Articles: Tips on proofreading for self-publishers

Every writer on CompletelyNovel has the option to order proof copies of their work at cost price so that they can thoroughly check their book before it goes public. We’re seeing many of our authors do this and it’s something we are really keen to encourage!

If you are self-publishing then proofreading your manuscript is a really challenging task and you’ll kick yourself if you find a mistake after you have told everyone about the book.

No matter how many times you have read through your work it’s amazing how often errors can sneak through to the final stages. The problem is that you are so familiar with the text that you see what you think you have written rather than what you actually wrote. For this reason, at the very least it’s good to ask a few friends to help you proofread.

Don’t forget to carefully proofread the cover, copyright and title pages as well as any indices, tables of contents and dedications. We have noticed that mistakes in these areas happen surprisingly often!

So, short of hiring a professional proofreader, what else can you do to make sure that your book is as close to perfect as you can possibly make it?

Here are 10 tips for proofreading your book:

1. Put your writing aside for a while. This allows you to see things with fresh eyes that are more likely to spot errors.
2. Look at your weaknesses. Do you regularly misspell or repeat words? Do you make particular grammar or punctuation errors? If you are aware of these weaknesses you can take extra care to search or spot them.
3. Read your work out loud. If you read aloud, your ear might catch errors that your eye may have missed. You could also use text-to-speech software.
4. Try proofreading backwards! To spot typographical errors, read your work from the end to the beginning, either word by word, sentence by sentence or paragraph by paragraph. This disconnects your mind from the content and helps you focus on the text. Particularly useful for checking the cover.
5. Keep style and usage handbooks readily available and use them! Our favourite is the Guardian Style Guide.
6. Watch out for those pesky contractions, apostrophes and homonyms.
7. Run the spell check to catch any obvious errors. However, don’t rely on this alone as it can’t always be completely accurate.
8. Highlight all punctuation marks so that you can evaluate each one for accuracy.
9. Proofread a printed version of your work. People read differently on screen and on paper, so print out a copy of your writing, either on paper or into a book using CompletelyNovel.
10. Get someone else to proofread it. A fresh pair of eyes is a great way to spot errors.

So, good luck with the proofreading! Remember, nobody’s perfect and we all make mistakes, but hopefully these tips will help ensure your self-published book looks its best when it ends up in your readers’ hands.

Do you have any favourite proofreading tips you would like to share?

CompletelyNovel lets you order proof copies of your book at cost price at any time. We recommend you do this before you make your book public on CompletelyNovel or submit it for distribution to retailers. This option is available once you complete the book creator and you can order as many as you like.

Photo by @mikecough on Flickr

Latest response Most popular response

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  1
  Simon

  20 Jan 16:37

  Thank you for taking the time to write these helpful hints, I found then really useful. I love number 3, currently downloading a copy now.
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  2
  Ntathu - Most popular response

  22 Jan 18:47

  Excellent advise and I’m glad I popped over. Proof reading takes time and I like the idea of using text to speech software to help us hear what we write (I am sure that doesn’t make sense!)
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  1
  Sarah

  25 Jan 17:46

  Thanks for being so professional and encouraging us aspiring authors to check a printed proof before letting our books out into the wild – first thing I’ve noticed is that the first line indent that looked fine on screen was way too deep on a printed page, and I’d missed a typo on the back cover! I expect my keen-eyed friend on official proofing duty will find lots of other glitches too…
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  Yan

  31 Jan 23:30

  Great timely advice Anna - thanks!
  The ‘word-blindness’ thing you speak of is an important issue. No matter how ‘expert’ / proficient we might be (or think ourselves to be!) ;) - we still overlook little glitches / errors.

  I make it a rule, when submitting work, to never send anything important out until the next day (esp when dog tired!) It’s best to always wait until the next day, and then review it all with ‘fresh eyes’.
  The same thing occurs when I’m creating in other spheres — such as recording music; glaring errors slip by, and are only noticed the next day — or next week / month etc!

  Also… as many of us know, self-published work has earned itself a bit of a bad press (in some quarters) because too many folk have rushed into print, and not done enough ‘prepping’ of their work. This certainly isn’t a way to attract a fan base — quite the opposite methinks!

  To paraphrase: “Publish in haste, cringe at leisure!”

  Bon voyage to all fellow scribes hereabouts…
  x
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  1
  Yan

  31 Jan 23:37

  Hmmm! Interesting!
  I double checked that text before posting, then re-posted it, but it still seems to have come out with the first section having a line [‘strikethough’] scored through certain words! < odd! >
  So… no matter how much we humans strive for good work, technology still has its own little way of introducing glitches!
  :)

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