Matt’s Mailbag

Q. I just began to write articles for a new client and their editor has been marking up everything I’ve written so far and returning it to me to correct. Never before have I had so many problems getting work approved so what gives here? — Rose, SC

A. Thanks for your question, Rose. I have one question to ask you: are you and the editor on the same page as far as using style guides?

That seems to be your problem. Your editor has one set of requirements and you are operating under some other assumption. You haven’t indicated to me who/what you are writing for. If academic, then you may need to heed to the Chicago Manual of Style, Turabian, APA or MLA. If newspaper, magazine or newsletter, you may need to go with the AP Stylebook.

The easiest solution is to contact the editor and find out what she wants and then write according to those requirements. I have had clients who adhere to a certain style but then modify accordingly; this may be what your editor wants.

You should be able to obtain a copy of their style guidelines and work with that. In any case, before you write another article, save yourself time and grief to make certain that everyone is on the same page.