Saturday, May 15, 2010

Proof Reading Your Book

Take the book and print it out on paper for proofreading. Then, starting with the last page and moving backward, use a ruler to look at each line in the book. This is a tedious process and one for which you can pay a freelance proofreader. You are looking for spelling mistakes as well as mistakes in punctuation. When we read, our eyes naturally gloss over words that we are familiar with and often do not see that they are misspelled. This is why it is important to take your time and proofread your book from finish to start. By going up one line at a time, you will not be reading, but looking for errors that your eyes will ignore if you simply read the book.

You can hire a professional proofreader for this purpose. They will go through the book the way that suits them and deliver you a product that has changes. They will put proofreading marks on your paper of which you should be familiar. They will not make the changes for you, but signal you to make the changes.

It is vital that you proofread your book or have someone else do it for you. If you have a book published by the mainstream press, this service is done for you. If you are self publishing, however, you do not have this luxury. Although there are many self publishing companies online that offer proofreading services for a price for their clients. These services usually charge more than freelancers that you can find online.

One place that you can find proofreaders who will go over your book for you is Elance.com. This site has a multitude of freelancers offering their services. Be sure to check out their profile as well as reviews from other clients before you ask them to proofread your material. You can put your project on the site for bidding. Be sure that you do not automatically go for the lowest bid that there is and check out the experience and customer satisfaction that signify that the proofreader knows what he or she is doing.

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