What is proofreading and why do I need it?
Proofreading is often the final hurdle before a manuscript becomes a bona fide book. This process is the last chance for any errors within the manuscript to be caught, flagged, and corrected, before the book is formally published. The term “proofreading” comes from publishing, where a “proof” was an early copy of a manuscript sent to the printer for layout and typesetting. One copy (or very few copies) was printed and sent back to the publisher to ensure quality of print, consistency in layout, and to catch any final issues such as typos or grammatical errors before the main print run. While this process is still in place today, with digital and indie publishing much of this work is done on a PC or Mac using software such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe InCopy. Some proofreaders do still opt to use physical copies for markup, or a combination of both physical and digital markup.
There’s a common misconception that a line editor or copyeditor fixes every error present in a manuscript before printing. Beyond the scope and focus that each style of editing provides, or how accurate prior editors have been, it is almost guaranteed that -something- was missed in prior editing phases. Typos and misplaced commas or periods have even been found in books that have been in publication for decades. That said, the acceptable error rate is zero, but that is an unrealistic goal when a copyeditor or proofreader is combing through 75,000 words or more looking for typos and grammatical inconsistencies. So aiming for that 100% error-free copy is ideal, but the closer your editor can come to that mark, the better
One of the posts over at The Reedsy Blog has a great section headlined why is proofreading important? that uses the presence of a Starbucks cup in a late-season episode of Game of Thrones Starbucks to bring the reasoning for proofreading home. The whole post is pertinent, however our motivation for including this section here is to support one of the primary reasons for seeking out proofreading services: a focus on the story rather than any errors within.
