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Technica’s Top Five Books Every Writer Should Have on their Shelf
Book Review As writers, it’s important to take time to immerse yourself in books that offer insights into the art, science, and emotions of writing, learning from those who have come before—from those who have made a point of sharing their experience and wisdom....
I Need Help Writing my Book!
If you’ve taken the plunge and made the decision to write a book, that on its own is a huge step. So, first and foremost, congratulations! The next steps in making your vision a reality can be intimidating at first. But they don’t have to be, especially after dividing...
Chilling Reads for a Spooktacular Holiday
With Friday the 13th creeping up just as we enter the holiday season, it’s the perfect time to whip up a list of books that sprinkle a little spookiness into the festive fun! So, grab your cocoa, turn on your favorite holiday playlist and cozy up under those...
Self-Publishing in 2024: Prize-Winning Contenders to Check Out
In the year 2024, I think we can safely say that self-publishing is here to stay. What was once seen as just a forum on the internet to publish niche genre work by lesser-known authors, self-publishing is now big business with many aspiring authors forgoing the...
It’s Time to Start that Great American Novel: Celebrate National Novel Writing Month
During the COVID lockdown, how many people thought they would finally sit down and write that novel that has been brimming in their brain for years. Some were able to accomplish this seemingly impossible task, but for most, the dream of writing the great American...
Why Research Matters in Nonfiction Writing
Writing nonfiction is so much more than just weaving words on a page; it's a balancing act between storytelling and facts, creativity and credibility. At the heart of this type of writing lies its most essential element—research. In the world of nonfiction writing,...
Celebrate World Smile Day with a Few Books that will Leave you Grinning
“Let’s put a smile on that face.” While Heath Ledger intones these words with dread in his legendary Oscar-winning performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, it’s a phrase that shouldn’t inspire fear in people. In 1963, artist Harvey Ball created the iconic smiley...
Exploring the Forbidden Aisles of Banned Books!
Banned Books Week is “an annual event that highlights the value of free and open access to information.” Beginning in September of 1982, Banned Books Week was created in response to an unexpected surge in the number of challenges to books available in libraries,...
I’ll Give You Proof!
At first glance, copy editing and proofing might seem like very similar tasks—and they do, indeed, have plenty in common. But a copy editor with a sharp eye for detail will recognize that these are entirely separate processes with entirely separate skill sets. On the...
Can AI Be Responsible? The Case for Elsevier’s Scopus
If the scholarly publishing community has learned nothing else over the last 5 years, it’s that for better or worse, AI is here to stay. Peer reviewers are using it. Authors are using it. We’ve talked so much about the use of AI in scholarly publishing and the...
Is There a Better Way to Incentivize Peer Review and Reverse the Peer Review Crisis?
Anyone who has worked in the peer review system knows that things are in a state of flux right now. It is a system that has seen a heavy, almost overwhelming, burden on mostly volunteer reviewers. A study in 2020 analyzing peer review across all academic journals...
Celebrating and Honoring Freedom Day: Juneteenth
Juneteenth has been celebrated by Black Americans since 1866, but has been largely overlooked, marginalized, and unknown to many Americans until recently. Juneteenth would not become recognized as a federal holiday until June 18th, 2021, after a proclamation by President Joe Biden. Emancipation Day celebration, June 19, 1900, held in "East Woods" on East...
Pride Month Book Recommendations Across Genres
This June, we have a few book recommendations to celebrate Pride: skip the corporate rainbow-washing and instead curl up with a good book by a queer* author featuring queer themes, characters, and insights. The following books, encompassing just some of the diversity of LGBTQ community, delve into the joys, sorrows, and full range of queer life—and they’re...
7 Key Tips for Tackling a New Client’s Style Guide
Diving into work for a new copy editing client is always an exciting time for any editor—but it can also be an intimidating one. And it doesn’t help when you’re trying to wrap your mind around a 10-page style guide you’ve never seen before! But here’s the good news: once you’ve gathered enough experience in the publishing and copy editing fields, it...
LGBTQ Representation in Publishing is on the Rise, but the Band Plays On
June is designated as Pride Month in honor of the 1969 Stonewall riot, which was seen as the unofficial start of the gay rights movement here in the United States. The movement has seen gains over the years in just about every aspect of American culture, including the publishing industry. These gains, however, have not been easy to come by, with years of...
Should the Onus be on Research Institutes or Publishers to Catch Scholarly Misconduct?
Scholarly misconduct unfortunately seems to be on the rise in recent years. Paper mills are becoming more and more prevalent by the day. More than 8,000 papers were retracted by publisher Hindawi. Wiley’s newest AI paper detection software found that 10-13% of papers submitted to their various journals could potentially be from paper mills. Other journals...
Getting Graphic: A New Take on the Classic Gothic Novel
World Goth Day is celebrated annually in May. This day can be described, according to World Goth Day’s website, as, "a day where the goth scene gets to celebrate its own being, and an opportunity to make its presence known to the rest of the world." This day was created in Great Britain when Goth music DJ’s Cruel Britannia and Martin Oldgoth were...
This is the Blog About Death: Celebrating World Goth Day with Gothic Literature
Since 2009, May 22 is World Goth Day. According to the website, the holiday is “a day where the goth scene gets to celebrate its own being, and an opportunity to make its presence known to the rest of the world." For those of us who haven’t been in a high school setting in (gulp!) close to two decades, we probably have the image of goths being pale...
Gothic Literature: Publishing the Eerie and Macabre
Halloween isn’t the sole occasion for spooky tales that send shivers down your spine. If you’re a fan of horror like me, you'll enjoy a chilling novel any day, whether it's the witching hour or not. Have you heard about indie publishers dedicated to all things dark and eerie? To celebrate World Goth Day, explore three Gothic Publishing Companies that could...
Tips for Writing a Romantasy
Romantasy is a fiction genre that has recently been growing in popularity, particularly on Booktok (the book subsection of the TikTok social media app). But what is this genre, and how can you write a romantasy book that might become a best-seller? Romantasy — a portmanteau of the words “romantic” and “fantasy” — is a commercial fiction subgenre that...
Stories that Stick, by Kindra Hall
Writers, if you’re like me, then you probably love devouring books that can help you navigate the complicated world of publishing. It’s exciting to announce, then, that Technica Editorial is starting a new book review series to share some of the standout books that are well worth sharing. We’re kicking it off by taking an in-depth look at "Stories that...