
I saw probst too, and thought I was crazy. They were stripe-y burmudas, I swear!
Courtney, I got shivers reading your post. I too freak out at the thought of copyedits. All those squiggles and single letters and circled words and arrows….*head explodes* Please tell me they send you a little translator to go with? Pleezies? Otherwise, I might just give up right now.
I am also that crazy girl in math. That was me, not you–I think you got the story messed up. The PJ’s tho, that’s all you. Mine are blue and fuzzy and have polar bears on them, so ha.
anticipation levels are always set to high when it comes to you :)
Don’t worry about the copyedits! A good copy editor should always respect the author’s voice and is only an invisible little elf trying to help you make it even better. I hope yours is a smart and awesome little elf. As the author, as long as you don’t write STET STET STET STET STET STET STET STET STET STET STET STET STET down the margins of 10 pages just because you want something in italics, all will be fine. (This happened to me. That author had a history of anger issues and ended up taking it out on me!)
Daisy: I’m holding my breath! Not only for copyedits but for who wins Hottest Male Web Host!!! I’m on the edge of my seat!
Angela: YES! I was like, “Oh my God!” I was watching it with my Grandma and I was like, “IS JEFF PROBST WEARING SHORTS?” She had to say yes to prove I wasn’t hallucinating. I’m going to chronicle my copyediting experience, I think. Just to take some of the fear away OR share my fear with all of you. ;) & HAH! re: last paragraph.
Kelvin: AW SHUCKS.
Nova: ! That story is simultaneously horrifying and hilarious! I am definitely going to not take that approach. Omg. Definitely not the kind of reputation you want to give yourself. I’m just so afraid I’ll mark up everything wrong! But I’m getting instructions. Hopefully, I will be able to understand them.
Ah–copyeditorialphobianimbus, yes, yes.
The copyeditor will be someone well-versed in CMS and house style–you’ll be in good hands! They want to make the book shine too, and as Nova said, the copyeditor will not change your voice at all! (And you’ll learn stuff you didn’t even know about grammar!)
Good luck!
I don’t doubt I’m in good hands–not at all worried about voice changes–what I’m so afraid of is I’ll muck up the copyeditor’s hard work somehow! Heh. Misunderstand a notation so direly that they have to go through the whole manuscript again!! I fear I shall make a mistake someone else will suffer for. It would be just my luck. *bites nails*
Thanks for the words of comfort, Danette!! :)
Ooh, I love that you’ve been following it! The winner will be announced on Wed!
You have me hooked on the New Media Minute!! I am a frequenter of your site! They are too awesome!!
In the end, it’s the comma that’s out to get us.
WHEN I WAS DOING MY COPYEDITS, my stets were comma related and I thought of you!!!