Design Sample Blues

Sometimes work is funny. In some rare instances, I’m glad I get paid by the hour for my DE work. Wednesday was one of those days. I spent more than an hour making comments on a design sample PDF that I would not have had to make if the designer had used the copy I provided. There were lots of "Weren’t we going to do XYZ?" questions from team members. To which, I replied, "Yes. In fact, we are doing XYZ. The real copy I sent says XYZ." It’s moments like these when my considerably diplomatic skillz come in handy. So that’s a weird thing, but the truth is, I freakin’ love working with designers to make content work, to make the text functional, navigable, and useful to the reader, especially with books that are supposed to educate or instruct! I like analyzing how the information is arranged on the page and figuring out whether someone will actually read the material presented there or not. Because if they won’t read it, then the design has failed. If the design has failed, the purpose of the material as a whole has failed. Boo! And then I don’t get hired back. This is the stuff I miss when I’m working as a copy editor instead of as a developmental editor. Just sayin’.

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  • About Sara

    Thanks for visiting! I’m Sara, editor and writer, wife to Ian, and mother of two precious boys. I am living each day to the fullest and with as much grace, creativity, and patience as I can muster. This is where I write about living, loving, and engaging fully in family life and the world around me. I let my hair down here. I learn new skills here. I strive to be a better human being here. And I tell the truth.

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    “Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.” —Ursula K. LeGuinn

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