'Christianity Today' Surprises with a Completely Redesigned Magazine
CAROL STREAM, Ill., Sept. 30, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- Christianity Today magazine, the storied flagship publication from the ministry of the same name, will launch a bold, new print redesign with its October issue. The redesign comes exactly four years after its last redesign in October 2009, which was slighter in nature.
The redesign was done by José and Nikolle Reyes' firm, Metaleap Creative. The Atlanta-based design firm's résumé includes redesigning music magazine Paste, D.C. lifestyle magazine the Washingtonian, and Presbyterian publication byFaith. Executive Editor Andy Crouch, who oversaw the redesign process, says, "We wouldn't have retained Metaleap simply to help us tweak our existing look – we asked them to give us something smart, bold, and beautiful, and we believe they succeeded."
With wider margins, new typefaces, restructured magazine sections, and a simpler color palette, Christianity Today is investing in its print medium with changes they hope will be met with surprise and delight by both new and long-time readers. Publisher Terumi Echols says, "The core values of Christianity Today -- providing our readers in-depth news, cultural analysis, and insightful, theology commentary about the God's church on mission in the world -- haven't changed. We wanted to set that kind of journalistic excellence in a design that would be fresh and surprising."
Along with the re-imagined layout, Christianity Today has moved away from its long-time full-width masthead logo in favor of a truncated CT logo, which also marks a change in the magazine's naming convention. "We plan on starting to call ourselves what everyone already calls us – CT," says Crouch.
Following the print redesign, Christianity Today is now hard at work on revamping their website, ChristianityToday.com. The team hopes to launch the site in early 2014 with a user-friendly layout, new content, and more subscriber benefits. "The biggest thing we want to signal is that you can trust CT to surprise you, in great ways, month after month. And to signal how much we delight in excellence and creative work that serves our customers well," says Crouch.
You can subscribe to receive the redesigned magazine at OrderCT.com/NewCT and look out for the newly redesigned ChristianityToday.com coming in early 2014.
Christianity Today is a nonprofit, global media ministry that serves the church through digital and print publications, as well as practical and accessible web resources that together reach more than 2.5 million people every month.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
AP Style in the Digital Age
Here's a great little article from the Burrelles Luce Newsletter:
AP Style in the Digital Age
Do you ever find yourself wondering whether to write a historic day or an historic day? Maybe not, but you're probably wondering now.*
One of the foremost resources for answering that and many other linguistic predicaments is The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. The AP Stylebook was first published in 1953 (more than 100 years after the AP first started breaking news in 1846) and has since become the industry standard for many newspapers, magazines and other media.
The first edition was 60 pages; the 2013 edition is nearly 500. Though some may consider AP style – or grammar in general – erudite, The AP Stylebook is revised every year to reflect modern changes in language.
Why adhere to AP style?
Just because modern technology has abbreviated our language with "GTG," "BRB" and "IDK" (all AP-approved, thx) doesn't mean that modern professional PR writers should throw vowels to the wind.
You want members of the media to read the information you send them. Editors are paid to work with language, and a press release or info blast filled with errors is more likely to be ignored – or worse, mocked – by recipients.
When SEO and AP collide (NOTE: SEO means search engine optimization)
SEO is a vital component of any online publication, but when, if ever, should AP take precedence over SEO? In fact, it seems somewhat rare that the two collide in an impactful way; many tenets of web writing, like keeping paragraphs short and striving for brevity, are completely in line with AP style.
Some AP-SEO conflicts arise regarding keywords, when AP mandates that certain words be hyphenated or be two words instead of one. (Google has a brief guide to punctuation and how it can affect search engine results.)
But since AP changed "e-mail" to "email" and "Web site" to "website," there are fewer sources for dispute (though AP currently stands by "live-blog" instead of "liveblog" and "e-book" instead of "ebook").
Google algorithms change 500 to 600 times per year, so it's getting harder to win the Google search game with strictly SEO. And many of the most common SEO mistakes are related to problems separate from punctuation. End conclusion: don't sacrifice a cohesive style for SEO; instead, use AP as a guideline, not a rulebook, and tailor it to your company's needs.
