No, this isn’t Suzanne. But she’s probably pulling her hair right now, if she’s copy editing a cookbook.
A guest post by Suzanne Fass
Cookbook writers may hate me at first if they think that—once they’ve turned in their manuscript to a publisher—they’re done. I make them do more work. I want every cookbook to be the best it can be, the most useful for anyone cooking—and learning—from it.
As a copy editor, I try to save writers from embarrassment. I correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I fact-check. I query missing ingredients, missing steps, cross-references to recipes, and anything else that looks weird to me.
So if you’d like to see fewer copy editor corrections and queries in your manuscript, consider these ten points:
1. No voice. Recipes don’t just tell what to combine and how long to cook it—they convey your personality. Part of the creation is your own description of how it should look, sound, feel, taste, and smell. People say they read cookbooks as if they were novels, even though a cookbook is basically a technical manual. They deserve something worth reading, not a string of overused standardized terms.
If you’re the writer for a chef or celebrity’s book, spend enough time with your client to internalize how they express themselves, and project that voice throughout the writing.
I can’t supply a voice if it’s missing, but I try to make sure the voice that is there comes through vibrantly. Here’s an example of a distinctive voice.
2. Passive voice. Ingredients aren’t magically transformed by an unknown force. We work with them and they work for us. So I prefer when a recipe is active: “Beat the eggs until …,” not “The eggs should be beaten until …” Note, too, that the active voice is usually more concise—and in cookbooks and magazines, real estate is precious.
3. Improper use of culinary terms. A Food TV host might say “sauté the mushrooms in broth,” but that doesn’t make it correct, or even possible. Develop your own voice and vocabulary, but be accurate and clear.
4. Inconsistent terms for measures or techniques. When I see multiple terms for the same thing, I assume the version you use the most is the one you like best, and plug it into every occurrence. For example, if you call for both “potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes” five times and “1/2-inch-diced peeled potatoes” twice, the cubes win. In the event of a tie, I’ll use the wording that’s most consistent with your voice.
I do this so readers will recognize the same ingredients, equipment, and actions throughout the book and feel comfortable. But it makes me uncomfortable to pick your words for you, so use your vocabulary consistently, please.
5. Illogical or ambiguous prep terms. The recipe says “1 cup squash, sliced.” The reader wonders, “Should I stuff a few zucchini into a measuring cup, then pull them out and slice them? And is it okay if they stick out the top of the cup when I first jam them in?” It’s clearer to say “1 cup sliced squash.”
And remember: “1/2 cup parsley, chopped” is not the same as “1/2 cup chopped parsley;” the way you measure the parsley is different, and that difference can change the dish. Be clear which you mean.
6. Unrealistic prep times. The time it takes your readers to prep something could be very different from the time it takes you, and light-years from the chef you’re working with. This is especially true if the reader is multitasking, not focusing the way you did when you developed the recipe. If you include times, a realistic range is helpful. You don’t want your readers to feel inadequate or frustrated, do you? (Betty Teller had a great post on this blog about it.)
7. Unrealistic cook times. All happy families may be alike, but all stoves and ovens are different. Ingredients, too. Jacques Pépin explains it well in this video. A range of times is the best way to account for those differences. Giving visual or other sensory cues for doneness as well as times lets the reader know what matters most.
8. Misplaced oven preheating or water boiling. Did someone really say to preheat the oven before mixing a dough that needs 3 hours to rise? To boil the pasta water before starting an all-day ragù? Oops. Please put actions like these closer to when they’re actually needed.
9. Esoteric ingredients with no substitutes. What’s everyday to you might be esoteric to a reader in another region. Who has heard of Johnnie Fair syrup, for example? Or mâche. Sure, there are times when only one item will do. That’s why God invented the Internet.
But if another syrup or green is acceptable and more universally available, or if frozen will work as well as fresh, or if the dish will be taste fine with a different protein or flavoring, let the reader know—including how much, if the measures differ. The same goes for equipment: call for a fine-mesh strainer, not a tamis.
10. Unavailable package sizes, or no size given. Do you really want to send readers on a wild-goose chase looking for a specific package size no one can find? A size range (two 15- to 16-ounce cans black beans) is better. A stew made with a 29-ounce can of tomato sauce instead of the 8-ounce can you tested with—but didn’t specify —might turn out okay, but it won’t be the well-balanced entrée you intended.
A final note: if your publisher gives you a particular style guide, or gives you their own guide, please follow it. It’s not meant to stifle your creativity, but to help you become part of the family.
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Suzanne Fass has been a freelance copy editor, proofreader, and indexer since 2003. Before that, she was a restaurant cook, a field researcher in industrial-organizational psychology, a concert hall box office manager, and a COBOL programmer, and held other seemingly unconnected jobs that nonetheless added up to useful experience. She is active on Facebook in the Cookbook Friends group. Email Suzanne at suzannefass AT pipeline DOT com.
(Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)
Thoughts about copy editors who on their own decide to change the measurements in your carefully crafted recipes seemingly willy-nilly? This happened to me recently.
