What I Do
Proofreading is the last stage of the editorial process before publication. I’ll carry out a thorough review of your material in its final layout by:
- checking grammar, spelling and punctuation
- ensuring consistency of style (eg capitalisation and hyphenation)
- ensuring consistency of layout (eg line spacing and indention)
- checking chapter headings and page numbers against table of contents
- checking position of artwork and that captions match the text
- checking cross-references
- querying repetitive, contradictory or ambiguous text
- flagging anything that needs further action.
Proofreading is the last chance to fix errors that have slipped through previous rounds of editing. It isn’t a substitute for editing.
Formats
I’m able to proofread in the following formats:
- on screen using Track Changes in Microsoft Word
- on screen using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC for PDFs
- on paper using BSI proof-correction marks.
Style Sheet
I create a style sheet for each project I proofread. A style sheet is a record of style choices, and it’s used to ensure consistency within a text or across a series of texts. If you have your own style sheet, I’ll work with this.