I've rediscovered my love of short stories after picking up a copy of Louise Hegarty's new book, Getting the Electric. The final story, written in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure format, absolutely blew me away. Highly recommended if you like writers who aren't afraid to experiment and try new things.

As much as I'm loving the book I'm currently reading, there have been some questionable decisions made regarding word breaks. Can you guess how the word continues on the following line?

PSA to authors and editors: if doing a global change from double to single quote marks, don't forget to check measurements. I nearly sent a book off to be typeset this morning with a character telling another that he had an 8' penis #AmEditing

@bossproofreader.bsky.social I thought of you when I saw this

envelope my body > envelop my body #AmEditing #SpellcheckCannotSaveYou

What's with the Oxford Premium online dictionary closing up 'handjob' but keeping 'blow job' open? Make it make sense... #AmEditing #OneOfLifesBigQuestions

peels of girlish laughter > peals of girlish laughter #SpellcheckCannotSaveYou #AmEditing

This word break hurts me on a visceral level

I also don't want to change 'eighty armed men in the city' to 'eighty-armed men in the city', no matter how much I enjoy the image it conjures #AmEditing

MS Word wants me to change 'dragged a forest fir into the cottage' to 'dragged a forest fire into the cottage'. Erm, nope. #AmEditing

Best #Copyediting typo in a while! Might as well send them a bag of faces > Might as well send them a bag of faeces #SpellcheckCannotSaveYou

US #edibuddies and others familiar with the Chicago Manual of Style: Can 'etc.' ever take an initial capital, or should it always be lowercased? And could anyone point me at the right CMoS page to cite on this, as I've searched and searched and can't find what I need! Thanks in advance :-)

Spotted in the wild at the weekend

The first garden work of the year: a tale in photographs 1. I feel powerful!

Do you think I can get away with describing myself as 'Award-winning copy editor and proofreader' if books I've copy-edited and proofread are longlisted for prestigious awards? Maybe I should start charging a premium (the books in question were outstanding before I did my bit, but still...)

Borrowed/stolen from Threads as this is such an epic typo. And because I would gladly collect soups

Should be a great event if anyone's down that way on 9 March (sadly, I'm not). It was a pleasure working with the lovely Izidora on the copy edit – and very exciting to see the novel now International Booker longlisted!

One thing I've had to google today: 'Can an eel chew its way through a bird's throat from the inside?' #Editing is never dull...

Anyone else unable to log in to the COED website today? I've been trying since early this morning and keep getting the message 'This premium oxforddictionaries.com page can't be found: No page was found for the web address premium.oxforddictionaries.com/auth/login [followed by login code]'

No, MS Word, I don't want to change 'he brought his fists up and glared at me threateningly' to 'he mentioned his fists and glared at me threateningly' #AmEditing

Question for UK #edibuddies and wordy people in general who know BrE well - is there a good solid and fairly informal equivalent in BrE to the US generic 'nowheresville'? I'm sure there must be something, but my brain is not playing ball today! #AmEditing

holding a baking try > holding a baking tray #SpellcheckCannotSaveYou #AmProofreading

No, MS Word, I do not want to change 'he farted in the office' to 'he farmed in the office', but thanks anyway #AmEditing

That's it. I can handle a lot of bad behaviour from bands, but that apostrophe is just 🤮

Had the loveliest feedback today, in the Acks of an upcoming (and very good) novel I've copy-edited: 'Sarah Terry, for a quite brilliant editorial eye.' It's a shame that editorial eye doesn't seem to be transferable to spotting things I've put down in the house and then can't find again...

I love working with this guy, but not sure 'I hope it was too distressing to read' was quite the sentiment he intended after I sent my first edited draft through... #AmEditing

I guess I have to change my name now. At least it's appropriate given my profession #AmEditing @perfectit.bsky.social

And here's another from the same #proofreading job

Am #proofreading a book where I've been told to ignore the captions under the photos because they're currently just placeholders, which has led to delights like this

Drinking my morning coffee out of this mug will never get old

Hey, USians, I have an #editing question about the format of hospital bracelets over the pond from me... Is there a universal standard or do they vary from state to state? Would the format be last name, first name? And full points or slashes between elements of DOB? Google isn't helping me! TIA :-)

Gorgeous cover! Aerth is beautifully written (I had the pleasure of being copy editor) and it's lovely to see it IRL

Watch your homophones when writing, people - I may have spotted the following in my current #copyediting job, but spellcheck wouldn't! toed > towed first aid kid > ... kit prayed > preyed principal > principle (and vice versa) breaks > brakes straight jacket > straitjacket mange > manage

This is one of the reasons I love the German language so much ❤️ www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Unfortunate typo on school message re their English teaching

UK #editors and #proofreaders who do work for public authority clients in other European countries - have you been asked for an organisation number in order to be paid? And is there a way to circumvent this for sole traders, who don't have an organisation number?

In today's 'No shit, Sherlock' news... www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Just came across the loveliest phrase in the book I'm #proofreading: 'a time when I was as happy as a mouse nesting in a wheel of cheese'

at the tum of the twentieth century > at the turn of the twentieth century The curse of OCR strikes again! #AmProofreading

@uk.theconversation.com Is your site down at the moment? I can't get on it my end and am trying to check an article for a book I'm editing... Thanks!

Adventures in copy-editing this week: - queried whether 'pussy licker' might look better closed up, as with 'cocksucker' - discovered that Australians call a strimmer a 'whipper snipper' If I achieve nothing else this week, I'll be happy 🙂

Spotted in the wild in my local indie bookshop, @nathanwaddell.bsky.social! Seeing something in print that I've been a part of still makes me very happy!

Cool thread! Strange Horticulture, this game's predecessor, is one of the best games I've ever played, and if Strange Antiquities is even half as good it'll be brilliant!

The best thing about a #StetRun at this time of year – stopping mid run to snack on blackberries

cark park > car park That's a new one on me! #AmEditing

I've been asked to check over some new endmatter for a book I've proofread, and the Acks hadn't been added previously. Now they give a thanks 'to proofreader extraordinaire Sarah Terry' :-) I think I should get a badge made reading 'Proofreader Extraordinaire'. What do you reckon?

"She is long" Like a snake?

Have I been brushing the wrong part of me all these years?

'I sniff with my nose' What else would I be sniffing with?! Snippity snip! #AmEditing