–Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children, “Bookselling in an Uncertain World” in Toolbox, ABC’s e-newsletter for frontline children’s booksellers (via Bookselling this Week).

Not needing an object to complete the thought, to lie or to recline is commonly used as an intransitive verb. An intransitive verb is a verb that requires a subject, but not an object.

For example:

1. Yesterday, I lay down on my bed to take a nap.

2. Thomas lies on his bed deep in thought.

To lay or to put or place is typically used as a transitive verb. A transitive verb is a verb that requires both a subject and an object. Therefore, a subject, verb, and object are needed to have a complete thought and a complete sentence.

For example:

1. Tracy lays a book on the table. (Tracy lays what on the table? The answer to this question is the object that the transitive verb requires.)

2. Nick laid his pencil on the desk after the quiz. (Nick laid what on the desk? The answer to this question is the object that the transitive verb requires.)

Try It!

Select the correct word for each sentence

1. Yesterday, Sandra gently (lie, lay, laid) the quilt on the bed.

2. Cassidy had (lain, lay, laid) the baby in its crib three times already.

3. Trent was so tired he went and (lay, laid, lie) down on the grass.

4. I’m going to go (lay, lain, lie) down.

5. Bessie (lie, lays, lain) the pencil on the countertop.

6. I have (lay, lain, laid) down for a nap every day this week.

–David Del Vecchio, Idlewild Books, New York, N.Y., in an interview with Bookslut.

Editorial Inspirations Booth

I would like to thank the Hanover Writers Club for sponsoring the Hanover Book Festival this past Saturday. And I would like to thank the Hanover Book Festival for inviting me to speak about working with an editor.

The workshop was filled with writers who knew little about what editors do, and we went into all of the many jobs an editor will perform to a manuscript. The group was very inquisitive and interactive, and they made the workshop a lot of fun. We could have kept going had our time not run out.

In the upcoming weeks, I will be posting synopses about the workshops that took place at the Hanover Book Festival, so if you were unable to attend all of the workshops, please look for these synopses to come. Also, feel free to contact the appropriate speaker for more information about the workshop.

Again, thank you Hanover Book Festival and Joanne Liggan for having me. I met a lot of great people and writers.

“I am keen to preserve what is good in life, and that is often at odds with what is most profitable in life. Leaving aside the price arguments about supermarkets, bookshops have, or should have, a special place in our culture. We need books, and books are best browsed in the energetic peace of a small store where the owner loves reading, just like we do. . . . Books are for everyone. Culture is for everyone. There is no need to apologise. No need to explain. The small bookshop where you are always welcome is an essential part of life.”

–Jeanette Winterson in the London Times.

The Reluctant Donor - Proofread

The only sibling with healthy kidneys, Suzanne is ambivalent about donating a kidney to a sister she’s not even sure she likes. The Reluctant Donor exposes Suzanne’s doubts, raw fear, and strong Irish Catholic family history. Her terror at the prospect of surgery is offset by her wonder at the small miracles that surround her. Inspired by her faith and the courage of those who came before her, Suzanne navigates uncertainty with humor and honesty.

My driver’s license says I am an organ donor. It sounds good in theory, and it makes me feel like a good person. However, if I were put in the situation of being the only person who could save someone’s life, I imagine I would go through the same emotions that the character went through.

This book was filled with emotion, but it also contains some humor. I remember a scene where Suzanne and her husband are shopping for a bike at the husband’s insistence. Suzanne is distraught about the decision of donating a kidney. The husband responds, You don’t have to decide about giving a kidney today, just about a bike, so get on the bike. It was so funny that I shared it with my husband. Weeks later, my husband would periodically remark, “Just get on the bike.”

Suzanne is so worried about making the kidney decision. She does not even want a new bike. And the husband just wants a silly bike for his wife. The way he helps her cope through the book, and the salesman’s reaction, are great humor pieces that keep the serious nature of this book from becoming too heavy.

