Grammar Guide
Editing Versus Proofreading

In last week's Grammar Guide, I mentioned there is a difference between editing and proofreading. Most people in the publishing industry are well aware of this, but newbies question it and even seasoned professionals like to combine it to save pennies. So let's get to the bottom of it here!

Proofreading is what you do after everyone has played with the manuscript and the product is "almost" perfect. Proofreading in magazine terms is when you have some original copy to check your final copy against, making sure Hostenteffler's name is really spelled with two "f"s, according to the business card the company's PR firm sent in. Proofreading in magazine terms is when you have some original copy to check your final copy against, making sure the company you're about to print 5,000 copies of a brochure for really wants their slogan to have a period after each word, even though that's grammatically insane and makes my head spin around on my shoulders. (Call me possessed if you wish, but there are some grammar rules that just shouldn't be broken, even in the name of marketing. JMHO.)

Editing is what you do long before you get to the proofreading stage. Editing is the job of people who can grasp large concepts over time and notice that, hey, such-n-such character didn't have blue eyes the first time the author described him. Editing is the job of people who figure out that such-n-such character was in one section of the country on a Tuesday, thus cannot possibly be in another section of the country on Wednesday morning unless he either has the ability to teleport or a private plane got him through the snow-storm-of-the-century the author has just convinced the reader is taking place between the hero and the heroine. Editors also notice when Dragon Troops in Book I of someone's trilogy are suddenly called Dragon Troopers in Book II (I actually caught this at the last minute in a book I was editing recently because there was just something bothering me about those blasted troopers that was taking me out of the story...)

Does all this make sense? Editors catch big-picture problems as well as small details like that. Authors aren't expected to catch it all. Yes, in this industry today, we authors are called upon to do an awful lot of our own editing and proofreading before we even approach agents, and that's the name of the game so we just have to get used to it, but even for all that care we take with our original manuscripts, the editor is essential in catching those crazy things we miss. We're too close to the story to see them. In Choices Made by Gods, the sequel to Book I of the Choices Meant for Gods trilogy, I have a character badly burned in one scene, who is later healed by a goddess. Great! Well...in my own editing, I have the "healing" scene happen earlier than I originally intended. Fine. The problem is I sent the novel off to my test readers without asking an editor to review it. The test readers caught my HUGE gaff where I have the character babying the wounds after they've been healed in a scene where I forgot to edit in the "fix." This is a prime example of why thou dost need an editor. (Thank God for test readers, eh?)

And once Choices Made for Gods gets through the editor, I'll go through it for editing again because...well...I'm anal retentive and I've been editing for 15 years and I can't help myself. And then I'll turn it over to a proofreader. And then I'll proofread it again at the galley stage. (I'll probably still end up with a typo on the last page again, but it won't be for lack of trying not to!)

(Fantasy Author Sandy Lender has been an editor in the magazine publishing industry for more than 15 years and is the author of the epic fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods, now available from www.archebooks.com.)

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

Tags:
Choices Meant for Gods, Choices Made by Gods, Sandy Lender, grammar guide, fantasy author, fantasy novel, editing, proofreading

Grammar Guide
Get Professional Services for a Professional Product

Regular visitors to The Dragon recognize that the Grammar Guide topics I post (almost) every week cover punctuation, style, spelling and use issues as well as strict "grammar." I lump all these concepts under one umbrella just to make the search category easy for you. Let me point something out for you here: Even though I use a light and conversational tone in these Grammar Guides, Writer's Guides and Promotional Guides, I'm giving you professional advice. I have a four-year degree and a 15-year career in publishing as an editor, publisher and public relations officer (often simultaneously) backing up the tips I'm sharing with you. For free.