Don't just write like the AP – link like AP
In its Social Media Guidelines for AP Employees, the AP reminds staffers to "link to content that has been published online rather than directly uploading or copying and pasting the material." This is not only best practice to avoid copyright issues, but linking and being linked to can help to increase your site's value.
*According to AP style, the answer is a historic event. And if any grammarian sticklers are wondering why we flout AP style and write The AP Stylebook instead of AP-sanctioned "The AP Stylebook," the italics follow our BurrellesLuce house style, which draws heavily on AP style but makes a few of its own modifications.
About BurrellesLuce
BurrellesLuce is the U.S. media content monitoring leader, providing curated, copyright-compliant content from local and national print (traditional and online), broadcast, video, proprietary online content, blogs and social media sources. Our comprehensive suite of affordable services is fully integrated in one convenient and easy-to-use portal, BurrellesLuce WorkFlow™. BurrellesLuce WorkFlow™ gives you everything you need to organize and manage your media relations and public relations efforts.
AP Style in the Digital Age
Do you ever find yourself wondering whether to write a historic day or an historic day? Maybe not, but you're probably wondering now.*
One of the foremost resources for answering that and many other linguistic predicaments is The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. The AP Stylebook was first published in 1953 (more than 100 years after the AP first started breaking news in 1846) and has since become the industry standard for many newspapers, magazines and other media.
The first edition was 60 pages; the 2013 edition is nearly 500. Though some may consider AP style – or grammar in general – erudite, The AP Stylebook is revised every year to reflect modern changes in language.
Why adhere to AP style?
Just because modern technology has abbreviated our language with "GTG," "BRB" and "IDK" (all AP-approved, thx) doesn't mean that modern professional PR writers should throw vowels to the wind.
You want members of the media to read the information you send them. Editors are paid to work with language, and a press release or info blast filled with errors is more likely to be ignored – or worse, mocked – by recipients.
When SEO and AP collide (NOTE: SEO means search engine optimization)
SEO is a vital component of any online publication, but when, if ever, should AP take precedence over SEO? In fact, it seems somewhat rare that the two collide in an impactful way; many tenets of web writing, like keeping paragraphs short and striving for brevity, are completely in line with AP style.
Some AP-SEO conflicts arise regarding keywords, when AP mandates that certain words be hyphenated or be two words instead of one. (Google has a brief guide to punctuation and how it can affect search engine results.)
But since AP changed "e-mail" to "email" and "Web site" to "website," there are fewer sources for dispute (though AP currently stands by "live-blog" instead of "liveblog" and "e-book" instead of "ebook").
Google algorithms change 500 to 600 times per year, so it's getting harder to win the Google search game with strictly SEO. And many of the most common SEO mistakes are related to problems separate from punctuation. End conclusion: don't sacrifice a cohesive style for SEO; instead, use AP as a guideline, not a rulebook, and tailor it to your company's needs.
Don't just write like the AP – link like AP
In its Social Media Guidelines for AP Employees, the AP reminds staffers to "link to content that has been published online rather than directly uploading or copying and pasting the material." This is not only best practice to avoid copyright issues, but linking and being linked to can help to increase your site's value.
*According to AP style, the answer is a historic event. And if any grammarian sticklers are wondering why we flout AP style and write The AP Stylebook instead of AP-sanctioned "The AP Stylebook," the italics follow our BurrellesLuce house style, which draws heavily on AP style but makes a few of its own modifications.
About BurrellesLuce
BurrellesLuce is the U.S. media content monitoring leader, providing curated, copyright-compliant content from local and national print (traditional and online), broadcast, video, proprietary online content, blogs and social media sources. Our comprehensive suite of affordable services is fully integrated in one convenient and easy-to-use portal, BurrellesLuce WorkFlow™. BurrellesLuce WorkFlow™ gives you everything you need to organize and manage your media relations and public relations efforts.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
More Innovation Happening in Face of Newspaper Decline
Source: http://paidcontent.org/2013/09/23/theres-one-good-thing-about-the-newspaper-industry-decline-more-innovation-is-happening/
There’s one good thing about the newspaper industry decline — more innovation is happening
By Mathew Ingram
There are a couple of different ways that newspapers and other media companies have chosen to respond to the inexorable decline of their former market dominance: one is to moan about how Google is stealing their content, and talk incessantly about the good old days, and the other is to try and adapt to the shifts going on around them — by experimenting to see what their readers respond to and learning from that. It’s refreshing to see at least a few newspapers choosing the latter path, including the Boston Globe and the Washington Post.
