Beth W. Allen Editorial Services

06/19/2025

Juneteenth is a perfect time to look at the term CIVIL RIGHTS, and Merriam-Webster, with its expertise, has done that, recognizing that the term has been in used in English for 400 years (this quotation is abridged):

"The term 'civil rights movement' is commonly associated with the 1950s and 60s, but the phrase is much older than that. The term CIVIL RIGHTS likely entered the English language in the early 17th century. What is currently the earliest known use comes from George Chapman’s 1614 translation of THE ODYSSEY. . . .

"By the 18th century civil rights had taken on on the definition in Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged: “those rights the enjoyment of which does not involve participation in the establishment, support, or management of the government.” Following the enactment of the 13th and 14th amendments to the U.S. constitution, CIVIL RIGHTS came to be frequently used to refer more specifically to the rights afforded by these amendments: freedom from slavery and freedom from being denied “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. . . .

"Today, the phrase CIVIL RIGHTS describes rights that guarantee to all citizens equal opportunities (as for employment, schooling, housing, or voting) regardless of race, religion, s*x, or national origin."

Find more at merriam-webster.com.

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12/02/2024

Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day! Around the globe, the HIV community is working to End the HIV Epidemic. Join the cause by engaging with others in your hometown. Undetectable = Untransmittable.

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03/03/2021

Join me in celebrating International Writers' Day on March 3. Working with authors from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa has been a life-changing aspect of my career! (Illustration courtesy of Microsoft)

10/28/2019

Wiley, a major college textbook publisher, offers guidance to would-be authors at https://www.wiley.com/network/archive/how-to-get-your-book-published-advice-from-a-commissioning-editor. Wiley's list of commissioning editors is accessible through a link at the end of the brief piece.

10/18/2019

The October 18 issue of SCIENCE examines the impact of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and assesses its fortunes at the November ballot box, when Texans have an opportunity to green light new funding (p. 294). According to SCIENCE, only the federal government delivers more public cancer funding in the United States. (Art, featuring microbial eukaryotic cell colonies, is detail from the issue's cover.)

10/04/2019

Spent part of my lunch break yesterday refreshing my photo skills at Apple, which is offering a wide range of free iPhone video and photography classes for free— APPLE.COM/TODAY or . Thanks go to friendly and knowledgeable staff at Apple Highland Village.

08/28/2019

GOT THIRTY MINUTES? Consider spending them outside. Australian investigators found that among the 1,538 subjects they surveyed, those who spent at least 30 minutes per week in green space—a minimum dose of nature administered weekly—shared the characteristics of being more likely to be physically active and less likely to have high blood pressure or be depressed. That's worth a thirty-minute investment, isn't it?

04/04/2019

Writer and Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker collected old and new recommendations for improving writing for any audience, and Jessica Stillman, a contributor at INC, drew them from Twitter. Consume this baker's dozen of tips with your morning bagel:

Writing well is hard, but Steven Pinker managed to boil the essentials down to just 13 tweet-length tips.

03/14/2019

Today is Pi Day, when celebrating 3.14159265 gives you a mathematical high from all things circular. The National Academies Press is also celebrating, giving those who order certain books—consider ADDING IT UP: HELPING CHILDREN LEARN MATHEMATICS or MATHEMATICS LEARNING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: PATHS TOWARD EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY—a special 31.4% discount. In fact, NAP may actually round that discount up to 32%. But you don't have to take my word for it: use code PIDAY at checkout at www.nap.edu.

09/29/2018

STAND FOR THE BANNED, the theme of Banned Books Week, September 21–29, calls to all who support intellectual freedom and want a free exchange of ideas anywhere two or more minds meet—in books, databases, plays, periodicals, games, the ether, and anywhere else. Bans and challenges (requests for library removal or restriction of materials) are up, according to the American Library Association (ALA). Also up are hate crimes in libraries: almost half of all hate crimes reported to the ALA were recorded in 2017 (23 of 57 total). Celebrate by tipping your hat to or hugging a librarian and by reading a challenged or banned book (see a list of top ten banned books from 2000 to 2017 at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10). Artwork courtesy of ALA.

09/10/2018

Today is World Su***de Prevention Day . . .
Remember that people who talk about su***de are not without intent. Their talk may be a call for support. Su***de rates are rising in the United States. Learn more at https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/su***de/index.html

07/04/2018

GOOD NEWS WRITERS! JULY FOURTH IS ACTUALLY A CELEBRATION ABOUT AGREEMENT ON LANGUAGE. What? Not a celebration of the signing of a document? No—that happened almost a month later. Not a celebration of a vote to declare independence? That was two days earlier. The vote on July, 4, 1776, was approval, after two days of revision through debate, of a draft of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. For some of us, a two-day resolution over a consequential draft seems miraculous, and perhaps it seemed so to those at the time and worthy of a celebration! Listen to Houston Matters' interview with historian Nancy Beck Young or read about the Declaration of Independence at https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-declaration-of-independence. Happy Fourth!

As people across the United States celebrate the nation’s birthday, explore nine surprising facts about the founding document adopted on July 4, 1776.