Here's why that's important. Asking someone's teenager to edit your novel is not going to help you produce a professional-looking manuscript. Having the graphic artist you hired two or three weeks ago proofread your magazine at layout is pure insanity. Now, I'm not knocking graphic artists because I have worked with some of the absolute greatest in the field, but I recently had one sending "corrections" to my office to add serial commas into text and to put periods in quotes before attribution in her region's magazine. This is just plain wrong. The serial comma issue is forgivable because usually only journalists "get" that anyway, but when did this person last pay attention in an English class? You know what? It's not her job and her publisher shouldn't have asked her to worry about it. And it serves as a good lesson to speak about here at The Dragon: Hire a professional editor for editing work. Hire a professional proofreader for proofreading work.

Yes, there's a difference. Yes, I do both.

(And hire a professional graphic artist for layout work.)

When I had my pitch session scheduled for Choices Meant for Gods, I contacted a group online and found two readers who were willing to read the manuscript for me. Even though I had been in the publishing field for 13+ years at that point and had the above-mentioned degree, I was not going to risk handing a manuscript full of errors to a publisher. (I was going straight to the publisher—no intermediary.) Now, you might think that someone with my credentials would think her work was clean and ready to go, but I'm not naïve. Anything worth printing is worth having a second, third and fourth set of eyes peruse it.

Now, what frustrates the life out of me is that during the galley proofing stage of Choices Meant for Gods this spring, my publisher had me remove some of the Bellan scenes (good call on his part, by the way) and add some stuff at the end, so, at 1 a.m. one day, I diligently added two scenes to the last chapter that really do punch the ending into "coo-el" status. Unfortunately, I added my biggest pet peeve typo/grammar mistake to the very last page of my novel. I could scream. When I found it upon the book's arrival on my doorstep, I think my head spun on my shoulders aka The Exorcist. Sigh. But I guess that proves what I'm stating in this post: Get thee a professional proofreader to read your work, even if it's 1 a.m. on the day that you're going to press. Wake her up and say, "Read this. I just added it." Because it would have been worth it to me to pay her whatever fee she wanted to have her say, "Sandy, you moron, 'its' doesn't get the apostrophe here. You know better."

Use professional, respected, trusted resources to check and double-check your work, and when you're done, you'll have a document, term paper, novel or whatever that you can truly be proud of. Don't let yourself fall into the trap of accepting the services of someone substandard just because you're in a hurry or strapped for cash or in an area where there aren't a lot of providers of the service you need. This is the 21st Century and there are bulletin boards all over the internet where you can find professionals who will help you for reasonable fees. Save up the money, and then spend it on someone you've researched and asked a few questions about. You'll be glad you did.

(Sandy Lender has been an editor in the magazine publishing industry for fifteen years and is the author of the new fantasy novel Choices Meant for Gods, available from www.archebooks.com.)

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, fantasy author, fantasy novel, grammar, grammar guide, proofreading, editing, proofreader, editor

Writer’s Guide
Proofreading
Proofreaders do it backwards

When you’ve finished a work, it’s time to do a final proof. Now, let’s define “finished”. See, there’s no point in proofreading if you haven’t edited yet. There’s no point in proofreading if you think you’re going to go in and add more quotes from an expert or another block of description for a scene.

But if you’re done writing and editing and you think you’re ready to send the piece off to a publisher, editor, or the printer’s ftp site, stop and proofread.

Strict proofreading dictates you actually check the finished copy against original copy, making sure things like names are spelled correctly and phone numbers match what an agency sent, etc. Don’t skip that step if you have original copy to check against. You’ll be stunned the first time you catch someone’s website listed incorrectly in your work.

But then go back and proofread backwards. Start at the bottom of the last page and read each word from right to left. Again, you’ll be stunned the first time you catch a word that has been spelled incorrectly through seven edits.

Now, go ahead and ask. Yes, I’ve read Choices Meant for Gods backwards when I had the galleys. Why? Because my head will spin like the kid from The Exorcist at each typo I see after publication, and I’d like to limit the number of revolutions.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, writing tips, Choices Meant for Gods