12 Days of Christmas — copy-editor style

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: An Associated Press stylebook app

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me: two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Five libel violations, four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Six misplaced modifiers, five libel violations, four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Seven subjective clauses, six misplaced modifiers, five libel violations, four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Eight stories after deadline, seven subjective clauses, six misplaced modifiers, five libel violations, four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Nine major misspellings, eight stories after deadline, seven subjective clauses, six misplaced modifiers, five libel violations, four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Ten long-winded ledes, nine major misspellings, eight stories after deadline, seven subjective clauses, six misplaced modifiers, five libel violations, four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Eleven rusty pica poles, ten long-winded ledes, nine major misspellings, eight stories after deadline, seven subjective clauses, six misplaced modifiers, five libel violations, four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

On the twelth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Twelve plagiarized quotes, eleven rusty pica poles, ten long-winded ledes, nine major misspellings, eight stories after deadline, seven subjective clauses, six misplaced modifiers, five libel violations, four tacky typos, three conjugations, two dramatic long-dashes and an Associated Press stylebook app

Happy holidays and an error-free year,
Your ACES board

Teresa Schmedding is the president of ACES and the senior news editor of the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago. E-mail her at tschmedding@copydesk.org or follow her on Twitter @tschmedding