On Thursday July 28 the American Copy Editor Society is holding a 1-hour seminar on What's New in Style. I'm an ACES member, ever since I passed through the organization's Advanced Copy Editing Bootcamp at SMU last year. I brought a journalism degree and publications experience to the Society membership.

ACES is different from other organizations you'll see in the world of arts and letters. You can hold a spot in the Editorial Freelancer's Association. The EFA is a group that has a focus wider than editing. The Independent Book Publishing Association (IBPA) gathers a wide range of skills and experience to get books into the world. The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLI) is focused on authors, but it also includes a services partner membership. ALLI screens partner members before admitting them.

Only ACES is focused on copy editing. That's why I became a member; my experience in editing professionally began in 1980, when I joined the staff of the Daily Texan as a copy editor. ACES membership runs from book publishers, to website content consultants, to daily newspapers, and monthly magazines. It will be fun to see what the ACES crew has to share about 2018 styles. Members can register for the July 28 webinar at the ACES website.

You'll always want to hire a copy editor before submitting a book for publication. But knowing what the current styles are in English keeps your writing focused on the story. You see what's taking place more clearly when you're writing cleaner and more concisely.