Essential Tips for Proofreading Your Manuscript Effectively

Kia ora,

Every so often I receive an email like this:

Subject: quick proofread

Hi Deborah,

I’ve written a book about my gap year travelling through South Africa. It’s almost ready for publishing. Can you give it a quick read for typos? It’s 362 pages and my budget is $350.

Thanks,

John

Upon reading such an email, three thoughts go through my head. First is, Wow, gap year in South Africa? Rad!

My second thought is, I need way more info before I can think about saying yes to this project.

Third, a quick read for typos is never a quick read for typos.

Let’s break down my thoughts further and see what I need to know as John’s potential future editor/proofreader. Time to switch numbering systems.

I need to know the word count. For editors, page counts mean nothing. I don’t know what John’s set his font to! 12pt Times New Roman at 1.5 line spacing? 14 pt Arial at 0 line spacing?? Word counts are objective.
I need to see the manuscript before I quote. John may have asked for a quick read for typos, but what does his gap-year memoir actually need? Lots of people ask for proofreading, but what they mean is editing. I get it, the work I do is behind the scenes and not always obvious, so one person’s proofreading is another person’s editing (but I hope that these newsletters are demystifying the process!).
Unless the word count for John’s book is 3,000 words, he’s going to need a way bigger budget (and a much longer book).
If it’s actually a proofread John needs, great. I will definitely do a proofread. But even when I’m proofreading, I’m still not doing a quick read for typos. I’m doing a careful, attentive read for typos. And factual errors. And wonky formatting.

But I’m going to give John the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s emailing a few different editors. Maybe he doesn’t know just how much time (and therefore money) goes into editing or proofreading a manuscript. Maybe he’s a new writer who doesn’t know what he doesn’t know but damn is he excited to share his story with the world! I love that!

Time to reply to John.

Kia ora John,

Congratulations on writing your book! That’s a huge achievement. Love that you spent your gap year in South Africa. I’m keen to hear more about your time there.

Could we get together on a call and talk more about your story? You can book a time here. A chat will let me learn more about you, your adventures, where you are in the writing process, and what your publishing goals are.

Once we’ve talked, I can complete a free sample edit so you can see how I work and the types of changes I make. It’s important that we’re a good fit because we’ll be working together closely. The sample edit also helps me work out my quote.

In the meantime, check out my adventure edit. I go into a lot more detail about my editing process and costs and your publishing goals.

Congratulations again on completing your story! Looking forward to learning more.

Cheers,

Deborah

I’m always up for a chat. Talking, by email or voice, is the best first step for us to find out where you are in the writing process, what you goals are, and what your timeline is. Once I know all that, I’m in a better position to say “Yes, let’s go with a manuscript evaluation and get the structure nailed down.” Or, “Let me get into the weeds and work the story at a sentence level.” Or even, “I might not be the best editor for you. So-and-so could be a better fit.”

A quick read for typos is just not something I do. Close, careful reading with your voice and the reader’s experience in mind is what I do.

So, be like John: check out my adventure edit or book a call with me.

Cheers,

Deborah

PS. If you missed last week’s newsletter, you’ll have missed my launch of Write Great Adventures: 6 methods to bring your readers along for the ride. It’s a short writing guide specific to the travel and adventure genre.

I’m offering it free to my newsletter subscribers. Use the code WRITE on the checkout page. The code is valid through to 22 September. Get Write Great Adventures here.

Big thanks to those who have helped me work through the tech gremlins! If you run into any issues, shoot me an email so I can know what’s going on.

PPS. My website is looking a little wonky right now. It’s going through an update and it’s in that oh-god-what-have-I-done stage. Trust the process. We’ll get there.