Can you spot the error?

Try these three editing tricks! April 30, 2024 [The Writer’ s Life]( "Humor has bailed me out of more tight situations than I can think of. If you go with your instincts and keep your humor, creativity follows. With luck, success comes, too." — Jimmy Buffett Hi {NAME}, Last September, among all the wonderful tributes and pictures flooding the internet in celebration of the life of Jimmy Buffett, an unfortunate image made the rounds. Can you quickly spot why I said unfortunate? Jimmy was well loved throughout his lengthy career — but it spanned five decades, not 50. (Although 500 years of Jimmy would've been awesome!) In just a minute, I'll give you three simple tricks to make sure you catch those kinds of errors … Honestly, one of them is a little weird, but it works! It looks bad if your client uses your copy and it has grammatical errors … typos … or something worse, like misquotes or untruths … The latter could actually damage their business. I once wrote a promotion where I literally contradicted myself later in the very same letter. Luckily, the copyeditor caught it! Those reasons are why, here at AWAI, [we pay copyeditors]( to edit every single piece of copy we publish. And we publish a LOT of copy … Articles, blogs, ads, webpages, news items, sales promotions, guides, products, scripts … All of it goes through designated copyeditors we value and pay well. And that's on top of what we pay the writers! Copyeditors catch all kinds of mistakes. But they do more than that … When they read a piece of copy, they're looking for ways to clarify and strengthen it. They catch the misspelling of names … misattribution of quotes … outdated references … incorrect calculations … incongruent information … And sometimes even bigger, more embarrassing mistakes that could become legal issues. They even make suggestions for reorganizing the copy so it reads better (which can boost the effectiveness of the copy, adding even more value to their already valuable role!). Copyediting is about taking good copy and pushing it the last few steps across the finish line to make it clear, concise, and as effective as possible … To millions of businesses like ours, copyeditors are like GOLD. If you're the kind of person who loves editing other people's writing … If you catch little mistakes and silently correct other people's grammar in your head all the time … [Copyediting could be your perfect "in" to the paid writing world.]( To your success, Rebecca Matter President AWAI Inside this issue: - [3 Editing Tricks to Catch Errors]( - [Use These 7 Editing Tips to Make Any Copy Stronger]( - [Corporate Refugee Finds Six Figures as Copywriter]( 3 Editing Tricks to Catch Errors By Rebecca Matter Here are little tricks you can use to catch errors in any piece of copy … The first one: Read it out loud. If you're not already doing this, you should! It will help you not only catch errors but write more conversationally, too. A variation on this is to have your computer read the text back to you, so you'll hear if there are any missing words, mix-ups, or even hard-to-understand passages. The second one is a little strange, but it works … [Continue reading here.]( LAST CHANCE GET IT ALL FOR $7 Get all the writing templates … All the "Ask the Expert" interviews … All the Member Spotlights … All 275+ "how-to" articles … Three bestselling programs from AWAI's catalog worth $773 … The LinkedIn group, VIP Job Board access, the tutorials, the tools, the special reports, the swipe file … Your personalized membership card and certificate … ALL … OF … IT … For just seven dollars when you join by midnight tonight! [Get Your Special Invitation Here]( How to Monetize Your Writing Skills (Without Writing a Word) By Kathryn Aragon As writers, we're constantly looking for new and exciting writing projects. But there's another way to monetize your writing skills that's both fun and rewarding — and that is to become a copyeditor. And if you want to take your writing to the next level, copyediting will actually help you become a better writer. Let's take a look at the copyeditor's job and how you can add this valuable skill to your writer's tool belt. [Continue reading here.]( Corporate Refugee Finds Six Figures as Copywriter For some, it's a bad boss that pushes them to look for a new opportunity. Or a long commute. Or unfulfilling work. For Mindy McHorse, it was all three — not to mention the two Cavalier King Charles spaniel puppies that really required a stay-at-home parent. That was 2007. Mindy held a cushy job at a university health sciences center in Albuquerque. She was ready for a change, but didn't know where to go next. "I had an excellent salary, with benefits, in a management position, but really I just made a bunch of fancy spreadsheets. It wasn't something I was passionate about," she said. [Read the rest of her story here.]( FREE TRAINING: If you're not where you want to be with your writing career … then please join us for a free training on Friday, May 3, at 2 p.m. ET. We can quickly help you identify what's getting in the way … And more importantly, help you make a progress plan to overcome it and move forward every month, so you reach your writing and financial goals. [Details Here]( Featured Writing Jobs You can find these jobs and thousands more on [WritersWanted.com](: Writer/Editor, Senior – Blue Water Thinking Full-time, Washington D.C Meet with the client and/or account manager to discuss the client's business objectives, market position, target audiences, and products and services. --------------------------------------------------------------- Beauty Editor and Copywriter – ClickJobs.io Full-time, Montreal, QC Your role will involve strategic storytelling, where you'll conceptualize and write captivating stories that strategically align with our editorial goals and KPIs. --------------------------------------------------------------- Copywriter (Editor) – Palta Full-time, Remote Develop short texts for CRM needs, including CTAs, pop-ups, emails, etc. that effectively communicate with users, resonate with their needs, and encourage interaction with the app. Trouble viewing this email? [View in your browser, here](. For questions or requests: [contact us online](. --------------------------------------------------------------- ©2024 American Writers & Artists Institute Do you know of someone who would benefit from reading The Writer's Life? Simply direct them [here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- American Writers & Artists Institute 220 George Bush Blvd, Suite D Delray Beach, FL 33444 Ensure your subscription delivery. AWAI Whitelisting info available [here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed to this newsletter as {EMAIL}. To unsubscribe from any future issues of The Writer's Life, please click here: [Unsubscribe from The Writer's Life](. To unsubscribe from all AWAI broadcasts click here. [I want to permanently unsubscribe from all AWAI emails](.