I very much enjoyed proofreading this manuscript!

Some examples on when to include parenthesis are explaining, translating, commenting, supplementing, listing, marking telephone area codes (though more people are moving away from using parenthesis in telephone numbers because the area codes are now necessary), making internal references, discussing sections of law or policy, and citing literary works. Always include two parenthesis (one at the beginning, and one at the end) when using them.

No punctuation marks should be used before or after the parenthesis when they are not required in the sentence. When a parenthesis is placed at a point in a sentence requiring a comma and the parenthetical matter relates to the whole sentence, a comma is placed before each parenthesis. In situations relating to a single word or short clause, no stop should come before the parenthesis but only after the closing parenthesis.

Punctuation should go inside the parenthesis only if that text is a complete sentence. But even if the text inside the parenthesis is a complete sentence, if the parenthetical information is in the middle of a sentence, then it should still have no punctuation.

Correct:

Example (1): Benny and May (whom I’ve just met) have a beautiful family.

Example (2): The man thought long and hard about what color to paint his wall, (many ideas came to mind), but then he thought the color red matched everything else in the house the best.

Example (3): The woman walks around the store looking for the cabbage (but she doesn’t realize it is right in front of her), until a man points it out to her.

Incorrect:

Example (1): The boy (whom I have known for many years is now a full-grown man.)

Example (2): Benjamin and May (whom I’ve just met have a beautiful family.)

Example (3): The tiger stared at his prey with a glazed look in his eyes, (then his stomach growled in desperate hunger until he finally devoured it in one gulp.)

Try It!

Directions: Insert parenthesis in each of the problems below where appropriate.

1. Things to do: 1 Go buy bread from the grocery store. 2 Meet Jimmy at the track meet. 3 Make sure to give Timmy lunch money.

2. She ran and ran with the thought of missing the bus in the back of her mind until she was exhausted.

3. He leaped over the log without even noticing the cut on his leg and landed with ease.

Authors interested in taking advantage of this special should register before the Festival, but there will be a limited number of spots for people to register at the Festival.

In addition, I will be speaking at the Hanover Book Festival on Working with an Editor: The Editorial Process. I will help authors understand the difference between various levels of edits and services freelance editors provide. Though the stereotypical relationship between the author and the editor is adversarial, I hope to dispel this myth. There are a limited number of seats for this class, so attendees should sign up as soon as possible.

In addition, there will be other presentations for book lovers to attend, such as query letters, promotions, research, and writing stories from story fragments. Also, authors will be there to sell and sign books, and there will be raffles and other fun giveaways.

Human Brain Evolution - Indexed

The evolution of the human brain and cognitive ability is one of the central themes of anthropology. Human Brain Evolution discusses the emergence of human cognition at a conceptual level, describing it as a process of long adaptive stasis interrupted by short periods of cognitive advance. These advances were not linear and directed, but were acquired indirectly as part of changing human behaviors.

Indexing this book was definitely a challenge. However, this lack of knowledge on the subject matter is often an asset when indexing books because it helps me to write an index for the reader who has not yet read the book or who does not know all of the terminology of the field or of the book.

“Anyone who has entered the online dating world and worked as a freelance writer may have noticed some spooky similarities between the two: the suspiciously vague ads, the long response waits, the frequent miscommunication, the soul-crushing self-doubt and—when you’re lucky—the giddy feeling of being in a mutually respectful relationship that results in plenty of good love (or good clips).

“In a frightening number of ways, an editorial relationship can feel like a romantic relationship. And many of the rules for being lucky in love will also keep you well-published and in the good graces of your editors.”

Finding an editor who is a good fit can definitely be a tricky task. Personalities have to mesh, and both people must love their shared baby for the next few months. In addition, the editor must be like a chameleon and blend her writing with the author’s so the editor can rewrite sentences, but so that those sentences don’t stand out as being written by someone else.

What are some ways you go about finding an editor who is a good fit for you?