Punctuation question.

[geronimo_appleby]

Probably should have taken your nap rather than jumping in on this one to begin with. Or perhaps you already were dozing.

fuck off - i'm busy

 

[JackandJilldo]

It may be your baby, but you need to be open to the fact that you, well, may be wrong. I am not professional, but have edited and been edited. Sometimes, the editor's suggestion is better.

I've encountered this defensive attitude about editors before. If you think your stuff is so good as to not need editing, or if you're going to reject the suggestions, why send it to an editor?

I didn't.

I was required to by the publisher. Once the editor saw the direction I was coming from, he recanted on the only two points of contention.

I did concede on the cover though. I do know my limitations. Their design was better than mine and I accepted that.

 

[PennLady]

I didn't.

I was required to by the publisher. Once the editor saw the direction I was coming from, he recanted on the only two points of contention.

I did concede on the cover though. I do know my limitations. Their design was better than mine and I accepted that.

Well, that's fine, and congrats.

Still, editors are not always wrong, and writers are not always right.

 

[JackandJilldo]

Well, that's fine, and congrats.

Still, editors are not always wrong, and writers are not always right.

This is true, and exactly why the new isn't always correct.

Once again, this is why new directions aren't always the proper lane in the bowling alley.

 

[sr71plt]

fuck off - i'm busy

Apparently you weren't busy enough.

 

[myrionomos]

Thanks for all the responses. We have been away in a place where all the PC's have very strange keyboards, so have contributed little. But we understand better, that doing right, or doing what one thinks is right, or what one would like to be right, doesn't cut it if Mr Publisher says, "No."

 

[palisa]

Thanks for all the responses. We have been away in a place where all the PC's have very strange keyboards, so have contributed little. But we understand better, that doing right, or doing what one thinks is right, or what one would like to be right, doesn't cut it if Mr Publisher says, "No."

Your original sentence was fine and the quotes were used correctly, but the first word in the internal quote should be capped.

For the rest, let the editor worry about it except in the rare case where conforming to the style sheet of a publication or publishing house changes the meaning of what you're trying to say.

James Thurber and Harold Ross had some epic battles over commas back in the day on the New Yorker.

 

[estragon]

I myself use italics for internal thoughts, and single quotation marks for the rest. However, if one is "laikin' fer brass", as they used to say in Yorkshire, the publisher's favored style manual rules, and all authors must get in line.

To paraphrase my man George B. Shaw, the publisher is a plain-sailing tradesman, who takes, mostly with misgivings, whatever the author sends, but avoids anything that might upset the customer.