Books: the best gift ever

Blog, On reading

Over the past few years, I’ve written three children’s books for Book Dash. All with the aim of putting good quality local books into children’s hands so that every child can own a hundred books by the age of five.

One of these books, The Best Thing Ever, was inspired by my son, who on a country walk in Ireland one year, collected a pocketful of rocks and used them to create a beautiful sculpture.

The story of Muzi, who also goes on a trip away from home and makes something special with the items he collects on the way, has captured the imaginations of young children in South Africa and abroad. It has been translated into 13 different languages and brought joy to kids in countries as far afield as India and Korea. All because the story has been generously gifted to children, either by Book Dash itself, other literacy organisations like Shine and Wordworks or online via the Book Dash app or Storyweaver. The book is completely open source and costs nothing to print, translate or distribute.

Recently I went to the Book Dash offices to stock up on more copies of this title and got more than I bargained for. I received a pile of letters and drawings from children who have received this book for free. What struck me was the children’s absolute appreciation for the gift of a book. Some of these kids had never owned a book before.

In a country like South Africa with such dire literacy stats, the Book Dash model is a necessary intervention.

So if you’re at a loss for what to get your loved one for Christmas, consider a donation to this wonderful organisation on their behalf. It will bring the gift of storybooks to little people who can’t afford to buy them and that, in my opinion, is the best thing ever!

Read The Best Thing Ever for free here.


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance content writer and editor

I help traditional and digital publishers deliver engaging and informative content that resonates with their readers. Internationally qualified writer and editor with 13 years’ publishing experience.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

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Scrabble has me stumped with this new word

Blog, On language

Sheeple people. It’s a word. At least US dictionary company Merriam-Webster says so. Don’t believe me? Check it out:

 

sheeple

(plural noun)

shee·ple | \ ˈshē-pəl  \

informal

sheeple: people who are docile, compliant, or easily influenced : people likened to sheep

 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary is the official dictionary for (US) Scrabble and just yesterday they released their latest US Scrabble dictionary. The new dictionary includes 300 new words, including ‘sheeple’ and wait for it… ‘twerk’.

Merriam-Webster’s first US Scrabble dictionary was published in 1976; before that, the rules allowed any dictionary to be used in the game.

But purists, don’t fret – these changes do not (yet) apply to the UK game. Collins’ Official Scrabble Words is currently being updated in time for release next year.


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance content writer and editor

I help traditional and digital publishers deliver engaging and informative content that resonates with their readers. Internationally qualified writer and editor with 13 years’ publishing experience.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

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If you liked this post and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.

Quick tip: How to use full stops with brackets

Blog, On punctuation

In an earlier post, I explained the rules for using full stops in abbreviations.

But when it comes to the rules of full stops, a really tricky one is where to place them when using parentheses (or brackets). Or let me rephrase that – it’s really tricky if you don’t know the rule. It’s easy when you know how. 

Put the full stop OUTSIDE the brackets when the words in brackets are part of a sentence.

Example: Brown the meat all over (roughly three minutes).

 

Put the full stop INSIDE the brackets when the sentence in brackets is complete.

Example: Brown the meat all over. (This should take roughly three minutes.)

Now you know. Easy, right?


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance content writer and editor

I help traditional and digital publishers deliver engaging and informative content that resonates with their readers. Internationally qualified writer and editor with 13 years’ publishing experience.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

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If you liked this post and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.

Arundhati Roy: hottest ticket in town

Blog, On reading

 

As I write this, I’m still smugly high-fiving myself for pouncing on an invitation I saw a few weeks back to attend an intimate evening with acclaimed Indian author Arundhati Roy (in conversation with Rebecca Davis, Haji Mohamed Dawjee and Kim Windvogel). Facebook is certainly good for some things.

When I arrived at the new lecture theatre at UCT last night I could sense the excitement of the audience. I even heard mutterings of equal smugness that these people had nabbed themselves tickets (free, nogal) to the hottest event on this year’s literary calendar.  

When Roy herself entered the theatre, the audience erupted into rapt applause; she hadn’t yet opened her mouth. And when she did,  we hung on her every word. It was like sitting at the feet of a guru – she commanded that much admiration and respect.

The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy’s debut novel came out in 1997. If you haven’t read it yet, do yourself a favour and get a copy. It’s a rich and poetic story set in 1960s Kerala about two small children and a shocking event which reveals the complicated and hypocritical actions of the adults in their world.  It’s the only book I’ve reread three times – it’s beautiful. It also paints a very unflattering and vivid picture of the political and caste system in India, an act for which she has often appeared in court – for “corrupting public morality”. “For further ‘corrupting public morality’”, Roy jokes.  The novel won her a Booker Prize.

