5 Quotes by Carol Fisher Saller

There should be no crying in copyediting.

In editing, as in life, I have found “We can discuss this” to be a reliably effective suggestion. Sometimes the other party thinks, “Oh, well, since I have a choice, I’ll let it go,” and sometimes, “Omigod-she wants to discuss this endlessly. I’d rather just let it go.

Quilters are so confident of a perfect product that they have a tradition of introducing a flaw into a quilt on purpose, in order not to offend the gods.

Everyone should have a guy – who of course can be a gal. A guy is someone who knows everything, has endless patience, and is always available and responsive. To maintain good relations with your guy, you must be very careful to bother him only occasionally and only when all else fails. Although I have a fabulous guy, there’s a sort of food chain of competence here; I believe that several people actually consider me to be their guy.

Knowing how to tinker with a broken piece of prose until it hums is a source of contentment known by all who have mastered a worthy craft.