Dear Chuck,
I heard you were feeling poorly so I stole the keys to your car shed blog again and made you a get-well Questionable Answer to All Your Publishing Questions.
QUESTION 3: WHERE THE @#%!%^&@ Do EDITORIAL MARKS COME FROM AND WHAT THE $@#@$@! DO THEY MEAN
The answer’s been right in front of our eyes for years, but I’ve only now decrypted the truth to those cryptic squiggles you see on manuscripts (and sometimes restaurant menus after I’ve been there, shhh don’t tell.).
No need to thank me. I’m guessing this will be GREAT to read in your fevered state!
* * *
Fran Wilde’s short stories have appeared at Tor.com, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Uncanny Magazine, and in Asimovs’ and Nature. Fran also interviews authors about food in fiction at Cooking the Books, and blogs for GeekMom and SFSignal.
Her first novel is Updraft (Tor 2015). Her novella, “A Jewel and Her Lapidary” will be published by Tor.com Publishing in May 2016, and her 2nd novel, Cloudbound (Tor 2016) will follow in the fall.
Updraft: Indiebound | Doylestown Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
17 responses to “Fran Wilde: Editorial Marks, Explained!”
Love it! Only thing you forgot was “Feed me tuna or lose a foot!”
Oddly, my cat is not into tuna. He likes tape, however. He also adds he is not concerned with editing my writing and is mostly annoyed when I sit in front of the computer rather than attending to his every need.
Totally just showed this to my work colleagues. BEST.
Oddly enough, her “and” sign is backwards.
it’s the cats…
with thanks for the inspiration on this one to the letters E, A, F, C & C.
Uh-huh. Associate the copyeditor with the litterbox. I SEE WHAT YOU’RE SAYING, FRAN. 😉
it’s an homage!
Brilliant! Can’t wait to share this with my coworkers!
This explains so much. You should add to the list the punctuation mark “!” which is of course an alarmed cat as seen from behind. -gf
I will never, ever be able to get that out of my mind. Thanks, Greg.
Is there a mark for “I left you a present under the bed, guess what it is?”
hah!
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That was really fabulous and it was very well written as well. Keep Posting.