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NEXT STEPS

After I return your edited manuscript, the next steps are to contact publishing experts for cover design, formatting/interior layout, and proofreading services.

Now is a good time to contact these individuals for the next steps of your journey. The sooner you can contact them, the better.

WHAT IS COVER DESIGN AND FORMATTING/INTERIOR LAYOUT?

The cover design involves the design of the front and back of the book. Hiring a professional cover designer can help you make a marketable cover that encapsulates the purpose and personality of your book.

The formatting/interior layout is the process of designing the inside of your book to make it look professional and organized. These design experts are skilled at incorporating images and charts into your text if needed, or just giving your book an overall style that best matches your genre.

Cover designers and formatting experts should have samples that they can share with you, either on their website or via email.

WHY DO I NEED A PROOFREADER?

While I strive for accuracy with the developmental and copy editing of your project, it is likely that a few errors will remain. Developmental editing focuses on the big picture, including the organization, your voice, and the tone throughout the manuscript. The copy editing focuses on the sentence-level and word-level issues.

Between the manuscript being passed back and forth, and the odd things that can happen during formatting/interior layout stage, a few errors will linger. But a proofreader can catch them for you!

Proofreaders are trained to catch the things that can trick our brains. Our brains can fill in missing information or autocorrect things as we’re reading. Therefore, someone who has not been as deeply involved with the project (like the editor or author) should complete a final pass through a document before you publish.

Research cites a well-edited book will be 90–95 percent error free, and that is after all editors have looked at it: a developmental editor, a copy/line editor, and a proofreader. Often in traditional publishing these are three separate people, but at the very least, the proofreader should be a different person.

A polished product leaves the best impression with your readers. I strongly suggest investing in proofreader services.

WHAT DO I LOOK FOR IN A PROOFREADER?

I have attached a list of recommended proofreaders. When you hire one, please make sure you give them your style sheet so they can ensure consistency. I will send you the style sheet when I return the final round of edits to you.

If hiring a proofreader is not financially feasible for you, here are some suggestions:

• Ask trusted associates to look over your manuscript to spot additional spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors I may have missed. A good tip is to have each associate look over a different portion of your book.

• Tell your associates to read to find errors, so they don’t read too quickly like they might while reading for pleasure. Sometimes it helps to zoom into the document to look more closely at the punctuation.

• Understand that asking a trusted associate to proofread may introduce errors that a professional would not. We all learned English differently and that can influence the untrained associate’s suggestions.