Neither newspaper is doing particularly well, in the larger scheme of things: the Globe was just sold to a local hedge-fund billionaire for $70 million — which means it has lost a staggering 90 percent of its former value in the last two decades. The Washington Post, meanwhile, was just acquired by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, after the paper’s former owners admitted that they couldn’t see a future in which they didn’t have to cut more staff and continue to lose money. Not a great environment for innovation, you might think — but you’d be wrong.
A Twitter-based local news aggregator
As Justin Ellis at the Nieman Journalism Lab notes in a recent post, the Boston Globe‘s in-house research lab has built what amounts to a Twitter-powered news aggregator called 61Fresh — a tool that pulls in tweets based on a number of factors, but most importantly whether the content comes from a number of sites and services of interest to Boston residents. The algorithm-driven experiment is designed to produce a kind of Techmeme-style news aggregator, but one based on geographic parameters rather than topic-specific ones.
Every 10 minutes, the algorithm goes searching for the most viral news items. And because it uses Twitter as its source material, it isn’t just a soul-less feed of the latest headlines, but a snapshot of what people in the community (or at least connected to that community, since some may be ex-residents) see as interesting content worth sharing — whether it’s about Tom Brady or a local fire.
Is this going to somehow save the Globe by generating millions of dollars in revenue? Of course not. But it might help the company figure out how content works now, and how social sharing helps drive engagement, and that certainly couldn’t hurt as it tries to carve out a new path — not to mention that those working on it could develop new skills that might come in handy.
A visual interface for mobile news
Along the same lines, the Washington Post is experimenting with a visually-driven news interface called Topicly, which it launched this week: in a nutshell, it takes the top stories from the newspaper and sorts them based on the number of updates — and then displays them as a series of images tiled across a page, so that when readers click on a topic like “Chemical Weapons,” they get all of the stories the newspaper has written that related to that topic.
Cory Haik, senior director of digital news for the paper, told Ad Week she thought of the interface as a good way to present news for mobile users who don’t want to scroll through a lot of headlines, since it’s easy to see what the top stories are and what they are about (Circa, the San Francisco-based news startup, is also trying to rethink news for mobile). The new Post feature also has its own advertising format, which should make it easy to insert native ads into the stream as well.
Again, this probably isn’t going to make the difference between profitability and unprofitability for the Post, but it is a welcome sign of experimentation and a desire to learn how to present content differently for a mobile, digital audience. And to be fair to the Post, the paper has a long history of that sort of thing — from a Facebook news reader (which didn’t wind up working out) to its algorithmic news-recommendation app Trove and a socially-driven advertising unit.
Since no one really knows what the future of digital media looks like, it’s worth experimenting with as many new things as possible — in part because the next new thing always starts out looking like a toy. So kudos to the Post and the Globe for doing so, despite the gloom all around them.
There’s one good thing about the newspaper industry decline — more innovation is happening
By Mathew Ingram
There are a couple of different ways that newspapers and other media companies have chosen to respond to the inexorable decline of their former market dominance: one is to moan about how Google is stealing their content, and talk incessantly about the good old days, and the other is to try and adapt to the shifts going on around them — by experimenting to see what their readers respond to and learning from that. It’s refreshing to see at least a few newspapers choosing the latter path, including the Boston Globe and the Washington Post.
Neither newspaper is doing particularly well, in the larger scheme of things: the Globe was just sold to a local hedge-fund billionaire for $70 million — which means it has lost a staggering 90 percent of its former value in the last two decades. The Washington Post, meanwhile, was just acquired by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, after the paper’s former owners admitted that they couldn’t see a future in which they didn’t have to cut more staff and continue to lose money. Not a great environment for innovation, you might think — but you’d be wrong.
