What It Is (posts below left; rate sheet, client list, other stuff below right)

My name is Bob Land. I am a full-time freelance editor and proofreader, and occasional indexer. This blog is my website.

You'll find my rate sheet and client list here, as well as musings on the life of a freelancer; editing, proofreading, and indexing concerns and issues; my ongoing battles with books and production; and the occasional personal revelation.

Feel free to contact me directly with additional questions: landondemand@gmail.com.

Thanks for visiting. Leave me a comment. Come back often.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

1s and ls; old style typography

This probably happens 20 times a year in books I read, and it begs the question: Just how old do you have to be to still use the 'l' character on a keyboard rather than the '1'? What element of muscle memory draws a writer over there on occasion? What did we do without an exclamation point on the keyboard? When will we have a keyboard with an interrobang, and what character should accompany it?

A designer I know once sent me an email with the hot-type reasons for a lot of the cold-type typography rules that (good) proofreaders and book designers still follow. Interesting stuff. And class, do you know where the term "leading" comes from? And "upper/lower case"? Do proofreaders or designers under the age of 30 (or 40) even know what leading is anymore?

Might be time to start preparing my room at the Old Proofreaders' Home. Ah, to be a crusty relic. May or may not beat the alternative.

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