Tone of Queries

 

  For me, one of the biggest takeaways from the section in our book on queries was about tone. When addressing your queries you have to be careful that each is coming off as a suggestion and not a demand. I did not consider how delicate the balance is between author and copy editor before this. However, it's clear that you must consider the author's effort in creating the original piece and respect that. In an attempt to remember this I decided to make my own examples of how to address a query correctly.

Examples:

Instead of......In some instances in the instructions, you're writing "remote control" and others you write "channel changer." Be consistent.

Write.......If "remote control" and "channel changer" are equivalent it may be easier to chose one to use. Which do you prefer?

Instead of.....This example is useless. It does not further your point.

Write.....This example is interesting, but may not be best utilized here. Maybe move to pg. 130 or use a stronger example for this particular argument?

Instead of....Fix these headings.
Write.....Please reconcile.