Favorite resources for freelance editors
This list of links was presented as a handout at the “Freelancers Forum” session at the American Copy Editors Society conference in Phoenix in March 2011. It was compiled by Mark Allen, Kate Karp and Liz Smith. It’s not intended to be exhaustive, but it represents some of our favorite places to find help when we are editing at home.
Please send me a note if you find any bad links, and please share your favorite resources in the comments.
Resources for Freelancers
Organizations, websites and a list
ACES (blog, news, resources, jobs, and the ACES forums): http://www.copydesk.org
Copyediting Newsletter (Links, blog, jobs, resources, training): http://www.copyediting.com
Editorial Freelancers Association (Training, resources, jobs): http://www.the-efa.org
Journalists’ Toolbox (Compendium of links to useful sites) http://www.journaliststoolbox.org
Copyeditor’s Knowledge Base (Links to resources for freelance copyeditors): http://www.kokedit.com/library.shtml
Common Errors in English Usage (Big list of quick-hit usage tips): http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips (transcripts of all the podcasts): http://www.quickanddirtytips.com
Grant Barrett’s searches (word-related sites, Google books): bit.ly/fVuijA
CE-L (mailing list for copyeditors): Sign up at http://www.copyediting-l.info/
Stylebooks and usage guides
The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual (available as an app and online by subscription)
Chicago Manual of Style (also available online by subscription)
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (online subscription available)
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing
The Bluebook (Harvard Law Review legal citation guide; online subscription available)
Quick Check Editorial Reference Cards (from Copyediting.com)
Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (guides to Chicago, MLA and APA style)
Garner’s Modern American Usage
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage
Grammar Girl’s Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Elephants of Style and Lapsing into a Comma (Bill Walsh)
Dictionaries
Merriam-Webster Collegiate 11th (Chicago’s preferred; online free, on CD-ROM, and as a free app; Unabridged by subscription)
Webster’s New World College (AP’s preferred; also as an app)
Oxford dictionaries (New Oxford American free online or as “Dictionary” application on a Mac; includes American English and World English options)
Oxford English Dictionary online (check with your local library)
Wordnik (contains American Heritage, Century Dictionary, others)
American Heritage (also as an app)
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Visual Thesaurus (subscription)
onelook.com, dictionary.com, thesaurus.com
Compiled for ACES 2011 by Mark Allen, Kate Karp and Liz Smith