Publishing: Proof perfect
Improve your proofreading skills and increase your earning opportunities, with advice from Chris Glithero
All writers must also be conscientious proofreaders with an eye for the smallest details. Once you’ve hammered out your epic novel, potential non-fiction bestseller, short story, article or anything else, you need to proofread it to within an inch of its life.
But honing your proofreading skills can also open up the door to a lucrative side income, or even a rewarding fulltime career. This month we’re going to explore some of these opportunities, and also look at how you can utilise proofreading skills to improve your own writing projects.
The role of the proofreader
From JK Rowling to JD Salinger, no author produces an impeccable and error-free manuscript first time. Even after many iterations and redrafts to iron out thorny plot issues and character motivations, it’s likely that errors remain. In fact, even once it reaches the stage of having been copy-edited by a publisher, it’s incredibly unlikely that the words and their arrangement are perfect. This is where the professional proofreader enters the picture.
In the publishing industry, the version of the text that is produced after all final copy-edits have taken place, and before printing, is called the proof. This is the almost-ready version of the text, and it is the role of the proofreader to identify and mark any errors or inconsistencies before it goes to print. We’ll look more at the job itself and career opportunities for proofreaders in a moment, but first let’s define exactly what is covered within the remit of proofreading.