Crystal Calhoun | Editor

Conscious Style Guide is on Bluesky! What to expect: posts that help you think critically about language and design as tools for equity and self-expression.

Check out the whole family of resources:

Book | Website | Community | Newsletter

By @karenyin.bsky.social 🌷

Great resource for folks attending #ACES2025 in Salt Lake City next month! #amediting #freelanceeditor

Also this: "When we ask tropes to carry the full weight of the book they appear in, we de-incentivize the deep work of building meaningful characters, textured worlds, and emotionally honest relationships."

This: "The sweet spot for a trope—for me—is somewhere in between the moment when it gets a catchy name, and the moment when it abruptly slams into oversaturation."

#BookSky

On an out of focus background photo of a person in front of full bookshelves, white text contains a quote from a Substack post by Alice Hoffman, entitled “Library Love.” The quote reads: “In my neighborhood, many of my friends did not make it out. They were waylaid by crime and by drugs. Beautiful smart girls were lost, boys who were artists or musicians went to jail. It was a tough neighborhood and some people couldn't see outside of the boundaries of our town. But I could look over the wall. It was as if I pied up all of those books I had read and climbed to the top to peer over…” The URL of the Substack is included: ahoffmanwriter.substack.com

Lots of good stuff in this Substack post from Alice Hoffman on the magic of libraries and reading. One quote in the image, and here’s another:

“Often the people who succeed in spite of the difficulties they face have one thing in common. They read.”

#booksky

open.substack.com/pub/ahoffman...

Hey, artists, in case you were wondering if your work matters: I'm a scientist working on climate change and biodiversity, and I would not be who I am today without The Lorax, The Secret of NIMH, Watership Down, The Last Unicorn, and The X-Files. I know I'm not alone. Thank you for all you do.

Yup. AI still isn't a substitute for a good old-fashioned human editor or writer when it comes to making actual sense. (Whew. 😁)

How to Download Kindle Books to Your Computer Before Amazon Kills the Feature On Feb. 26, Amazon will remove the 'Download & Transfer via USB' option from its website. Here's how to save your collection.

For anyone who has Kindle books and hasn't heard: If you have any interest in downloading your books to your computer, do it soon, because that feature is going away as of February 26.

😤

Opinion | This Is a Golden Age for University Presses The focus on efficiency and innovation misses the point: We are producing fabulous books.

With thanks to @elizabethlblock.bsky.social for posting the link first: www.chronicle.com/article/this...

(Note that you need to sign up for a free account to read the whole article.)

Just a reminder that Bookshop.org now offers ebooks!

How humanities classes benefit students in the workplace and combat loneliness Despite pressure for students to choose STEM over the humanities, classes in literature, art and history can provide students with vital life skills and help combat the current epidemic of loneliness.

How humanities classes benefit students in the workplace and combat loneliness

This week I've been re-reading old favorite books, both for comfort and to remember my roots. I forgot how much I love it (and I always have) when an author is clearly having fun — no ego, no fear, just whimsical grinny joy in words and story. Joy is infectious and some books MAKE me adore them.

Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award Baen's eBook marketplace. eBooks with no DRM in every major format--for the Kindle, iPad, Nook, and more.

A reminder: The deadline for entering the 2025 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest is fast approaching. 8,000 words. Near Earth, near future sci-fi. February 1st. www.baen.com/contest-jbmssa

That sounds like the perfect place for villainous gemstones. 😍😆

On a pumpkin-orange background are the words "On #GivingTuesday, please support Editors of Color. EditorsOfColor.com/Donate." Below the EOC logo and URL are colorful graphic illustrations of a racially and culturally diverse group of people, from the shoulders or neck up.

Tomorrow is #GivingTuesday! Please support the Editors of Color Database, one of Writer's Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers (2024). All contributions go toward running this site. Thank you for helping me promote 500+ editors of color in the US and Canada.

💟 Donate: editorsofcolor.com/donate/

This is just getting started. If you'd like to join, let me know 😊📚

go.bsky.app/3jQDKEj

Darcy writing

Elizabeth,

I have included you in the Starter Pack, “People who have had the pleasure of my company.”

You’re welcome,
Darcy

A tree stump with a crude face carved into it stands in front of another tree trunk. In the background, grass and more trees are visible. In the foreground, plants creep up the bark of the stump.

A cluster of tall, skinny-trunked pine trees seen from below and standing against a bright blue sky.

A peaceful lake with spatterdock leaves in the foreground and more floating aquatic plants in the distance. The clear, gradient blue sky is reflected in the surface of the water.

Today’s #StetWalk.

And it's very cute either way! The color and design get the Crystal Seal of Approval, of course, since I have a similar one but ceramic ... although I'm not sure any more which exact model it is since I can't find the order information. 🤔

(mental excited flailing) Ooh ooh, what kind of ocarina? (I have a jaw harp but I got tired of smacking myself in the teeth with it too quickly to learn much on it. 😆)

I'll bring the mountain dulcimer and a super-tiny rain stick! I'm sure that'll be extremely useful. 😆

Encountered the word "vitrine" for the first time today (also file under: things I have seen many times without knowing their precise names). Before looking it up, I was sort of hoping it would turn out to be an evil gemstone. You know, like a villainous citrine.

NEW! Never Too Late 60+ award - Bridport Prize

The ‘Bridport Never Too Late’ award.
This £500 award is for the highest placed writer aged 60+ across poetry, short story, novel or flash fiction.

Call for unpublished female writers …
‘Discoveries invites all unpublished and unagented women writers aged 18 and up, currently residing in the UK or Ireland and writing in English, to submit their works of adult fiction to the Discoveries Prize.’

It's OFFICIAL. @hakaimagazine.com will continue; not in name, but in spirit.

In January 2025, senior staff from Hakai will be joining bioGraphic magazine www.biographic.com

That means more awesome narrative features and science-based news.

But, of course, WE NEED YOUR HELP

Little Books with Big Subjects | Hakai Magazine These marine-themed children’s books have lessons to share without sacrificing story.

A few times a year I have the pleasure of being able to review new children's books on marine/coastal themes for @hakaimagazine.com Here's the latest: hakaimagazine.com/features/lit... #kidlit #childrensbooks #picturebooks #bookreviews #oceanliteracy

I also didn't anticipate that it wouldn't let us edit posts to correct copy editing fails, but I guess we did have to fight for quite a while to get that feature at the Other Place.

😅

Anthropic says Claude AI can match your unique writing style Or just pick from three style presets to make quick adjustments.

The underlying assumption is that a person’s writing style is something to be divined only from what they’ve done in the past, rather than an evolving process that changes as you change as a person who experiences the world.

When I joined Bluesky, I absolutely did not anticipate it becoming a such a danger to my pocketbook.

Seems legit. The chances of my having a finished and fully edited novel would definitely be much higher if someone had at some point bribed me with an orrery. 😆