BY RIE SHERIDAN ROSE
I’m Just a Proofreader . . . Nobody Loves Me . . .
Okay, maybe that paraphrase of Bohemian Rhapsody is a little silly, but when it comes to the world of editing, the function is often overlooked, and it shouldn’t be.
After all the editing of the content for logic holes; after the line edit to make sure the logic holes were all plugged; it comes down to a proofreader checking the spelling, punctuation, and giving a final look to the manuscript. Of course, when it is turned in after proofreading, it might not be as final as originally expected.
You would be surprised how often a missed word or punctuation character slips by several readers. Or perhaps you wouldn’t.
Even when reading a hardback from one of the major publishers, it is amazing how many times a reader stumbles over a misspelled word or something else that a good proofreading should have caught.
When a piece comes into the publishing house, it is expected that the author will have made it as perfect as they possibly can in their own eyes. No matter how hard you try as a writer (and this is my official day job, so I know how hard you try,) you don’t see everything. For one thing, you have lived with the manuscript for a very long time, usually, and your mind can play tricks on you—often filling in gaps automatically as you read something for the thousandth time.
A proofreader is looking specifically for the types of mistakes that will irritate a reader most when they expect a polished final product. They comb the edited manuscript word by word to make sure that every word is spelled correctly, that all punctuation is in place, and that no words have been left out. (And—at least in my case—give their opinion on how the book reads to a reader. This may not be typical proofreading, but I am still learning.)
Not all publishing companies have a specific editor in charge of proofing. Xchyler has several. It is a function whose importance cannot be over-emphasized. Proofreading can give a book one more level of polish toward becoming a gem.
Rie writes, edits, and proofs for The X from her home in Austin, Texas. A prolific writer, her short story, “Seven-year Itch,” is featured in Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology. Her first project for The X, The Mage and the Magpie by M.K. Wiseman, is slated for release in August, 2014.
