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IVA CHEUNG..
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Unsolicited advice

Two-frame cartoon. Frame 1: Bespectacled editor sits with curly-haired editor at a table in a café. She says, "It can be so frustrating to work with [industry-standard software] sometimes!" A man in glasses sips coffee at the next table. Frame 2: The man turns around and says, "I couldn’t help overhearing. Why don’t you just use [open-source alternative that lacks the functionality you need for your work, offers no support, and is fundamentally incompatible with your clients’ workflow]? I switched five years ago and haven’t looked back."I despise Microsoft and Adobe as much as the next person, but the next time a non-editor tells me to switch to LibreOffice, I’m sending them to this feature comparison and asking them to search for “track changes.”

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Author Iva CheungPosted on August 1, 2025July 27, 2025Format ImageCategories Editing, Editors, FreelancingTags Acrobat, Comics, Microsoft Word2 Comments on Unsolicited advice

Out of scope

Single-frame cartoon. Bespectacled editor sits at her desk holding a red pen and looking at a set of proofs. She rubs her temple and repeats to herself, "I am just proofreading. It’s not my job to fix this shitty index. I am just proofreading. It’s not my job to fix this shitty index. I am just proofreading. It’s not my job to fix this shitty index."
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Author Iva CheungPosted on July 5, 2025Format ImageCategories Editing, Freelancing, ProofreadingTags ComicsLeave a comment on Out of scope

Camaraderie

Two-panel cartoon. Panel 1 shows a sign outside of a building. The top of the sign says, “Community Centre.” The rest of the sign consists of movable letters and reads, “SUPPORT GROUP FOR GRAD STUDENTS WHO HAD TO INDEX THEIR SUPERVISOR’S BOOK, MONDAY, 7 PM.” Panel 2 shows 5 people sitting on plastic chairs, forming part of a larger circle. The person in the middle has his head in his hands and says, ‘And then he said, It should be pretty straightforward,’ and he couldn’t see it possibly taking any more than 3 to 4 hours…” His fellow grad students either listen empathetically or reach out to comfort him.
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Author Iva CheungPosted on June 1, 2025Format ImageCategories Academic publishing, IndexingTags ComicsLeave a comment on Camaraderie

Passing through

Eight-frame cartoon. Frame 1: two hikers look at a map at the bottom of a steep climb. One of the hikers points up the mountain. Frames 2 and 3: The hikers are silhouetted on the steep mountainside. The hike is long and arduous. Frame 4: They arrive at a wooden outhouse and one hiker says, "Wait. Is that it?" Frame 5: A closeup of the outhouse door reads "Elvin McMurphy Wuz Here." Frame 6: "We came all this way for a graffito scrawled on the door of an outhouse??" Before the last 2 frames is the tag “Earlier…” We see an author sitting at a desk and Bespectacled editor. Frame 7: Bespectacled editor says, “Well, readers would probably consider that a passing mention, and we typically don’t index those.” Frame 8: The author says, “Elvin McMurphy happens to be a close personal friend, and I expect all mentions of Elvin McMurphy to be indexed! Bespectacled editor just shrugs.
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Author Iva CheungPosted on May 1, 2025May 2, 2025Format ImageCategories IndexingTags ComicsLeave a comment on Passing through

Confirmation

Twelve-frame cartoon. Frame 1: An author sits at a table with Bespectacled editor. He points to a spot on his manuscript on the table. He says, “Can you explain why you made this change?” Frame 2: Bespectacled editor says, “Yeah, sure. I looked it up, and the company’s website said they were founded in 1989, not 1998.” Frame 3: The authors points to another page and says, “And this one?” Frame 4: Bespectacled editor says, “I looked it up, and in Fiona’s memoir she spells her last name with an uppercase D and an uppercase M.” Frame 5: The author points to another place in the manuscript and says, “What about this edit here?” Frame 6: Bespectacled editor says, “I looked it up, and the dictionary we’re using spells the noun form with a C, not an S.” Frame 7: The author identifies another place in the manuscript and says, “Uh-huh. And this change?” Frame 8: Bespectacled editor says, “I looked it up, and that’s how the Chicago Manual of Style suggests capitalizing Russian transliterations.” Frame 9: The author puts his hands on his hips and says, “You’re just looking a bunch of stuff up? Why should I pay you for that?!” Frame 10: Bespectacled editor says, “Well, are YOU gonna do it?” Frame 11: The author and editor stare at each other, silent. Frame 12: Still silent, the author lowers his head in shame.Click through to enlarge!

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Author Iva CheungPosted on April 1, 2025March 30, 2025Format ImageCategories Editing, Editors, FreelancingTags Comics, Fact checkingLeave a comment on Confirmation

Fibliography

A robot (ReferenceBot) with a square head, rectangular body, and square hands and feet sits on a rolling office chair at a desk with a keyboard and monitor. Bespectacled editor stands on the other side of the desk. ReferenceBot says, in a robotic voice, “What do you mean they just make up sources?! Whatever happened to taking pride in one’s own world?!” The image caption says, “ReferenceBot learns about large language models.”

