Learning a new style manual takes time, and part of being a copyeditor is thoroughly knowing at least one style manual. As you edit, you ask questions, often about the same types of changes, so knowing some items to look up when learning a new style manual can give you a head start in the familiarization process. You may even want to create a style sheet for the new style manual.
When choosing which style manuals to begin studying, keep the following in mind: For general trade books, use CMS. For academic writing, use MLA Style Manual, 3rd ed. or CMS. For journalistic writing, use the Associated Press Stylebook. For scientific writing, use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Here are some topics you may want to include.
- Abbreviations
- How do you introduce acronyms and initialisms?
- Which state abbreviations do you use: two-letter or traditional?
- Dictionary
- Which dictionary does the manual use?
- Hyphenation
- AMA Manual of Style (10th ed.): Section 8.3
- Associated Press Stylebook: Punctuation chapter, “hyphen” entry
- CMS (17th ed.): Section 7.81
- The Gregg Reference Manual (11th ed.): Chapter 8
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.): Table 4.1
- The Yahoo Style Guide: Section IV, “Hyphens”
- Names
- Personal names
- Titles of people
- Organization and company names
- Numbers
- Numerals vs. words
- Plural and possessive numbers
- Dates
- Fractions
- Units of measure
- Possessives
- Singular noun
- Singular noun that ends in s
- Plural noun
- Plural noun that ends in s
- Exceptions to singular or plural rule
- Punctuation
- Serial comma
- Em dash
- Ellipsis
- Titles of works
- Capitalization rules
- Rules for using italics, quotation marks, or nothing at all
To learn more about style manuals, check out Editing 101’s Lesson 2.
April Michelle Davis has been the executive director of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) since 2018. Prior to that, she was NAIWE’s Social Media Marketing Expert. NAIWE is an association that focuses on career building for writers, editors, and other professionals in the publishing industry by developing multiple streams of income; it helps its members market their products and services through social media, newsletters, and more.
She is also the coordinator for the Virginia chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association, a lifetime member of the American Copy Editors Society, and a freelance editor, indexer, proofreader, and author. April Michelle has taught courses through her own company, Editorial Inspirations, as well as for associations and colleges on topics such as editing, indexing, grammar, writing, and creating macros.
Her credentials include a master’s degree in publishing from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Messiah College, as well as certificates in editing (University of Virginia), book publishing (University of Virginia), and professional editing (EEI Communications).
April Michelle has shared her insights about her career development by contributing quotes and vignettes to several books. She has presented sessions on various editorial topics to many groups, including the Virginia Writers Club, the Communication Central conference, Randolph-Macon College, the Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network, the EFA, Copyediting newsletter, RavenCon, and the Hanover Book Festival. In addition, April Michelle has published three books.
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