A Twitter-based local news aggregator
As Justin Ellis at the Nieman Journalism Lab notes in a recent post, the Boston Globe‘s in-house research lab has built what amounts to a Twitter-powered news aggregator called 61Fresh — a tool that pulls in tweets based on a number of factors, but most importantly whether the content comes from a number of sites and services of interest to Boston residents. The algorithm-driven experiment is designed to produce a kind of Techmeme-style news aggregator, but one based on geographic parameters rather than topic-specific ones.
Every 10 minutes, the algorithm goes searching for the most viral news items. And because it uses Twitter as its source material, it isn’t just a soul-less feed of the latest headlines, but a snapshot of what people in the community (or at least connected to that community, since some may be ex-residents) see as interesting content worth sharing — whether it’s about Tom Brady or a local fire.
Is this going to somehow save the Globe by generating millions of dollars in revenue? Of course not. But it might help the company figure out how content works now, and how social sharing helps drive engagement, and that certainly couldn’t hurt as it tries to carve out a new path — not to mention that those working on it could develop new skills that might come in handy.
A visual interface for mobile news
Along the same lines, the Washington Post is experimenting with a visually-driven news interface called Topicly, which it launched this week: in a nutshell, it takes the top stories from the newspaper and sorts them based on the number of updates — and then displays them as a series of images tiled across a page, so that when readers click on a topic like “Chemical Weapons,” they get all of the stories the newspaper has written that related to that topic.
Cory Haik, senior director of digital news for the paper, told Ad Week she thought of the interface as a good way to present news for mobile users who don’t want to scroll through a lot of headlines, since it’s easy to see what the top stories are and what they are about (Circa, the San Francisco-based news startup, is also trying to rethink news for mobile). The new Post feature also has its own advertising format, which should make it easy to insert native ads into the stream as well.
Again, this probably isn’t going to make the difference between profitability and unprofitability for the Post, but it is a welcome sign of experimentation and a desire to learn how to present content differently for a mobile, digital audience. And to be fair to the Post, the paper has a long history of that sort of thing — from a Facebook news reader (which didn’t wind up working out) to its algorithmic news-recommendation app Trove and a socially-driven advertising unit.
Since no one really knows what the future of digital media looks like, it’s worth experimenting with as many new things as possible — in part because the next new thing always starts out looking like a toy. So kudos to the Post and the Globe for doing so, despite the gloom all around them.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Henry Blackaby and the Power of Social Media
From Thom Rainer's blog at ThomRainer.com
Henry Blackaby and the Positive Power of Social Media
We received the information early Friday morning that well-known Christian author and speaker Dr. Henry Blackaby was missing. Because of his close relationship to LifeWay professionally and to many of us personally, we made the decision to change the blog schedule at ThomRainer.com and related social media so we could get the word out about Dr. Blackaby.
The hours that followed were tense and ultimately extremely gratifying. We would soon learn that Dr. Blackaby had a heart attack and became disoriented. Christians around the world were able to hear through social media of his latest purported location according to his credit card charges. Of course, we were praying that he was the one actually using the credit cards—and he was.
Social Media and the Unity of the Body of Christ
It was amazing to see Christians from various backgrounds come together in unity for this man so many people love. Whether the social media venue was Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or many other forms, we were united in purpose.
The level of disagreement and nitpicking among Christians was turned down dramatically for a brief season. The critical spirit that we Christians often exhibit for the world to see subsided. We were one with one purpose.
Social Media and the Power of Prayer
One part of the social media exchange regarding Henry Blackaby was informational. Through various venues, we learned that he was missing. We learned where his credit card was being used. We learned the make, color, and model of the automobile he was driving. And we would soon learn the license plate number on the car. All of this information going out through social media became instrumental in finding him.
The greater use of social media, however, was the articulation of prayers by hundreds of thousands of believers. You could be thousands of miles from a brother or sister in Christ and still have an awareness that you were praying together. Nearly 200,000 unique visitors visited this blog Friday. I was overwhelmed with the numbers of people expressing prayers in writing. Christians from all over the world were banded together for good and for God’s glory; the power of prayer was so clearly evident.
