Do Proofreading Right

What does “proofreading” mean to you?

This isn’t a trick question. We assume that we all mean the same thing when we talk about a proofread, but experience has shown me that we aren’t, in fact, on the same page. And this is a real problem.

You want to do it, and you want to do it right—which means a quality job involving the least amount of hassle, time, and money. And without having to repeat any of the work.

It’s been a while since I’ve addressed the proofread, and I think it’s time we take another look at this critical step in your book publishing journey.

What a Proofread Is … And What It Is Not

Let’s start at the beginning: what is a proofread?

Pick your answer:
Proofreading means fixing my writing.
Proofreading means checking for errors.

This is where we get into trouble—because a lot of writers believe the proofread fixes many aspects of their writing, when it really does not. Does it make your writing better? Well, yes. But not because it turns you into Maya Angelou or Robert Frost.

A proofread makes your writing better because it corrects objective mistakes. Here’s what the Chicago Manual of Style says: “Proofreading is the process of reading a text and scrutinizing all its components to find errors and mark them for correction.” They then give us a list of what to look for during a proof:

• spelling errors
• word breaks
• typeface and font
• page numbers and running heads
• illustrations and tables
• overall appearance
• text alignment
• illogical, garbled, repeated, or missing text—but only to correct facts or gross syntactical errors
• proofing against copy (e.g. the PDF against the Word version)

Nowhere in this list do we see anything about making your sentences better, improving your descriptions or dialogue, the use of passive and active voice, and so on. They are not part of this list because they are part of the editing process—NOT the proofread.

The proofread doesn’t care how good your writing is. It’s reading for mistakes you’ve made. The proofread doesn’t care, really, if you make sense—as long as your facts, grammar, and spelling are correct. Is your writing boring, repetitive, or disjointed? That’s what editing is for, not proofreading.

Writers often want to make all sorts of changes at the proofread stage—or hope their editor makes them—involving their use of language. If you’re asking for proofreading, that’s not what you’re going to get. Period.

Change Might be Good for Your Living Room or Your Hairstyle, But Not for the Proof

This bears repeating: the proof is the FINAL CHECK of your manuscript before publication.

That small word, “final” is important.

Writers have a hard time letting go. I get it. It’s like an itch in our fingers—that sentence could be soooooo much better! We’re just going to make that one teensy-tiny change, and then we’ll be done…

Want to send a wrecking ball through the beautiful forest of your manuscript? This is the way to do it.

Even worse is continuing to make changes to your manuscript during the proofread—after you’ve sent it out to your editor or proofreader. This is a great way to not only wreck your manuscript, but drive everyone helping you crazy in the process.

Why changes after the proofread are a bad idea

When you update a figure, image, graph, chart, table, chapter name, chapter number, character name, place name, timeline, the order of chapters, or the numbering of absolutely anything (this is not an exhaustive list!), you also need to review and update: (1) the numbering of EVERY SINGLE OTHER item that is numbered (figure, image, graph, chapter, etc); (2) the entire Table of Contents; (3) any and all references in the manuscript to EVERY SINGLE figure, graph, chapter, character, place, etc. This includes dialogue. The ripple effects of one change can be huge.

Is this time-consuming? You bet. Get ready for the proofreader to charge you extra. Or turn down the work.

Does this run the risk of introducing all sorts of new errors? Again, you bet. You better have another proofread.

Why changes during the proofread are even worse

If you start making changes while the proof is in process, you take all of the above problems and multiply them by this very big factor:

Version problems. Who has what version of the manuscript? What changes have been updated where? Are all of the most current changes actually in one place?

Talk about hassles and headaches.

Why changes after layout (aka to a PDF) are the absolute worst

You are already in layout. What are you doing? Now any changes that you make affect spacing, line breaks, and page breaks, not to mention the final pagination of everything. Take all the prior problems and multiply them by layout designer additional work and fees.

Again: time, hassle, money.

Set Yourself Up for Proofreading Success

1. Before you think about proofreading, make sure that your writing (and re-writing) is already done. Seek outside feedback from beta readers, a writing coach, and/or an editor.
2. Work with a professional editor to address any concerns you have about the language, continuity, character development, and so on.
3. Let the work sit between revisions.
4. When you do re-read it, read it all the way through first, before you start changing anything.
5. If you change anything, you may want to repeat any or all of steps 1-4 before going to proofreading.

Bottom Line

Changes during or after the proofread means that no one—no proof editor, no matter how skilled and detail-oriented—can do a quality job. You’re basically sitting there throwing torpedoes at them. I hope you like a mangled manuscript.

If you want a proofread that is hassle-free, avoids extra costs and time delays, and most importantly delivers you a quality manuscript, make sure you do it right. Before you turn your manuscript over, check it’s truly done. Then let it go.

It’s work, but believe me, it’s worth it.

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Is your book ready for proofreading? Let’s chat.

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