Proofreading is the final step before publishing. Its aim is to ensure your documents are polished and error-free. It is the final tidy up, finding any problems that have managed to slip through the copy edit stage, and checking for any problems that may have been introduced during typesetting. Let me help!

How I will do this:

The text is rechecked to ensure the following:

• Consistency of style and language
• That no spelling, grammar or punctuation errors were missed
• That there are no discrepancies or inconsistencies in the spelling of names, capitalisation, hyphens, punctuation, etc. as per the style sheet
• Punctuation of dialogue is consistent throughout
• Checking that the pages have been correctly typeset, for example:
  • Marking any typesetting errors for correction
  • Faults in design of text, layout and type specifications
  • No material has been accidently duplicated, transposed or deleted
  • Checking against previous copy, that the sequence of materials is correct
  • Checking the hyphenation at the end of lines is correct and they have not been stacked either
  • Checking that all headings are consistent
  • Pagination and chapter sequencing is correct
  • Checking there are no extra letters or line spacings
  • Checking paragraph indentations
  • Checking for widows and orphans.

This stage of the process is not for making sweeping changes, or doing a line by line/word by word copy edit. This is the final quality control check of the manuscript to ensure consistency and accuracy, before the manuscript is published.

Included with this service, I also supply a style sheet (if one has not been provided), where I will record all decisions regarding style, hyphenation, spelling, punctuation and capitalisation, that have been made.