Why Do You Need a Copyeditor or Proofreader?

How often have you read, re-read, and then again read your manuscript “just one more time”? I’ll bet several times over. You know what the characters are thinking, feeling, and doing at any given moment. But do your readers?

Every year, I proofread or copyedit over 50 titles, and it still amazes me how many little things get skipped. Little words, like I, me, a, and, the; big words like thought, jumped, laughed. Periods have been left off the ends of sentences; some sentences have run on for miles and miles. I’ve seen John turn into Joe, and I’ve seen brown eyes turn blue.

Words with similar spellings but very different meanings always provide a small laugh (like the difference between the noun altar and the verb alter). The small typos that would have someone going though the forest instead of through it (or having a though instead of a thought) make it through a spell checker, but not a proofreader.

Are these “little” things something you can ignore? Possibly. But that extra, professional eye to review your manuscript before you send it out into the world can save you heartaches over nasty reviews and bad feedback from your readers.

You’ve spent your time researching, imagining, and working on your craft. Let your readers focus on your story, not the nuts and bolts of its construction. Without the strength of good editing, your manuscript can fall like a house of cards.

To find an editor, you can turn to the Editorial Freelancers Association (https://www.the-efa.org/). There, you can find just the right editor for any stage of your manuscript, from developmental editing to proofreading.

Faith Williams is a freelance proofreader, copyeditor, and the CT Chapter Coordinator for the EFA. Working with independent authors, she has proofread and copyedited works in romance, thriller, science fiction, and nonfiction genres. Follow The Atwater Group on Facebook or check out the webpage at www.theatwatergroup.com. For more information on the EFA, please visit https://www.the-efa.org/.