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Tea and Commas: The Foundations of Line and Copy-Editing Fiction
Introduction
Welcome!
How the course works
All downloadable files
Module 1: Defining the Job
Introduction
What do line and copy-editors do?
Why teach these services together?
What line and copy-editors DON'T do
Why should we care about sentence-level editing?
Who hires line and copy-editors?
What does the line and copy-editing process look like?
Where do line and copy-editing services fit in the publishing process?
Proof-editing: the illegitimate love-child of editorial services
A few notes on working with historical fiction, translated fiction and children’s fiction
AI and editing – some speculative thoughts
Summary
Test your understanding
Module 2: Manuscript Structure and Marking Up
Introduction
The word processor you need
The anatomy of a book
Manuscript formatting conventions
Marking up
Track Changes and Comments
Commenting and querying
Preparing the manuscript for the client
Summary
Test your understanding
BONUS: Marking up and typesetter letter examples
BONUS: Paragraphing terminology
Module 3: Editorial Tools
Introduction
Useful features of Word
Saving and backing up your files
Using styles in Word
Entering the wonderful world of macros
Recommended macros for fiction
Software plug-ins for Word
Summary
Test your understanding
BONUS: Pre-editing check list
VIDEO: How to install a macro (4:47)
VIDEO: Setting up styles in Word (13:33)
BONUS: Confusables
BONUS: MultiSwitch
Module 4: Style and Stylistic Consistency
Introduction
Keeping a manuscript consistent with a style sheet
Using a style guide to help with decision-making
House style (nothing to do with fancy rugs)
Choosing your dictionary
Differences between Englishes – a brief overview
Hyphenation
Capitalisation
Numbers … figures or words?
Tenses
How to format thoughts
Formatting foreign words and phrases
Formatting displayed text
Summary
Test your understanding
BONUS: Style sheet example and template
EXERCISE: Stylistic consistency
Module 5: Story-Based Consistency
Introduction
Spotting plot holes
Keeping a timeline
Character consistency
Consistency in setting
Editing novels in a series
Summary
Test your understanding
EXERCISE: Story-based consistency
Module 6: Legalities
Introduction
Copyright
Fair use and plagiarism
Permissions
Copyright, plagiarism and permissions: your responsibilities
Defamation and libel
Trademarks in fiction
Blasphemy, obscenity and hatred
Summary
Test your understanding
Closing Notes
Thoughts, next steps and further reading
AI and editing – some speculative thoughts
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