illustration by Jaime Temairik

The Steve Higgins Memorial Copy Editing Contest

Behind every great writer is a copy editor. You'd never know it, though. Ask a person on the street to name a single copy editor. We'd bet you'd draw blank stares 99 times out of 100. The hundredth time, you might get a knuckle sandwich.
 
The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar wants to give copy editors the recognition they're due. That's why we've launched this contest, which is named for the late Dow Jones copy editor Steve Higgins, who was funny, kind and laser-sharp with the proverbial red pen.
 
The person we recognize as the best copy editor in the United States will win a swell prize: an Amazon Kindle wireless reading device. Runners up will receive a signed, first-edition copy of Things That Make Us [Sic], a hilarious new book on grammar and language by our founder, Martha Brockenbrough. Ten percent of the book's proceeds will go to the Brain Tumor Society in Steve's memory.
 
The Rules

There is no fee to enter the contest. But there's some fine print:
 
1.  Entrants must be professional copy editors.
2.  One entry per person, please.
3.  All entries must be received in the mail by Sept. 15, 2008. E-mailed entries will not be accepted.
4.  Entries become the property of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar and may be reprinted on our blog and other related Web sites.
5.  Editing should conform to AP Style. We like Chicago Style, but we like keeping things simple for ourselves even more.
6.  There are two parts to the test: an editing challenge and an essay. You must ferret out all errors in the editing challenge to have your essay considered.

Download the entry form here.

Questions? Contact Martha at contest@marthabee.com.