MC Calvi | Editor

being an indie bookseller in the helltimes has felt both very stable and very stabilizing, and part of me wishes everyone could be on my side of the counter for a little while, because I think it would help some of you be a little less cynical and doomy right now. so here is my VERY anecdotal data:

If books weren't powerful, they wouldn't be trying so hard to ban them.

#bookbans #books #writingquotes

One of the best things you can do as an author who's self-editing, imho.

(If reading it aloud yourself is too tedious, making your computer read it out loud for you is a decent substitute.)

#amediting #writingcommunity #indieauthor #editingtips #writingtips

This is one of the hardest things to learn as an editor and/or writer - and also one of the most vital.

#amediting #writingcommunity #writingquote

It's a good thing I don't edit fiction (said with all the love for people who do edit fiction) if only because I'd get SO MANY more "Main Character" jokes about my name than I do already! 😅😂

I know, it takes forever, and you may hate the sound of your own voice, but it's worth it.

#writingtip #editingtip #amwriting #amediting

Hey #bookeditors, I'm looking for a new guide on style/usage to supplement Chicago Manual of Style - any recommendations? What are your favorite resources?

#amediting #editor #cmos

Reconciling a 110k book's worth of manuscript edits right now (checking proofread against the copyedit), and honestly it's so soothing. Which probably makes me a huge nerd, but it's true!

Why am I not currently editing a book on cats??? Or puppies??? Truly, where is the justice in this world?

Using a new style guide for the first time is always an extra brain workout!

A lot of authors feel self-conscious about self-publishing, or are worried they should. But there's absolutely no need to. Self-publishing is a perfectly valid and legitimate path - and there are a lot of very good reasons to walk it.

Signed, a professional book editor

#selfpublishing #indieauthor

Nice! Glad you did. Honestly, if an agent is says no because of that of all things, you're probably better off with a different agent anyway.

I've been using it for one night and I'm already in love. Great combination with my Toggle Word Case macro. I needed to switch a bunch of long journal article titles from title case to sentence case, and it went SO quickly, it was beautiful.

Editing isn't easy, especially for something as long as a book! Piece out the work to make it more manageable and more efficient.

#amwriting #amediting #selfedit #writingtip

Somehow it took me this long to discover the MS Word shortcut that ctrl+right arrow takes you to the start of the next word. Deeply excited by this discovery.

What the actual hell is he doing. Maddening.

What would society even do without caffeine?

Speaking as a book professional, a bunch of us have a deep affection for semicolons! If it makes you too nervous, you can do an em dash instead, but an agent who would turn down a book over a single semicolon is displaying some very ...interesting... judgment, imho.

Tried to do this literally yesterday, but I forgot my charger cord at home!! I was so sad.

Etymology of the day: ‘book’ comes from an ancient root shared by ‘beech’, a wood that people used for engraving inscriptions. ‘Paper’ comes from ‘papyrus’, and ‘volume’ is from the Latin for a ‘roll’ of parchment.

Happy World Book Day.

This is one of the biggest pieces of advice I give my authors. Whether they're official beta-readers, people from a writing group, or just a friend or family member, this is one of the easiest and most actionable pieces of feedback they can give you.

#amwriting #amediting #writingtip

#WritingTip from a professional #editor: Take the time to do this bit of setup from the beginning/as you go. It'll pay off in the end. This is especially true if you're writing in science fiction and fantasy, and need to come up with the names for a whole world's worth of ships, weapons, spells, etc

An editor who only gives corrections isn't doing everything they should to help you grow!

#editor #amwriting #indieauthor

#WritingTip from a professional editor: One of the absolute most powerful ways to self-edit is to read your manuscript out loud. Yes, it's tedious, and you may hate doing it. But it pays enormous dividends.

I love "Let me overthink that for you"

Oxford comma lovers, unite!

So anyway, do yourself and your clients a favor and check that name against their email address, profile, email signature, or normal signature every single time!

And I know from plenty of BIPOC friends/authors/etc. how often non-Western names and names that are less common in English get misspelled, which is often "constantly." It's a super common microaggression.

My legal name is Madeleine (not a secret, I still keep some professional profiles under it), which I guess everyone THINKS they know how to spell, but they're usually wrong. Also happens constantly to a dear friend of mine named Sheelah, who is in a similar situation.

(Context: I'm trans and go by MC, but I still keep some editing profiles under my legal name for logistical reasons. Like on Reedsy, which redacts your last name, because having a listing as MC C. looks super weird and a bit sketchy. Also, I went by my legal name for years before that.)