Proofreading
Why Proofreading?
Proofreading and editing services are essential for all authors. Whether it’s a hard cover book, paperback or eBook, your written word reflects you and how others see you.
Proofreading is the final check before you ‘go live’ to publication and the proofreader’s job is to complete a quality control check and look out for any problems that may have slipped through the net and previous rounds of editing and formatting. You’d be amazed at how many things are missed, I recently purchased a book where there was a typo on the back cover!
What I include
My proofreading services include but are not limited to the following:
- Adhering to your house style guide if provided
- Correcting of spelling errors, homophones and homonyms
- Correcting punctuation and quotation marks where required
- Correcting grammatical mistakes
- Removal of extra spaces
- Arrangement of widows and orphans
- Pagination and chapter sequencing
- Paragraphs, indentations and section breaks
- Suggesting improvements to sentence flow
- Ensuring consistency of style e.g. abbreviations; time/date format etc.
If you require a more thorough service, I can also provide copy-editing which includes the above but also involves making the text easier to understand, better organised and more suitable for the intended audience.
Process
Unless specifically requested, I use MS Word’s tracking tool to proofread and edit on screen so that any amendments can be easily seen and accepted by you. You can either accept individual changes or ‘Accept all’ in one go. I’m also happy to work in PDF using sticky notes and mark-up tools, or in Google Docs, whichever you prefer.
If I don’t understand a sentence or it’s unclear or ambiguous, I’ll also flag this with a comment and you can either correct it yourself or come back to me with your intended meaning.
I can also work with hard copies (including using BSI proofreading symbols) where requested to do so.
If you have a style guide or specialised or technical references that need to be consistent, do let me know and I’ll ensure that your documents and text all adhere to the same guidelines. Please be aware that I do not rewrite content as it’s unlikely that I will be qualified or specialised in your particular business, subject or field; however, I will ensure that you’ll not be let down by terrible spelling, grammar or punctuation, or text which is ambiguous or unclear.
How I can help you
Below are just some of the documents that I may be able to help with:
Authors
- eBooks
- Manuscripts
- Novels
- Biographies
- Short stories
- Poetry
- Film and TV scripts
Academic
- Textbooks
- Reports and manuals
- Research papers and proposals
- Essays and assignments
- Journal articles
- Presentations
- Manuscripts
- Theses and dissertations
Other Services
Contact me
For a no obligation quotation or an informal chat about your manuscript and how I can help, please feel free to contact me on 07973 887945, via the contact form or by emailing me at [email protected].