Mary Norris, The New Yorker, and a quiz.

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Mary Norris, The New Yorker, and a quiz.

3/21/2015

4 Comments

I have always been in awe of The New Yorker. I have never come across an error in their print or online edition and wondered how they do it. Finally! A peek inside in this entertaining article by Mary Norris, "Holy Writ." I look forward to her book, “Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen,” which will come out this spring.

Here's a link to the article:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/holy-writ

And here is a pop-quiz for my fellow MobEditors:

In the above, we have a magazine title, magazine article and book title. What would you use and where - italics, quotation marks, underline, other?

*Note: I've left the formatting out as an exercise for the reader.

- Rita Porter

4 Comments

Ann Johannsen

4/2/2015 11:38:23 am

Magazine title in quotes.
Magazine article in quotes.
Book title in italics.

This is how I learned it when I worked in publishing 100 years ago.

Rita Porter

4/6/2015 03:55:36 pm

Hmmm, I learned the same way for two out of three:

Magazine title in italics.
Magazine article in quotes.
Book title in italics.

Also around 100 years ago, when we used typewriters, we couldn't make italics, (like we can now on our computers). I remember learning "Underline loooong works, like books and magazine titles," but use quotes for shorter works, like magazine articles and short poems.
If you read the article in the link above, you will see that The New Yorker is in italics in that article.
By the way, I was so excited this morning – for the first time ever, I came across a typo while reading an article in the March 30th print edition of The New Yorker! So, I looked online, but it had already been corrected.

bilglas

1/11/2016 02:56:55 pm

I just found a typo in The New Yorker. So I Googled "typo in the new yorker" and this blog entry popped up at the top of the list. I thought you'd find that amusing, or refreshing, or something. (It also confirms that typos in The New Yorker are pretty damn rare.)

Rita

1/11/2016 05:38:43 pm

Wow, bilglas! Congratulations on the rare find - their editors and proofreaders are tops but it is good to know they are still human. :) It is very cool that this blog appeared in your Google search. Thanks for letting us know! Maybe it is a sign you are destined to join us at EditMob!

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