Social Media and the Glory of God
We are all well aware of the evil and hurt that takes place on social media. We Christians are keenly aware that our own witness is often compromised by the words we choose to write, and the invectives we hurl at one another.
But the problem is not social media; the problem is our hearts. We make a conscious choice to use this instrument for good or for evil.
The story of the disappearance of Henry Blackaby is a poignant and powerful reminder of what we Christians can do when we unite in love, even over something like Twitter or Facebook. Though Dr. Blackaby faces a road of surgery, treatment, and recovery, this story did have a good ending. He was found. He is safe with his family. For that we give thanks to God.
But even if God had not answered our prayers in the way most of us were hoping, this story would still have been incredible. Christians were united in purpose. Christians were united in prayer. Christians focused on our commonalities instead of our differences for a brief season.
Ultimately, the story of Henry Blackaby and the social media response was a reminder for all of us who call Christ our Savior. I for one can say without reservation that I was reminded that I am to do all things for His glory. And that includes my participation in social media. I pray that God will remind me to ask before I strike another key on the keyboard, before I write another blog post, before I comment one more word on Facebook, before I tweet anything or post a photo on Instagram, am I doing this for good or evil, for myself or for the glory of God?
Thank God for the safe return of Henry Blackaby. And thank God that we believers got to a get a taste for a brief season of what it means to come together for His purpose and His glory.
Henry Blackaby and the Positive Power of Social Media
We received the information early Friday morning that well-known Christian author and speaker Dr. Henry Blackaby was missing. Because of his close relationship to LifeWay professionally and to many of us personally, we made the decision to change the blog schedule at ThomRainer.com and related social media so we could get the word out about Dr. Blackaby.
The hours that followed were tense and ultimately extremely gratifying. We would soon learn that Dr. Blackaby had a heart attack and became disoriented. Christians around the world were able to hear through social media of his latest purported location according to his credit card charges. Of course, we were praying that he was the one actually using the credit cards—and he was.
Social Media and the Unity of the Body of Christ
It was amazing to see Christians from various backgrounds come together in unity for this man so many people love. Whether the social media venue was Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or many other forms, we were united in purpose.
The level of disagreement and nitpicking among Christians was turned down dramatically for a brief season. The critical spirit that we Christians often exhibit for the world to see subsided. We were one with one purpose.
Social Media and the Power of Prayer
One part of the social media exchange regarding Henry Blackaby was informational. Through various venues, we learned that he was missing. We learned where his credit card was being used. We learned the make, color, and model of the automobile he was driving. And we would soon learn the license plate number on the car. All of this information going out through social media became instrumental in finding him.
The greater use of social media, however, was the articulation of prayers by hundreds of thousands of believers. You could be thousands of miles from a brother or sister in Christ and still have an awareness that you were praying together. Nearly 200,000 unique visitors visited this blog Friday. I was overwhelmed with the numbers of people expressing prayers in writing. Christians from all over the world were banded together for good and for God’s glory; the power of prayer was so clearly evident.
Social Media and the Glory of God
We are all well aware of the evil and hurt that takes place on social media. We Christians are keenly aware that our own witness is often compromised by the words we choose to write, and the invectives we hurl at one another.
But the problem is not social media; the problem is our hearts. We make a conscious choice to use this instrument for good or for evil.
The story of the disappearance of Henry Blackaby is a poignant and powerful reminder of what we Christians can do when we unite in love, even over something like Twitter or Facebook. Though Dr. Blackaby faces a road of surgery, treatment, and recovery, this story did have a good ending. He was found. He is safe with his family. For that we give thanks to God.
But even if God had not answered our prayers in the way most of us were hoping, this story would still have been incredible. Christians were united in purpose. Christians were united in prayer. Christians focused on our commonalities instead of our differences for a brief season.
Ultimately, the story of Henry Blackaby and the social media response was a reminder for all of us who call Christ our Savior. I for one can say without reservation that I was reminded that I am to do all things for His glory. And that includes my participation in social media. I pray that God will remind me to ask before I strike another key on the keyboard, before I write another blog post, before I comment one more word on Facebook, before I tweet anything or post a photo on Instagram, am I doing this for good or evil, for myself or for the glory of God?
