I’m excited to announce that I have a new publication coming out next year. Last year I was invited to contribute a chapter on dictionaries and editors to The Cambridge Handbook of the Dictionary, and the book is (finally!) available for preorder. You can get 30 percent off with free shipping for the next month or so with the code 101928. (Note: If you’re having trouble preordering, try it from this page instead.)

My chapter is titled “Dictionaries and Editors”, and, as you might guess, it focuses on the relationship between dictionaries and some of their most frequent users, copy editors and proofreaders. It discusses dictionaries’ role in the editing process, what style manuals say about how to use dictionaries, how dictionaries serve as editorial authorities (despite lexicographers’ stated goal of documenting rather than gatekeeping the language), and how dictionaries influence editors and editors influence dictionaries.

I’m not a real academic, of course, so this contribution is a little out of the ordinary for me. The author that was originally lined up to write this chapter fell through, so one of the editors got in touch with me with “a mad request” (his words) to see if I might be able to throw together a chapter on the subject. It was kind of a wild ride, but I’m pleased with how the chapter turned out, and I’m truly honored to be included among so many great scholars of lexicography. (Seriously, look at the contents—there’s a lot of interesting chapters written by some great people.)

This is an academic book, so it won’t be for everybody, but if dictionaries and the academic study thereof are your thing, please check it out!