I am a big fan of Karen Elliott. I've known her via her blog ( I subscribe via email and you should, too) and through Facebook. If you want to learn about creating a platform, you should follow Karen.
She's also an editor extraordinaire and has dedicated her talents to making those of us who write without looking at the keyboard (or our manuscripts, it might seem) look better.
I asked Karen to do a guest post and then gave her free rein on the content. As you'll see below, she was incredibly generous... What you'll find is a checklist to guide you through the self-editing process. However, what I think you'll also find by the end of the post is why hiring an editor, like Karen, is really so necessary for an indie-author.
I learned this lesson the hard way with my first book, when I received numerous reviews from readers who loved the story, but hated the typos and grammatical errors that were missed by me and MS Word spellcheck. It's absolutely true that a writer makes a lousy editor of their own work.
At the end of this checklist, Karen has included numerous links to reach her. Check them out.
Editing and
Proofreading Checklist
Check for consistency
Character – Where
your characters live, where they work, their likes and dislikes, their phobias,
dress/style, favorite foods/allergies.
Names, Proper Nouns – Did you call your main
character Allan in the first chapter
and Alan in all the other chapters?
Electronic Age – If
you use words like e-mail or email, web-site or website, on-line or online –
each of these words needs to be consistent throughout your manuscript.
Who’s talking? –
If your English-teacher character is talking prim and proper English in Chapter
Three, make sure she doesn’t go all street slang in Chapter Twenty.
Know your props –
If you have your police officer with a Glock in Chapter Four, he should still
have a Glock in the final chapter.
Where are you? –
I have often drawn my own map on a large sheet of paper to maintain
perspective. Or use Google maps. If you write Route 83 and Burdick Expressway
intersect in Minot, ND, they’d better intersect.
Fixing what’s wrong
Adjust your mind set
from “writer” to “proofreader.” You are looking for things that are wrong.
Spell check – Do
not – DO NOT – depend on your computer’s spell checker.
Read out loud –
This will help you hear where there
are stops and starts, what’s awkward. Take it a step further – read your MS or
short story into a tape recorder or have your computer read it to you and
listen while looking at a printed copy.
Print it – Sounds
silly, but it works. You’ve been looking at your project on the screen – you
need a new perspective – you need to see it on paper.
Change the font –
If you have been looking at your MS in Times New Roman, change it to Palatino
Linotype. It will look completely different.
First Reader – Ask
someone to look at your MS with a critical eye. If they come back to you and
say they loved it, they are not critical enough.
Mom or BFF –
Don’t ask them to proofread, unless
mom was a proofreader for Merriam-Webster (my mom was!). Not that you shouldn’t
trust them, but you shouldn’t trust them with proofreading your manuscript.
Sounds like –
Look at words like there and their, you’re and your, and its and it’s. If you know you have trouble with a certain word(s), search
for that word throughout your manuscript. Labor-intensive, yes. But it works. Also
check for words like wet and whet, rain, reign, and rein, affect and effect and
so forth.
Take a break –
Put the manuscript aside for a few weeks or a month or two. Then go back to it
with fresh eyes.
Hiring an editor or
proofreader
Planning – Start
looking for an editor or proofreader the minute you start your book or soon
thereafter. Shop around. Ask other writers for recommendations. Ask the editor/proofreader
for a sample.
Ask for specifics
– Ask the proofreader to outline exactly
what they consider “editing” and “proofreading.” These standards differ
significantly throughout the industry.
Scalpel or hatchet – I
suggest changes; I do not make edits
for the writer. What will your editor/proofreader do?
Research online –
Look at the proofreader’s website, Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, and blog. Are
they positive? Do they share tips and links? Are their online pages clean?
Stylebooks,
references – Ask what style books and references they use. If they hem and
haw or say, “Oh, I don’t use those things,” run away.
Testimonials –
Get testimonials or references and then look at the publications of the
testimonials. Contact the people who have provided these testimonials.
Turn-around – If
a proofreader says she’ll have your 100,000-word work of art back to you in a
week, that’s just not gonna happen. Have realistic expectations.
Contract – Sign
one. If the proofreader doesn’t use contracts, again, run away. Be sure you can
accept the contract payment terms, turn-around time, cancellation terms,
additional cost for phone consultations, etc. If you can’t, ask that they be
amended.
NDA – Ask the
proofreader to sign an NDA – non-disclosure agreement. You don’t want your hard
work to end up in the proofreader’s e-book!
Can’t afford a
proofreader?
Writer’s group –
Join a critique group in your area. If you can’t find one, start one!
Exchange services
– With other professionals – I’ll read yours if you read mine. Or trade one
service for another. I used to proofread a monthly newsletter and got a free ad
every month. I’ve recently agreed to exchange editing a blog for help with
CreateSpace.
Join Linked In – There
are hundreds of groups for writers broken down by genre, e-book vs. print, and
everything in-between.
Online exchange –
Join an online exchange group or forum like Fictionaut, Dropbox, Backspace,
Goodreads, or Yahoo groups for writers.
Join Facebook groups
– On Facebook, there are pages and groups galore!
Proofreading sites
and blogs – Search for sites and blogs that share proofreading and editing
tips.
Dictionary Plus –
It’s not enough to have a dictionary. You should have a couple other desk
references for grammar and punctuation like The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus, Diane
Hacker’s Rules for Writers, or Strunk and
White’s The Elements of Style.
Subscribe – Pick
one or two magazines like Writer's Digest or The
Writer. If you don’t want to fork over the subscription price, ask for
them at your local library.
Start saving –
Perhaps you could afford a
proofreader if you did a little belt-tightening. Do you really need a five-dollar
peppermint mocha every morning?
Bio
Karen S. Elliott was raised by a mother who wanted
to be an English teacher and who worked for Merriam-Webster as a proofreader
and an aunt who could complete the Sunday New
York Times crossword in a day. Their favorite expression was, “Look it up!”
Karen is an editor and proofreader, blogger, and writer. Her work has been
featured in The Rose & Thorn Journal, Every
Child is Entitled to Innocence anthology, Valley Living Magazine, BewilderingStories.com, and WritingRaw.com. Connect
with Karen on her website, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Fan Page, and Facebook.
Karen S. Elliott
www.TheWordShark.com
www.karenselliott.wordpress.co
www.twitter.com/KSElliott_Shar
www.linkedin.com/in/karenselli
www.facebook.com/karenselliott
www.facebook.com/KarenSElliott