Thank God for the safe return of Henry Blackaby. And thank God that we believers got to a get a taste for a brief season of what it means to come together for His purpose and His glory.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Fox Sports Sacks Outspoken Christian
Fox Sports Sacks Outspoken Christian
As a former NFL running back, Craig James isn’t used to being on the defensive. Unfortunately, that’s exactly where Fox Sports is putting him in a story that should rock the football world.
The retired Pro-Bowler became the latest face of the war on religious liberty when—after one day on the job—Fox gave James the boot for his conservative views on marriage. And here’s the kicker: He made the comments not at the sports desk but during last year’s Senate campaign!
Apart from being a popular analyst, James also had political aspirations—aspirations he followed to Texas in an unsuccessful bid against Ted Cruz during the primary. In the course of the campaign, James was asked—as all candidates are—about his views on marriage and sexuality. James’ opinion happens to coincide with the research, which is that no one is born gay. And as an orthodox Christian, he didn’t shy away from the eternal consequences of this sin or any other.
“They are going to have to answer to the Lord for their actions,” he said before pledging not to support same-sex unions.
To read the entire article: http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/40945-fox-sports-sacks-outspoken-christian
As a former NFL running back, Craig James isn’t used to being on the defensive. Unfortunately, that’s exactly where Fox Sports is putting him in a story that should rock the football world.
The retired Pro-Bowler became the latest face of the war on religious liberty when—after one day on the job—Fox gave James the boot for his conservative views on marriage. And here’s the kicker: He made the comments not at the sports desk but during last year’s Senate campaign!
Apart from being a popular analyst, James also had political aspirations—aspirations he followed to Texas in an unsuccessful bid against Ted Cruz during the primary. In the course of the campaign, James was asked—as all candidates are—about his views on marriage and sexuality. James’ opinion happens to coincide with the research, which is that no one is born gay. And as an orthodox Christian, he didn’t shy away from the eternal consequences of this sin or any other.
“They are going to have to answer to the Lord for their actions,” he said before pledging not to support same-sex unions.
To read the entire article: http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/40945-fox-sports-sacks-outspoken-christian
Monday, September 9, 2013
Co-Anchors Blaze New TV Trail
Co-anchors blaze new TV trail
‘Newshour’ first to have 2 women on national broadcast
Paul Farhi | Washington Post
WASHINGTON – National TV newscasts have tried just about every kind of anchor configuration over the past six decades: A lone male anchor. A lone female. Two men. A man and a woman. Even three men.
But two women? Perish the thought. No national evening broadcast has ever dared put a pair of women on air together to read the news each day. Apparently, as a character in the 2004 satire of 1970s culture “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” put it: “It’s anchorman, not anchorlady! And that is a scientific fact.”
Until now.
Starting with its broadcast this evening, the “PBS Newshour” will feature two women in the anchor chairs. The venerable program – anchored for years by founding fathers Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer and lately by a series of rotating anchors – will be co-anchored by Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill.
Read the entire article: http://www.journalgazette.com/article/20130909/NEWS03/309099962/1006/NEWS
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Style Errors That Scream 'Amateur'
From Emily Akin's blog for writers:
Style Errors That Scream “Amateur”
By Emily Akin on September 4, 2013
Writers, show professionalism by knowing your grammar and style—and by proofreading your work. Recently, I’ve noticed obvious grammar and style errors in both print and online publications. Either they aren’t using editors or their editors are overworked.
Make sure your work is free of these marks of the amateur.
Plural for words ending with “st.” Is it guest or guests? It depends on whether you have one guest or more than one. Correct plural example: “We will have about 40 guests at the party.” I’ve seen published writing with “guest” where it should be “guests.” Remember, you must add the “s” on nouns like list, request, or mast. The rule for plurals is to add an “s” unless the word ends in “s.” See this summary.
Exclamation points. Use them sparingly!!!! Many beginning writers think they are adding emphasis by using exclamation points. However, overuse of emphasis defeats the purpose. Rachelle Gardner has a great blog post on the subject here.
