Keep a wary eye out for sneaky typos in proper nouns: ‘Demark’, ‘Untied Kingdom’ and ‘Check Republic’ won’t be caught by a spell checker! #PrepressTips

As we enter into a new season, what better time to announce our new and improved team names? In honour of our beautiful Perthshire location, we’re pleased to introduce teams Kinnoull, Magdalene and Moncreiffe, named after three of the area’s most recognisable hills.

To fully appreciate the value of a split infinitive, consider whether you were struck by the one at the beginning of this sentence. While some maintain a preference for the 'no split infinitives' rule, it’s not grammatically incorrect to completely reject it. #PrepressTip

Be careful not to confuse ‘led’, the past particle, with ‘lead’, the present tense verb. Should we call this ‘led poisoning’?
❌ The guide lead the way.
✅ She led with integrity. #PrepressTip

We’re delighted to welcome on board Cara Dingwall for a 10-week placement with one of our editorial teams as part of her MSc in publishing at Edinburgh Napier University! #PrepressPeople

We’re delighted to welcome on board Isabel Le Sage for a 10-week placement in our tech team as part of her MSc in publishing at Edinburgh Napier University! #PrepressPeople

Our everyday speech is rife with abbreviations – contractions and truncations are indispensable when it comes to making speech sound natural. Consider ‘I cannot go to the gymnasium because I have influenza.’ versus ‘I can’t go to the gym because I’ve got the flu.’ #PrepressTip

Today marked the first all-business meeting of the year. We got together to take stock of performance and ongoing work across the business, giving an overview of the company’s position ahead of our strategy day in June. Then it was time to enjoy another lovely lunch from Heaven Scent in Milnathort!

Did you know that there are different kinds of abbreviations: initialisms & acronyms? Initialisms sound out each letter & are preceded by an article: 'the BBC'. Acronyms are pronounced as one word without an article: 'NATO'. Just don't ask us if it's 'JIF' or 'GIF'! #PrepressTip

March 21 is #WorldPoetryDay and we're reaching to our bookshelves to find inspiration from fellow wordsmiths and delight in their poems. Join us in reading Caroline Caddy's 'Editing the Moon' and take some writing (and life) advice to heart: 'Be precise / authority is magic'.

Do you ever look at a word too many times and it loses all meaning? There’s a term for that: ‘semantic satiation’. The antidote is change: either change tasks, like switching from editing to formatting, or change the font or screen display. Your brain needs a reset! #PrepressTip

The idea that you can’t end a sentence with a preposition is one we ought to do away with. While it’s true you may be less likely to come across such a construction in very formal writing, it’s most often not only OK, but preferable. One less thing to worry about! #PrepressTip

Wondering for who(m) the bell tolls? ‘Who’ and ‘whom’ are parallel to ‘he’ and ‘him’ or ‘they’ and ‘them’. ‘Who’ is the subject of the verb, which acts, and whom is object of the verb, which is acted upon. ‘Who wrote that post?’ but ‘To whom did you send it?’🔔 #PrepressTips

Thank you to the organisers and presenters for cultivating a space for lively and informed discussion, and for getting to the heart of what matters to women in leadership today. #IoDWomensBusinessForum (2/2)

Last week our MD, Lucy Harrier, attended the #IoDWomensBusinessForum, sharing insights with women leaders from the around the world. This event encompasses everything from ensuring a company’s legacy and financial standing to prioritising the health and well-being of staff. (1/2)

Our MD Lucy Harrier is off to London to attend the IoD's Women’s Business Forum. The event will be an opportunity to foster connection through shared stories, strategies and inspiration, offering new perspectives on women's entrepreneurship and an evolving business landscape.

But for information that introduces an aside with extra, non-essential, information, we use 'which': ‘The bird, which gets up early, sings outside my window every morning.’ #PrepressTip (2/2)

Knowing when to use ‘that’ vs. ‘which’ is invaluable for the copy-editor, as these relative pronouns crop up everywhere – and are often used incorrectly. Remember, essential information is introduced with ‘that’: ‘The bird that gets up early gets the worm.’ #PrepressTip (1/2)

It’s more than a winky face; a semi-colon is a punctuation mark for joining related clauses. Just make sure that each half of the sentence connected by a semi-colon is complete; if each half doesn’t make sense on its own, a semi-colon isn’t what should join them! #PrepressTip

Thank you to Investors in People for giving us a roadmap to future improvements, and thank you to our incredible team for supporting, inspiring and empowering one another. 🥈 #IIP #PrepressPeople (2/2)

Exciting news! 🌟 We’re pleased to announce that we’ve achieved the @investorsinpeople.bsky.social Silver Award for our commitment to investing in our employees! #IIP #PrepressPeople (1/2)

If you want to connect sentences clearly, use a conjunction: ‘I’m not going for a walk because it’s tipping it down.'

If you want to imply a connection, you can use a semicolon: ‘The chicken is a bit dry; can you pass the gravy?’ #PrepressTip (2/2)

We all commit the occasional comma splice (joining two complete sentences with a comma, e.g. ‘Thanks for the cake, it’s delicious.’), but it can help to keep the following in mind when it comes to copy-editing.(1/2)

Prepress hit the town yesterday, with our colleagues Fran and Rebecca attending a sustainability soiree held by @publishingscotland.bsky.social. It was a great opportunity to learn what we can do to make the industry greener and see how community and sustainability are interconnected! 🌿📖

But remember, if you introduce a point with a colon, you can’t continue the sentence afterwards.

❌ The results were in: we had won, they arrived promptly.
❌ The ribbons came in two colours: blue and gold and they were shiny.

#PrepressTips (2/2)

Want to punctuate a sentence with emphasis? You can use a colon to connect a second part of a sentence that explains the first part or to start a list with a flourish.

✅ The results were in: we had won.
✅ The ribbons came in two colours: blue and gold.

#PrepressTips (1/2)

Thank you, Lucy, for taking the time to share your insights, and thanks to Public Health Scotland and Change Mental Health for putting employee health and well-being at the forefront. (3/3) @publichealthscot.bsky.social

We were delighted to see nearly 200 participants from across Scotland attend this panel and come together to discuss what practical actions have worked in creating positive, inclusive workplace cultures that promote mental health and well-being. (2/3)

Healthy workplaces drive high-quality work. This morning our Managing Director, Lucy Harrier, shared her insights on supporting a mentally healthy workplace at Public Health Scotland’s panel on ‘The role of leaders in supporting mental health and wellbeing at work'. (1/3)

A tip worth remembering is that, as a general rule, you should resist the urge to hyphenate with adverbs ending in ‘-ly’ , e.g. ’highly motivated employees’ or ’a carefully wrought post’. #PrepressTips (2/2)