Roy’s visit to South Africa is to promote her second foray into fiction: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, which I devoured with equal fervour. Her writing is sublime.

“How to tell a shattered story? By slowly becoming everybody. No. By slowly becoming everything.”

The story is an epic journey from the streets of  Old Delhi to its present-day metropolis, to the Valley of Kashmir and the forests of Central India. It is a tapestry of a diverse country played out by characters including a Muslim hijra, an upper-caste Hindu, an officer in the intelligence bureau, a Sikh, a Christian – almost everyone is represented.

“People—communities, castes, races and even countries—carry their tragic histories and their misfortunes around like trophies, or like stock, to be bought and sold on the open market.”

The treat of the night for me was hearing Roy read her own words. If her writing is like poetry, her reading was like music. And in a flash, it was over and throngs of people gathered at the signing table for another piece of this awe-inspiring woman.


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance content writer and editor

I help traditional and digital publishers deliver engaging and informative content that resonates with their readers. Internationally qualified writer and editor with 13 years’ publishing experience.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

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If you liked this post and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.

The full stop rules. Period.

Blog, On punctuation

Aah, the full stop – that simple punctuation mark used in just about every piece of text you read. Its main function, as you well know, is to mark the end of a sentence that isn’t a question or an exclamation. Like this:

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

Yet this humble punctuation mark can do so much more. It can be used for dramatic effect in informal writing.  Like this:

Worst. Day. Ever.

Or even before the @ sign in your tweets to make sure that everyone sees your mention. Like this: 

.@realDonaldTrump SMH

But seriously, in the English language, the full stop has its own set of rules and sometimes it’s just as important that you don’t use it.

For example, did you know that in British English, abbreviations like Dr and Mrs shouldn’t take a full stop? The rule is that if the abbreviation uses the first and last consonants of a word, no full stop is necessary.

So…

Rd (road)

St (saint)

Mr

And if an abbreviation consists of the first letters of each word, we use the first letter of each word without full stops.

So…

UK

USA

DJ

TV

But for abbreviations which consist of the first letter or first few letters of the word, we do use a full stop.

Prof.

p. (page)  

Likewise, abbreviations from another language take the full stop:

R.S.V.P (Répondez s’il vous plaît)

etc. (etcetera)

e.g. (exempli gratia)

i.e. (id est) 

There are those who say that the full stop is dying, that using a full stop, especially in text messaging is a sign of insincerity. I’m not so sure about that. I still use them. To me, it’s proper English; I’m an editor after all. Yes, yes, I know all about the evolution of language. I know that language is forever changing and perhaps one day there will be no punctuation at all. For now though, the full stop still has a place in my book.

Long live the full stop!

If you’re interested in the rules of punctuation, have a look at this post, in which I share everything I know about using the full stop in parentheses (or brackets).


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance non-fiction editor

I help non-fiction publishers deliver award-winning content. I am an internationally qualified non-fiction editor with 11 years’ publishing experience, specialising in education, lifestyle and literacy.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

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If you liked this post and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.

Why you should stop buying books

Blog, On reading

About a year ago, my six-year-old son jumped on my Kindle and it died, never to be resurrected.

I figured that with a bookshelf creaking under the weight of real books, I would survive the loss, but I couldn’t let it go and eventually bought myself the Kindle Paperwhite. My sanity was restored.

Being an editor, books are my business and though I love the smell and feel of a real book, I do love my Kindle. Please allow me to explain:

Not only is the Kindle really user-friendly (its designers have thought about everything from how to make it look just like printed words on a page to its nifty size), there are also these five amazing benefits of reading on Kindle.  

1. Everything is at the touch of a button

  • I can highlight passages and take notes without feeling guilty about defacing my books.
  • I can see ‘popular highlights’ to know which passages other people thought were important
  • I can bookmark my spot and ‘dog-ear’ pages I want to come back to. I need never worry about losing my bookmark or my place.
  • I can easily search the whole book for a word, phrase or even character name (this last one is particularly helpful when I can’t remember when a character was first introduced – think epic historical novel!).
  • And my absolute best: I can look up the definition of a word with a simple tap. No more reaching for that heavy dictionary.

