The Subversive Copy Editor

A revised and updated copy editor's guide to surviving the publishing industry, with practical advice on working with writers, colleagues, and yourself.

Longtime manuscript editor and Chicago Manual of Style guru Carol Fisher Saller has negotiated many a standoff between a writer and editor refusing to compromise on the "rights" and "wrongs" of prose styling. Saller realized that when these sides squared off, it was often the reader who lost. In her search for practical strategies for keeping the peace, The Subversive Copy Editor was born. Saller's ideas struck a chord, and the little book with big advice quickly became a must-have reference for copy editors everywhere.


In this second edition, Saller adds new chapters, on the dangers of allegiance to outdated grammar and style rules and on ways to stay current in language and technology. She expands her advice for writers on formatting manuscripts for publication, on self-editing, and on how not to be "difficult." Saller's own gaffes provide firsthand (and sometimes humorous) examples of exactly what not to do. The revised content reflects today's publishing practices while retaining the self-deprecating tone and sharp humor that helped make the first edition so popular. Saller maintains that through carefulness, transparency, and flexibility, editors can build trust and cooperation with writers.

The Subversive Copy Editor brings a refreshingly levelheaded approach to the classic battle between writers and editors. This sage advice will prove useful and entertaining to anyone charged with the sometimes perilous task of improving the writing of others.

Praise for The Subversive Copy Editor, First Edition

"This is the book Oprah would write if her vocation were saving writers from embarrassment, rather than saving the whole world. To which I say, finally. I've got dozens of books concerned with the nuts and bolts of copy-editing, but this is the only one that teaches the fine art of chilling out." —Jennifer Balderama, New York Times

"May be the best copy editor's companion since the CMS, the AP Style Guide and that dog-eared xerox of copy-editing marks you keep tacked up on the cubicle wall. . . . This is an ideal complement to any style guide: practical, relentlessly supportive and full of ed-head laughs." —Publishers Weekly