Yeah, this just happened to me on my latest cookbook. But I take full responsibility. I didn’t catch it. Let’s see what Suzanne says.
What would make them change the measurements?
No idea, but it was very embarrassing. I wrote a post about it but haven’t published it yet.
I assume you don’t mean changing “4 tablespoons” to 1/4 cup, or “3 teaspoons ” to 1 tablespoon, or “1/3 tablespoon” to 1 teaspoon (yes, I had to make that last fix once; don’t ask!). Nor do you mean combining “divided use” measures into a total, with each use listed with its own part of the total in the method, right? Those can be legitimate changes.
Rather, you mean substituting entirely different measures. How do I feel about that? I know it’s harsh, but I think the copy editor–and anyone else at the publisher who lets that happen–should be drummed out of cookbooks forever. Because it indicates that they don’t know how to cook and that the copy editor doesn’t know how to copyedit. If a measure looks wrong to me (1/2 cup cayenne for four servings?!?!?), it’s my job to query, tactfully (“Please confirm quantity”) but NOT to just change it on my own.
Dianne’s comment about “catching it” is a reminder that you as author are part of the production team. We need your eye to catch mistakes WE might introduce, or those we missed. The more eyes reading everything carefully, the cleaner and better the book will be.
Speaking of which, a confession: Dianne asked me to look this piece over before she posted it. I did, and found a couple of things that needed to be changed. But not all of them–there is still an error that crept in at some point of the many rounds of editing (yes, editors need editors!). If you spot it, I apologize and take the blame for it.
Suzanne- No, these were not “4 tablespoons to 1/4 cup” type of changes. These were 363g to 507g type changes. It stunned ALL of us on the team as there was no rhyme or reason that we could figure out. A change here, a change there that made NO sense at all but would have thrown the recipes off if not caught. When I saw first one and then another, I thought perhaps it was me so I went back to previous edits and saw I had submitted them with the correct measurements. Then I found more and more changes. I called my agent in tears (and my editor, too) who told me that she knew of this happening to four other cookbook authors recently. I have no idea if it was the same (freelance) copyeditor or if they will ever be working for the publisher again. The upshot is that to correct the copyeditor’s “creativity” it required me to go through each and every recipe (which I had done numerous times already) again.
Arggghhhh! What a terrible experience. My sympathies, Kate.
Kate–my most sincere sympathy. That copy editor deserves a red-pencil-ectomy at the very least, or to have his/her hands cut off at the wrist.
I had the same problem with my last cookbook. The copy editor had the wrong equivalences for 2 ingredients which I noticed and changed at the final stage. For another one I am finishing now I said I don’t want my measurements to be changed. This has been a frightening experience.
Hah! I love it when people email me to tell me they found a typo. I just can’t catch everything and I don’t mind it at all.
Suzanne, regarding that error, I don’t know how it happened. I wrote a post about it and I haven’t had the nerve to publish it yet!
Hurrah!
Well done Suzanne!
From personal experience, I can san: Listen to Suzanne! She edited my last cookbook, and made it much better.
“say”. I can “say”. (See, I told you I needed Suzanne…)
I haven’t worked with Suzanne, but all copy editors make a book better, if they’re doing it right. Some are better than others. I just worked with someone who added her own voice and I had to take it out.
Yes It also happened to me and took it out also
Thank you, Suzanne. (And Dianne, for another edifying interview.) I have a suggestion that helps keep me in the copy editor’s good graces. If the publisher doesn’t present you with a style sheet, make your own. Decide for yourself if you prefer “Two 28-ounce cans tomato sauce” to “2 (28-ounce) cans of tomato sauce,” among other things (serial comma, numbered or unnumbered steps, “Makes 4 servings” vs. “Serves 4,” and so on), and present it with your manuscript. That way your CE won’t have to guess your preferences.
I agree with Rick. Even if the publisher does provide a style sheet, I always create a customized one with additions and exceptions. Not only does it make the copy editor’s life easier, it also helps to ensure your book is edited according to your own stylistic preferences. In most cases, the publisher won’t mind if you vary from their house style, so long as you explain your preferences and execute them consistently. And I agree, Suzanne is very good at her job!
Both Rick and Jennie raise an excellent point: if you decide on your own style before (or while) you’re writing the book (and I think you should!), make yourself style guide and stick to it. Life will be easier all around. You can be consistent in your writing (the technical manual part), and your copy editor and proofer(s) will know exactly how you wanted to express yourself and make sure that’s followed. And as Jennie says, even if your preferred style differs from house style, you can always talk with your editor (content editor) and work things out.
I remember receiving an author-created style guide only once–for the Americanization of a British book–but if I were to receive one, I’d enforce it even if I disagreed with it (unless it was flat-out wrong, like 8 fluid ounces = 220 ml ). Because it’s the AUTHOR’S book.
Maybe you should write a guest post for me on how to create your own style sheet, Jennie. That could be very useful!