All caps—avoid them altogether. The proper format for emphasis is italics or underline. All caps in a work submitted for publication will mark you as an amateur for certain. It is the typographical equivalent of shouting.
Spacing after periods. If you learned to type on a typewriter, you learned to space twice after periods or other ending punctuation marks. The computer age has changed that. Re-train yourself to space only once at the end of a sentence. When I point this out to the writers I mentor, they just don’t believe me. That’s because they have no experience in publishing. See the Grammar Girl’s article on this subject.
Its vs. it’s. The only time you’ll use an apostrophe with the word “it” is when you are using it as a contraction for “it is.” The word “it” may be the only word in the language that does not have an apostrophe in its possessive form. This error is so prevalent that it’s distressing to grammarphobes like me. For one thing, the spellchecker will not catch this error. I’ve seen it on television captions, campaign literature, and advertising signs. I even caught it on a publishing industry executive’s blog. Review the basic principles here.
Rid your writing of these marks of the amateur. It may take some effort, but it will be worth it in the long run.
Style Errors That Scream “Amateur”
By Emily Akin on September 4, 2013
Writers, show professionalism by knowing your grammar and style—and by proofreading your work. Recently, I’ve noticed obvious grammar and style errors in both print and online publications. Either they aren’t using editors or their editors are overworked.
Make sure your work is free of these marks of the amateur.
Plural for words ending with “st.” Is it guest or guests? It depends on whether you have one guest or more than one. Correct plural example: “We will have about 40 guests at the party.” I’ve seen published writing with “guest” where it should be “guests.” Remember, you must add the “s” on nouns like list, request, or mast. The rule for plurals is to add an “s” unless the word ends in “s.” See this summary.
Exclamation points. Use them sparingly!!!! Many beginning writers think they are adding emphasis by using exclamation points. However, overuse of emphasis defeats the purpose. Rachelle Gardner has a great blog post on the subject here.
All caps—avoid them altogether. The proper format for emphasis is italics or underline. All caps in a work submitted for publication will mark you as an amateur for certain. It is the typographical equivalent of shouting.
Spacing after periods. If you learned to type on a typewriter, you learned to space twice after periods or other ending punctuation marks. The computer age has changed that. Re-train yourself to space only once at the end of a sentence. When I point this out to the writers I mentor, they just don’t believe me. That’s because they have no experience in publishing. See the Grammar Girl’s article on this subject.
Its vs. it’s. The only time you’ll use an apostrophe with the word “it” is when you are using it as a contraction for “it is.” The word “it” may be the only word in the language that does not have an apostrophe in its possessive form. This error is so prevalent that it’s distressing to grammarphobes like me. For one thing, the spellchecker will not catch this error. I’ve seen it on television captions, campaign literature, and advertising signs. I even caught it on a publishing industry executive’s blog. Review the basic principles here.
Rid your writing of these marks of the amateur. It may take some effort, but it will be worth it in the long run.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Amish Newspapers Thrive - WSJ
Interesting article about the success of Amish newspapers. Here's an excerpt -- read the entire article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323608504579025273046278380.html?mod=itp
The two Amish newspapers, which their publishers say are profitable, have advantages other newspapers don't—notably a growing and captive readership, says Steve Nolt, a Mennonite history professor at Goshen College in Goshen, Ind. While the use of modern conveniences varies among Amish and Mennonite groups, the most conservative Amish group, whose members limit access to technology, stands at 280,000 in the U.S. and doubles about every 20 years, he says. Families are large—averaging seven children—although one woman who recently died had 19 children and 1,140 living direct descendants, her son-in-law reported in the Budget.
The two Amish newspapers, which their publishers say are profitable, have advantages other newspapers don't—notably a growing and captive readership, says Steve Nolt, a Mennonite history professor at Goshen College in Goshen, Ind. While the use of modern conveniences varies among Amish and Mennonite groups, the most conservative Amish group, whose members limit access to technology, stands at 280,000 in the U.S. and doubles about every 20 years, he says. Families are large—averaging seven children—although one woman who recently died had 19 children and 1,140 living direct descendants, her son-in-law reported in the Budget.
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