Episode 34: So Much More Than Commas
We have feelings about punctuation ✍🏼
Welcome to the Pub Dates newsletter! We’re so glad you’re here.
This newsletter is released as a companion to each podcast episode, and we use it to share the visual elements of our discussion — from mood boards to design sketches, from photos to secret giveaways just for subscribers.
In episode thirty-four we took you backstage to meet the unsung heroes behind our copy edits and pass pages — and explained what those things are!
If you missed episode thirty-three, it was a recap called The Story So Far — we took you on a quick guided tour through the episodes of season one — if you’d like a reminder of everything we covered or you’re a new listener who isn’t sure where to start, then we made that one just for you. Click here to listen.
For now, though, let’s get into it!
Amie’s special edition
We promised to show you the artists for the incredible special editions of The Isles of the Gods and The Heart of the World coming from Book Addiction. You can click here to order a copy (prices are in Aussie dollars) and behold the incredible artists below.
Here’s Helena, who’ll be doing the endpapers — this was the image that made Amie fall in love.
And here’s Jyotirmayee — can’t you just picture the title of the book, with gorgeous illustrations bursting out from behind it? From jungle vines to rubies to golden dollars to breaking waves… we can’t wait to see it!
Do you have iconic moments from The Isles of the Gods that you’d love to see on the endpapers? If so, please leave a comment and let us know — the decision’s still being made, so you might be the one with a genius idea! (And if you haven’t read Isles yet, then (a) you absolutely should and (b) don’t read the comments!)
GenreCon!
Here’s Kate at the festival we mentioned in the episode, having a ball talking writing at GenreCon!
Copy edits and pass pages
We also promised you some examples of actual copy edits and pass pages. So first up, here’s a screenshot of some of Kate’s copy edits from Fyrebirds — it’s the passage we discussed, in which her copy editor queries a necklace description.
We also promised a glimpse of pass pages. Here’s a note from early on in The Heart of the World (not a spoiler, don’t worry!) in which the proofer catches a plural that’s gone missing, or possibly was never there. Even up to the end, these little things are being picked up!
Proofreaders’ marks
And finally, here are the proofers’ marks that we talked about on the episode — these would be written onto the page itself, usually with a red pencil so they could be easily identified. Writing that loopy line for ‘delete’ was ever so satisfying.
And that’s it for this issue! We’ll see you in a couple of weeks — happy reading!
The icebreaker was so fun this episode; I noticed a very large number of emdashes in this newsletter which seem very appropriate! Hearing you both nerd out is great. I can imagine a really cool freeze frame where we see Laskia leaning against the bar, staring right at the reader and crackling with intensity, with a blur of dancers freeze caught mid motion and out of focus around her. That said, I love Lauren’s idea with the beautiful reef imagery laid out across the double pages!
Ooh - some kind of vista of the Isles themselves for the endpapers. Perhaps where Selly, Leander and Keegan are crossing the reef with Laskia and Jude behind them? A wide shot that includes the Isles, the Reef, the water, and their small figures. Or if you're after a close-up, Selly and Leander eating at the market.
As soon as Kate asked the icebreaker, I immediately said "semi-colons" out loud to myself in the car.