Too often, editors are regarded with fear, characterized as steely authorities slashing red pens left and right. Instead of collaborators, they loom as stern gatekeepers, eager for the chance to slap down draconian rules. Full Story: As a contributing editor at UChicago Press and the Chicago Manual of Style's de facto public face, Carol Saller has spent much of her career trying to fix that misconception. To her, style guides are simply guides, couched with words like “may,” “sometimes” and “usually.” What should matter most is context and clarity, she said, prioritizing the reader over a set of rules. Saller was chief copy editor of the 16th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, revered by style sticklers and grammar geeks everywhere. Before retiring from the Press last year, Saller wrote The Subversive Copy Editor, which she considers “a relationship book” for writers and editors. That book grew directly out of her 20 years as the voice of The Chicago Manual of Style Online Q&A, a
