Editor Test

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Test your m-editor-dle by spotting the errors:

1. Hosting a family gathering in France also meant sampling the local cuisine.

2. Ducks Unlimited is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people.

3. Visit our seller on the Web at www.amazon.com

4. Request a free issue today! If you’re not satisfied, just write "cancel" on the bill, and the issue is yours to keep! If you want more of our [publication], simply fill out the billing form--just $19.99 for six issues, and we’ll include your free issue as part of the subscription.

Highlight to see answers.

1. The cheese is Stilton, an English, not a French cheese.

2. The Ducks Unlimited logo is flipped.

3. The link is broken.

4. If the sample issue is included in the subscription, it's not "free."

What do all these have in common? They're all corrections we've made. Some, like the cheese, are pretty pedantic while others, such as a broken (or mistyped) link and a flipped picture can make a big difference--especially if they're advertisements. If you just plunked down several hundred dollars for an ad placement, wouldn't you want it to be perfect?

These may seem nit-picky, but if money's involved, they're going to be the first things a good editor or proofer will look for. And since we're paid to notice them, they're going to leap out at us while most normal people overlook.