Proofreading


Proofreading is the final check of your book's spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting:
-
Does every opening quotation mark have a closing one?
-
Does your female main character scratch her face on her husband's bread or beard?
-
Are your chapter numbers in order without any repeats?
-
Is the formatting consistent throughout?
-
Have you got text that is spaced too far apart or smooshed together?
-
Do you have four lines in a row that all end with the word and?
-
Are some words badly split at the ends of lines (Mc-Broom)?
​
Your proofreader is the last line of defense between you and your readers, and they can mean the difference between a 5-star review and one that mentions typos, bad formatting, and missing punctuation.
Process
I use at least two monitors when I proofread. That way, I can reference your style sheet as I'm reading to ensure consistency. If I'm editing a PDF file, I use a third monitor for the final Word document and look for things like forgotten returns in the dialogue and words that are hyphenated but shouldn't be.

Page checklist:
-
Words/letters that repeat at starts/ends of lines
-
hyphen stacks
-
smooshed lines or ones spaced too far apart
-
words or lines standing alone on the page
-
random spaces that line up to cause a distraction
Manuscript checklist:
-
headings and footers consistent
-
page and chapter numbering correct
-
flag any words hyphenated across a page turn
-
flag misalignment of the last lines on a spread
-
check overall formatting of chapter headings and section breaks
Proofreading Examples
See examples of my proofreading and what proofreading involves.