A New Copyeditor’s Guide to Surviving

Work Relationships
5 Tips from Carol Fisher Saller for Getting Along with Your Coworkers

Ally Georgiton January 21, 2021

You did it. You finally finished school and left all those pesky group projects behind you.
Now you’ve got a real job, and the stress of handling pushy peers and collaborative
deadlines is behind you. Right? Well, not exactly. Now instead of classmates, you have
coworkers, a boss in place of your professor, and a paying client expecting quality work.
I guess there was a reason our professors assigned group work after all.

Maybe Sally from publishing won’t turn in her work on time, or

Jared refuses to accept that the serial comma is standard –
even though you know it’s in the style guide. Whatever your
issue may be, all of us have experienced a tense work
encounter at some point in our lives. You may feel
overwhelmed or upset, and that’s okay; the important part is
how you respond to the stress.

Luckily, Carol Saller, author and contributing editor to the

Chicago Manual of Style, dedicated a whole chapter to
getting along with your colleagues in her book The
Subversive Copy Editor. She gives advice that is simple,
entertaining, and applicable. She’s like a big sister, but
instead of giving you fashion advice she makes sure you
don’t embarrass yourself in front of your colleagues. Here
are four beneficial tips Saller provides for socially thriving in
your workplace:

1. Play Nicely. As Saller says, “No editor is an island.” Even though we imagine
editing to be a solitary, and it often is, a huge part of your job will be collaborating
with your coworkers. A few of my introverted readers might’ve just felt their blood
pressure increase, but I promise, cultivating friendly relationships with your peers
will be invaluable. So, approach conflict with grace and understanding, refuse to
participate in aggressive competition, and be cordial with everyone, even if you
don’t like them. You’ll be happy you did when you see them at the coffee
machine.
 2. Work Through Channels, Not Over Heads. Public humiliation: No one likes it,
especially at their job. If you’ve ever experienced a moment where a supervisor
or peer called you out in front of a group instead of talking to you personally, you
know how mortifying it can be. Saller defines working through channels as,
“Solving a problem starting with the person who’s primarily responsible and not
going over his head until all else fails.” So, if you notice a coworker has made a
mistake that affects your own work talk to them first instead of immediately
running to a supervisor. It will likely save time, embarrassment, and make you a
lot more likeable at the same time.

3. Negotiate Editorial Disagreements. Opinions. Everyone has them, and

everyone thinks theirs is right. Because editing is your job, you might take
negative feedback from your coworkers personally. However, here are a few
snippets of advice from Saller to help you negotiate editorial disagreements.
Hopefully, you’ll save some time and gray hairs.

 Check the style guide. This is the first place you should go for small
disagreements.
 Be flexible. If you want to make a style guide exception, state your case
and do it professionally. You may have some persuading to do, but if
there’s a good reason for your choice convey that to your peers. And listen
to others when they want some flexibility as well.
 Let it go. If the change isn’t a huge deal, consider letting it go. There’s no
use arguing something into the ground.

4. Take Responsibility. Humans are hypocritical creatures, especially when it

comes to taking the blame. We hate when someone won’t own up to their
mistakes, but we want to tuck tail and run when we make mistakes of our own. If
you have done something wrong, it’s important to calmly take responsibility.
People will respect you and feel more comfortable owning up to their own
mistakes.

It’s normal, even expected, to disagree with your coworkers. It might be frustrating to
deal with at times, but the best ideas are created in conflict. Feel free to use these tips
to foster a productive, comfortable workplace environment. Be flexible and firm, believe
me, you’ll thank me later.

This piece is intended for copyeditors working in a collaborative work environment,

specifically copyeditors who recently entered the workforce. It can be difficult to
understand the social landscape in a new career, so I decided to focus my blog on
advice that would help editors smoothly navigate relationships with their peers.