Dianne, here’s a link to a blog post by Martha Carlson-Bradley that discusses the creation of style sheets: https://editorqueries.com/2015/01/22/editing-with-style-sheets/. Scroll down the page to see further links and helpful resources. The link to Amy Schneider seems to be broken, but you can find the first of her four-part series here: https://americaneditor.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/thinking-fiction-the-style-sheets-part-i-general-style/. Beth Hill’s post is a nice summary. And I used Einsohn and CMOS to set up my own style-sheet template. It’s an easy thing to do and will make your edited life so much better!
Fantastic, Ranee. Thanks for providing these links.
Yes good point, Rick. I made one of those for my last book and it helped me a lot. The only problem was when I wanted to change something in the ingredients list. Then if I was lucky I could do a global search and replace.
Good advice! Thank you!
Well done, Suzanne!
Thanks, Lori!
Suzanne is an amazing editor. She has been my editor for ten years now and I have learned so much from her. She makes my work shine. Amazing.
All I do is polish the diamond. For you and people like Mike Vrobel and others who have something great to say and really know your subject. It’s hard to create recipes and write them clearly AND write interesting prose to accompany them. I am happy to be able to help. It’s a pleasure to work with writers like you guys.
Well, in my career, I’ve put lipstick on some pigs, too (don’t ask, don’t tell!)–but even pigs deserve to feel pretty.
Nice endorsement, Monica!
Yup, time to get consistent with those ingredient details and mind the grammar. Maybe I can even follow my new year’s resolution: no exclamation points….ever. Thanks, Suzanne & Dianne!
Now, now –exclamation points can have their place. Never say never!
You are funny Susie. Good luck with those exclamation points. And notice that there’s one at the end of your comment, despite it all.
I think Susie was quite aware of her !. Give her some credit.
Thank you Dianne and Suzanne for the great reminders. So far I have just edited recipes from chefs I interviewed for magazine pieces. Often English is not their native language and that can lead to interesting challenges. By the way, I loved your example of recipes written with a voice from Patricia Marx. Brilliant. I laughed out loud.
Amen to all THAT! #5 makes me especially crazy–a magazine I worked with kept changing my recipes to the totally illogical version (“1 cup squash, diced”) and I explained every time why it made no sense. They finally changed their style, but I still have a few clients I wouldn’t mind sharing this list with!
Oh that one makes me crazy. I once had a half hour argument with a client who insisted that 1 cup cheese made sense as a measurement. My sympathies.
Great post! Learnt plenty tonight
Very interesting. I am actually finishing writing my fifteen cookbooks and it is always a good thing to compare the advice of another copy editor. A thing that restrains my creativity is that I am asked to restrain my text if the recipe takes too much space in a page, but I do understand the point of view of the editor.
The idea is to fit your recipe on one page, so as not to waste space or to make the cookbook too big. I’ve had to cut to fit many times. It’s just a reality of publishing.
I am so incredibly grateful to have as many eyes on my manuscript as possible – anything to make it a better book. Of course that said, if an editor did what the person did to Kate’s MS to ours, I’m afraid murder may have ensued, LOL> Brava Suzanne!!
Thanks, Jane..
Great post and comments — Makes it easier to explain to non cook and cookbook friends what I actually do! Thanks Suzanne and Dianne!
LoAnn–you’re another CE? Cool! Let’s chat sometime, okay? If nothing else, we can compare war stories and have some laughs.
As a cookbook writer and a copy editor, I found this post incredibly useful. Thank you!
That’s what we were hoping for. And if you’re also a CE, I’d love to chat with you as well. I rarely get to meet any fellow sufferers 😉 and it’s helpful to have others to brainstorm with on questions.
Suzanne, I’m now in the Cookbook Friends FB group. Connect with me there! I, too, would love to chat more with a fellow CE.
Found myself nodding in agreement with this post — these are valuable points for writers and editors to remember.
A newspaper journalist who went to culinary school, I’ve been a professional recipe tester and technical editor for the last year and half. Sometimes I miss the camaraderie of the newsroom, so it’s nice to learn from others who edit (and write) cookbooks.
Hi, Carolyn–thanks for the kind words.
If you are on Linked In, there’s a copyeditors group, STET, that you might consider joining. It seems like most of the other members are generalists or specialize in other subjects, but it would be great to have more cookbook folks there. A few have popped up in response to a link to this post. So we might end up with a critical mass for discussions of our own. And then, of course, there’s the Cookbook Friends group on Facebook. I find it a good virtual water cooler.
See you around, I hope!
Hi Dianne, as an avid cookbook collector you have nailed my pet peeves I come across in poorly written books. I was thinking too as I read your post about how boring and technical cookbooks were 40 years ago and how glad I am that the author’s voice comes through now and makes it an enjoyable read. Sometimes the story alone that goes along with a recipe will entice me to try one I may not have otherwise.
Isn’t a light-year a measure of distance, not time?
Good catch! It is, per Web 11: http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/collegiate/light-year. But the second definition lists the colloquial use as “an extremely large measure of comparison (as of distance, time, or quality)”–so even I would have to allow it. 😉