    2. A library on the go

These days when I go on holiday, I never have to worry about adding any weight to my luggage; the Kindle’s handy size makes it perfect for tucking into my handbag on the way out the door. And best of all, I don’t even have to first pick my holiday read – I have a library at my fingertips. 

3. Free classics

And on that note, there are so many books to choose from. There are literally thousands of popular classics that are free to download. The Great Gatsby? Jane Eyre? Mine for free at the touch of a button.

4. Read your own documents

This is an important one for me. The Kindle allows me to read my own files on my device. This is so helpful to me as an editor when I’m reviewing a manuscript. Reading it on Kindle and experiencing the text the way a real reader would, helps me catch errors and get a real feel for the quality of the text.

5. Perfect for night owls

And at the end of the day, when I climb into bed with some pleasure reading, I can rest assured that the side-lit screen and e-ink interface won’t affect the quality of my sleep. Best of all, when my husband turns out the light and I want to finish a chapter, I can … and the next one and the one after that … 

I promise you this is not a plug for Amazon and I do still love the books on my shelf. But it’s time to embrace the future people – go on … buy one already!


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance non-fiction editor

I help non-fiction publishers deliver award-winning content. I am an internationally qualified non-fiction editor with 11 years’ publishing experience, specialising in education, lifestyle and literacy.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

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If you liked this post and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.

Long live the book festival

Blog, On reading

For the past thremonths or so I’ve been working behind the scenes on one of the new literary festivals on the block – the Jewish Literary Festival – which takes place this Sunday (17 June) at the Gardens Community Centre.  

When asked to volunteer my skills to make this event possible, I jumped at the chance. Why? Because I’m a shameless bibliophile and because the thought of attending (and more especially being involved in the creation of) an all-day event dedicated solely to the love of books is my idea of heaven. It’s the same impulse that guides me away from my errands at the mall and into the nearest bookshop, where I’ll lose myself for hours in the solitary and intimate pastime of flicking through the stories that capture my imagination and deeply inhaling the smell of fresh paper that puffs up from their pages.

So what is it that makes book festivals draw such crowds? And why does a team of unpaid volunteers sign up to put on such an event with no reward other than the pure joy of seeing others flock to author signings, new book launches and panels of writers gathering to discuss how their stories and ideas intersect?

My guess is that it’s the appeal of that rare opportunity of face-to-face interaction between readers and writers. For so many authors, solitude is their way of being in the world and for the hungry reader, this makes book festivals all the more thrilling. At these events, authors are willing to show up and speak about their craft and we as readers get to glimpse the magician who conjures up lives and stories from words. We want to be able to know how they do what they do and we want them to know that they’ve touched us with their stories.

“I loved your book,” we gush at the signing table; it hardly conveys the depth of our appreciation for their words. But I guess it’s the reason why they do what they do and why we merely flock to the places they gather.

Some of the authors you can look forward to interacting with at the festival on Sunday are Rahla Xenopoulos, Gail Schimmel, Stephanie Urdang, Lyndall Gordon, Joanne Jowell, Mark Winkler, Mandy Wiener, Damon Galgut and Rachel Zadok.

See you there!


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance non-fiction editor

I help non-fiction publishers deliver award-winning content. I am an internationally qualified non-fiction editor with 11 years’ publishing experience, specialising in education, lifestyle and literacy.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

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If you liked this post and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.

Three things I miss about working in an office

Blog, On freelancing

 

A while back I wrote about why working in an office is not my cup of tea. And it had it more to do with my shameless addiction to a good cuppa than anything else. For me, the pros of freelancing from home far outweigh the cons, but for the record, here are the top three things I miss about sharing a workspace.

1. Adult conversation on tap

Let’s be honest: working from home can be lonely. And the lack of water cooler moments I enjoyed in the office becomes painfully apparent when I step outside the house and try to engage supermarket cashiers in in-depth conversations. *Cringe*

I remember laughing a lot when I worked in an office. Someone always had a joke to share and there was always plenty of office banter. Now that it’s just me and I have to rely on the odd social media meme to tickle my funny bone, it’s not quite the same.

2. Closing the door on the workday

I used to love the feeling I got when I left the office building at  5pm. There was great satisfaction in knowing that I had accomplished all I could for the day and that the rest could wait till tomorrow. Not so now. The lines between work and home are so blurred these days that I feel like I’m always on the job. Work… home…it’s hard to draw the boundary.