(If this is your first time meeting ReferenceBot, learn about him here.)

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Author Iva CheungPosted on March 1, 2025February 24, 2025Format ImageCategories Editing, EditorsTags Artificial intelligence, Citation, ComicsLeave a comment on Fibliography

Holiday

Six-frame cartoon. Frame 1: An editor sits at a table with his laptop open. He says, "With Easter so late this year, it’ll be such a long stretch before I get a holiday. Frame 2: Bespectacled Editor sips her tea and says, “You know, if you were a freelancer like me, any day could be a holiday.” Frame 3: The in-house editor says, “Uh-huh. And when was the last time you took a day off?” Frames 5 and 6: The two editors just stare at each other, unmoving.” Frame 7: The in-house editor says, “Well…?” and Bespectacled Editor responds, “I’m thinking!!!”
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Author Iva CheungPosted on February 1, 2025January 26, 2025Format ImageCategories Editing, Editors, Freelancing, UncategorizedTags ComicsLeave a comment on Holiday

Copilot is my god

9-frame cartoon. Frame 1: Bespectacled editor is having a phone conversation with an author. She says, "… and I was hoping you could help me understand the third paragraph on page 2. What is 'diagonal supply chain buoyancy'?" Frame 2: The author says, "I have no idea." Frame 3: Bespectacled editor says, "O…K… Well, what were you hoping to convey when you wrote it?" Frame 4: The author says, "Oh, I didn’t write that part. My AI program must have written it." Frame 5: Bespectacled editor looks into the camera at the viewer. Frame 6: Bespectacled editor says, "So, um, I would strongly suggest carefully reading the output of any generative AI tools to confirm that the text is saying what you intended." Frame 7: The author says, "Isn’t that your job?" Frame 8: Bespectacled editor is silent, looking at her phone. Frame 9: We see the author holding his phone away from his ear as an exasperated scream comes through on it."

Dedicated to Jen Anderson. Click through to enlarge!
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Author Iva CheungPosted on January 1, 2025January 1, 2025Format ImageCategories Editing, EditorsTags Artificial intelligence, ComicsLeave a comment on Copilot is my god

Out of sorts, part 2

4-frame cartoon. Frame 1: Two artisans work in a 15th-century European print studio. One says, “Well, that was the last of the italic effs we’ve had to make into long esses. Should we move on to the roman ones?” The other one says, “Sure! But what if…” Frame 2: The second artisan continues: “What if instead of filing off the crossbar completely, we just filed part of it off?” Frame 3: The first artisan holds up a piece of lead type that looks like an f with one side filed off but with a small nub left on the other. He says, “You mean like this?” Frame 4: A person with wild hair peering through the window of the shop wearing a shirt with the word “SICKOS” says, “YES… HA HA HA… YES!” as a tribute to the Stan Kelly comic published in the Onion.

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See Out of sorts, part 1, for, uh, context, I guess?

Author Iva CheungPosted on December 1, 2024November 27, 2024Format ImageCategories Book publishing, Books, Design, EditorsTags ComicsLeave a comment on Out of sorts, part 2

Modern haunting


12-frame cartoon. Frame 1: Bespectacled Editor walks in a meadow. Frame 2: She says, "What a lovely scene." Frame 3: She is suddenly surrounded by gaunt, ghoulish girls with sunken eyes, stringy hair, and a torn gown. They say, in unison, "Another comment is progress." Frame 4: Bespectacled Editor tries to back away from the ghoulish girls. They are all still saying, "Another comment is in progress." Frames 5 and 6: She continues to run away from the ghoulish girls. Frame 6: She finally gets away from the girls and she bends over, panting, exhausted. Frame 8: Bespectacled Editor stars saying, "I'm not sure I understand…" when a giant claw comes down from the sky. Frame 9: The giant claw lifts her up. Frame 10: The giant claw transports her high across a vast landscape. Frame 11: The claw sets her down in a desert. She faces another ghoulish girl with sunken eyes, but this one is a rusty red colour. Frame 12: We see a close-up of the ghoulish girl's face, and she says, "Please post your comment."
(Technically the November cartoon, but I wanted to catch the tail end of spooky season.) Bonus panel!
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Author Iva CheungPosted on October 31, 2024October 28, 2024Format ImageCategories Editing, EditorsTags Comics, Microsoft Word1 Comment on Modern haunting

Posts pagination

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Recent Posts

  • Unsolicited advice
  • Out of scope
  • Camaraderie
  • Passing through
  • Confirmation
  • Fibliography
  • Holiday
  • Copilot is my god
  • Out of sorts, part 2
  • Modern haunting

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