Yes, I do

For the rest of the NYT post, click here.

Loving books isn’t enough

A nice voice wanted advice on getting started as an editorial freelancer. Louise Harnby gave her some.

A silence followed on the other end of the phone. I assumed she was frantically scribbling down all this information. “The thing is, I really want to make a career out of this but there’s so much to get your head around. That’s why I called. I just need to know how to go about it. I’ve always loved books, always loved reading. I think I’d be good at this. I notice spelling errors when I read magazines and books and newspapers and I really love words.

Read the rest of Louise’s article here.

Some books are more fun than others

What is hip?  The author, Phil Ford, says that music has always been the royal road to hip. 

Here’s the Amazon link where — if you’re inclined to such things — you can review my 40-page index of what is and is not hip.

What makes a good indexer?

I get asked this question a lot. Here is an answer I found recently that I’ll use from now on. It’s from Stephen Ingle, president and CEO of WordCo.

The best indexers are highly educated people interested in learning, who are very detail-oriented yet can see the big picture. They often have areas of very specialized knowledge. They are committed to learning the ins and outs of indexing and becoming productive over a period of several years.

Tan difícil de aprender

Coworking

In 2005 got a few guys in San Francisco got together to share rental space, wireless Internet access, and other things. They called it “coworking.”

In 2012 a few guys from Buffalo did the same thing. Cowork Buffalo started up and I was glad. The no-nonsense office is a 10-minute walk from my home. Read more.

Rules for freelancers

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The comma, a curved finger that both beckons and halts

• The semicolon, mannered, foppish, sincere
• The colon, officious, waxed, but willing to negotiate—as long as standards are obeyed
• The apostrophe is utterly offhand, but trustworthy
• The parenthesis (sturdy, a bit dull) 

More here. Thanks, Tom Bentley.

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Heresy!

This is a short book, but it is as dense as a diamond. It is as tragic as a Spanish pieta, but it is completely heretical.

So says The Irish Times about Colm Tóibín’s The Testament of Mary.

I’ll be spreading this love on World Book Night

And Esperanza promises that when she escapes from Mango Street, she’ll be back to help the ones who can’t.