3. The IT Department

Ah. The good old IT department. When the internet went down, or the printer needed ink, there was someone to call and it wasn’t my problem anymore. At home, it’s always my problem. Which means I can lose hours or even days having my laptop repaired or without an internet connection. I may be the boss, but as a freelancer, I’m also the IT guy, the courier, and the PA.

 

Having said all this though, I can think of many reasons why I love working from home and being my own boss, not least of all the freedom and flexibility that the freelance life affords, and the fact that I get to choose who I work with – my awesome clients.

 


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance content writer and editor

I help traditional and digital publishers deliver engaging and informative content that resonates with their readers. Internationally qualified writer and editor with 13 years’ publishing experience.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

Let’s Connect

If you’re a freelancer like me, and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.

 

The most stolen library books of all time?

Blog, On reading


As we celebrate South African Library Week (19–25 March), I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on some interesting facts about libraries around the world.

To start, you’re probably wondering what the answer is to my question. Here it is, along with other interesting facts about libraries here and abroad.

The most stolen library book in the world is the Bible, closely followed by The Guinness Book of World Records.

The South African Public Library in Cape Town, now known as the National Library of South Africa (Cape Town) was the first library in South Africa, established in 1818 by Lord Charles Somerset, Governor of the Cape Colony at the time.

The oldest library still in operation in the world is St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai, Egypt. It was built in the middle of the 6th century.

The largest library is the Library of Congress in Washington DC, with more than 160 million items on approximately 838 miles of bookshelves. The smallest is a bright yellow plastic structure outside 32 Prince Street, New York City. It houses 40 books and has space for just one reader at a time.

According to Guinness World Records, the highest library is the library on the 60th floor of the JW Marriott Hotel at Tomorrow Square in Shanghai, China. It’s situated on the 60th floor, which is over 757 feet above street level.

And finally, the largest overdue fine for a library book was $345.14 (around R4,000). The book in question was a poetry book called Days and Deeds checked out of Kewanee Public Library, Illinois, USA in April 1955 by Emily Canellos-Simms. The book was 47 years overdue.

The good news for you though, is that if you take your overdue book back to your local library during South African Library Week, you’ll pay nothing, whether it’s one day or 47 years overdue!

For more information about libraries in your locale or about SA Library Week, visit the Library and Information Association of South Africa.


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance non-fiction editor

I help non-fiction publishers deliver award-winning content. I am an internationally qualified non-fiction editor with 11 years’ publishing experience, specialising in education, lifestyle and literacy.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

 

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If you liked this post and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.

Word for today: Kanban

Blog, On language, On productivity

 

Those of you who’ve worked with me before will know that I’m a Trello evangelist: I must have my tasks visible at all times in order to see my workflow and I particularly love getting others in on the game. Trello is an app based on a productivity system called Kanban. Taking my process one step further, I recently read Kanban guru Jim Benson’s book, Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life. And so my word for today is, (drum roll please):

Kanban

/ˈkanban/

(n) A Japanese manufacturing system in which the supply of components is regulated through the use of an instruction card sent along the production line.

The word came into use in the 1950s  when Toyota began using an engineering process based on supermarket shelf-stocking techniques. The Toyota team had noticed that in supermarkets, grocery items were only restocked according to the shop’s inventory and not according to its vendors’ supply; only when an item was almost sold out, did shop clerks order more. This observation made Toyota engineers rethink their own processes and they pioneered a new system – Kanban – which aimed to match inventory with demand and achieve higher levels of quality.

Kanban, which literally means ‘billboard’ or  ‘sign’ in Japanese, allowed Toyota line-workers to visually manage their manufacturing process through the use of Kanban cards. This visual system allowed them to communicate better about the work that needed to be done and most importantly, it eliminated waste thus maximising value.

Essentially, Kanban is a visual system for managing work as it moves through a process. Its goal is to identify potential bottlenecks in work processes and to fix them so that work can flow through the system in a cost-effective and time-efficient way. Today, it’s become a major tool in software development processes, but I find it works just as well in the world of publishing.

Example sentence: Perhaps you’d like to use Kanban to help streamline your own workflow.


Written by Melissa Fagan, freelance non-fiction editor

I help non-fiction publishers deliver award-winning content. I am an internationally qualified non-fiction editor with 11 years’ publishing experience, specialising in education, lifestyle and literacy.

Email me: melissa.fagan@mfedit.com

 

Let’s Connect

If you liked this post (or even if you didn’t) and you’re passionate about publishing, let’s schedule a meeting to discuss the industry.