A Second Set of Eyes

A second set of eyes lets people focus on your message, not your mistakes. Overlooked errors are distracting! We want our readers to have a seamless reading experience. Our writing should fascinate and never frustrate.

Proofreading involves finding and correcting errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and formatting. A proofreader also looks for missing or repeated words, and they will check to see that words are used correctly. A proofreader does not fix syntax (sentence structure) or make the writing concise, clear, consistent, comprehensive, and correct. That is the job of a copy editor.

If we don’t care enough about our writing to polish the details, how can we expect our readers to care enough to read it? We put time and effort into things we care about. When we care about our writing, we won’t hesitate to focus on the little things. And people will notice!

Proofreading ensures we say what we mean to say and can save us embarrassment.

Punctuation has the power to change the meaning of a sentence.

If our writing is polished and refined it will make a good impression and we know what they say about first impressions. It will most certainly make the difference between not only recommendations of your book to other readers but future book sales.

Most typos don’t cause any monetary misfortune, but now and then, typos cost big bucks! The article “10 of the Most Expensive Typos in History” mentions several errors that will give you pause for thought!

Authors who take the time to have their manuscript proofread have a better chance of finding a literary agent and getting their book published. If you look on Amazon, you’ll find that books get bad reviews when readers become disgruntled by too many typos.

A smooth reading experience makes it a pleasure to get lost in a book. Who wants to get yanked out of a riveting story because of problematic punctuation or grammar?

I hope this article has improved your understanding of the importance of proofreading and how it adds immense value to any written document.