The biggest misconception that most people have about these corrective methods is thinking that copyediting and editorial proofreading are the same.  While they are similar, they are also very different.

Proofreading is done after a body of work is completed, but before it goes to publication or is distributed.  It’s the final step taken in the completion of a work.  A proofreader’s job is to scan the piece for grammar, syntax, and punctuation errors. The meanings of words and terminology are not important to a proofreader.  Their main job is to focus on accuracy in a body of work that is otherwise finished and ready to go “out the door”.

While proofreaders concentrate on the final and overall presentation of the body of work, copyeditors concentrate on the details and terminology in a manuscript or draft.  They perform fact checking, question sentences that raise doubt or seem non-plausible, and ensure that there is consistency throughout the piece.  Although copyeditors don’t always implement the changes they are recommending, they always note them for the author to consider.  Like proofreaders,  they also check for  spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, but  in a text that hasn’t been formatted

There are three types of copyediting:  baseline (light), medium, and substantial (heavy).

Baseline Copyediting:

In this type of editing, you will:

• Correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar
• Correct incorrect usage of words and verify cross-references
• Make sure that spelling, grammar, capitalizations, and abbreviations are consistent
• Make sure that lists are in the proper sequence, such as in alphabetical order
• Make note of the first references to figures and tables
• Check content to detect spots where copy is missing or inaccurate, such as misspellings or misuse.  You do not rewrite or add text to accomplish smoother transitions or to help with structure.

Medium Copyediting:

In this type of editing, you will do everything listed for baseline editing plus:

• Change the text and headers for parallel structure (parallel structure is expressing similar ideas in similar ways).  The following sentence is an example of parallel structure:   She liked to dance, sing, and act. The next sentence is not parallel structure.  She liked to dance, sing and acting.
• Make note of inappropriate figures of speech
• Check that previews or summaries match the main content
• Make sure the plot progresses and check for consistency in character traits and story lines (Fiction Manuscripts.)
• Enforce style and tone throughout an entire body of work
• Change passive voice to active voice when required
• Make note of incorrect statements

Substantive Copyediting:

In this type of editing you will do everything listed for baseline and medium plus:

• Improve the flow of text and contribute to the overall quality of the writing
• Suggest actual changes rather than just pointing out problems
• Enforce a tone if the author or publisher requests it
• Remove wordiness
• Make transitions smoother and rearrange sentences to make the text easier to read.
• Suggest additions and deletions at the sentence and paragraph level
• Participate in the actual re-writing of the text, if author and publisher agree.

This is the story of three elves:  Beatrice, the “overflowing with too many ideas,” writer, Maxie, her “details, just give me the details,” copyeditor, and Ginger, her “sharp as a tack, eyes like an eagle,” proofreader.

At one end of a very long, marble table sits Beatrice, who is just finishing a third draft of her manuscript,  “Santa’s Elves Steal Christmas, ” a.k.a  “Santa’s Elves Take Back the Night.”  She loves being a writer because she can spew out all her ideas without worrying (at least not too much), whether or not “who or whom” is being used correctly as in on page 100, which reads:

“Santa was found sleeping with whom???” asked Rudolph.

(Or should it be who???  Hmmmm. Maxie will know for sure.)

Or whether, on page 67, her mentioning that “in 1982 Santa decided to skip Christmas altogether because of  excruciating pain caused by kidney stones,” is a provable fact on wikipedia.

Or if on page 23, when she first refers to Santa’s elves as “cheap labor,” and then later, on page 50 as “aficionados” might be a problem for the reader.

No. Beatrice rests assured that her relentlessly reliable copyeditor Maxie, sitting at the middle of table, will take her manuscript and make sure that all of the above will be properly scrutinized, as well as confirming she has spelled her words correctly. (Beatrice can never remember if the word recommendation has two c’s or two m’s, but Maxie will for sure!). And when she is being emphatic, as in “Santa Skipped Christmas.”, Maxie will make sure she uses an exclamation point, and not a boring old period.

He might read a sentence that he believes doesn’t flow as in, “Mrs. C. tried to get Mr. C to lay off red meat. Mrs. C. gave him kale. He absolutely loves red meat.”  He may recommend (Is that spelled right? Better make sure I spell check before sending this off) that Beatrice change it to, “Mrs. C tried to get Mr. C to lay off red meat, which he absolutely loves. She offered him kale instead.”

But Beatrice has been know to be a bit stubborn, so we’ll see if she takes Maxie’s recommendation.

Now when Maxie is finished, the manuscript will move into the last phase of the washing cycle, the spin cycle if you will.  Ginger, who sits at the opposite end of the table, could care less if things flow or don’t flow.  She wants the manuscript to look presentable, just like her matching elfin green hat, coat and shoes. She will review the text in such a way that may seem like she is not actually reading it all, and might miss the deeper meaning of things.

“If I want deep, I’ll watch Oprah,” she says.

She will place her GIGANTIC magnifying glass over her miniscule right eye, and look for glaring punctuation problems.  She may even mark up the pages and margins using her secret agent proofreader marks (which Beatrice absolutely hates).

Ginger loves rules and wants everyone to follow them, especially Beatrice. As in, always put a comma after the adverb therefore, when a semi-colon precedes it so that the thoughts are connected.

Beatrice could care less about these rules, or any rules for that matter, which is why she has written this “tell-all tale,” about Santa, Mrs. C, and his mistress Vixen—no not the reindeer, but the woman that fourth reindeer is secretly named after.

Ginger will give it the last look over, making sure there are no glaring mistakes, and that the final, overall presentation is PERFECT. Once Ginger gives it her OK, (which doesn’t happen so easily) and Beatrice begrudgingly incorporates the changes, it’s off to the printer.  And Maxie and Ginger eagerly wait for Beatrice to deliver yet another steamy story that they can sink their elfin webbed hands into.

Top 10 Proofreading Tips

1.    Practice, practice, practice.  Becoming proficient at proofreading doesn’t happen overnight. The more you do it, the better you will become.

2.    You’ll eventually work out a method that suits you, and that comes with time.

3.    Don’t assume you know something—if it feels off, and you are in doubt, check it, double check it, and research it. That goes for all the parts of a body of work:  facts, spelling, grammar, punctuation and layout.

4.    Take your time and read every word slowly.  Really focus on what you are saying so you can hear the words. Read out loud because you are more likely to hear if there is a mistake.

5.    Read exactly what is presented on the page, not what you assume is there out of habit. For example, the sentence may read, “I went the store.” The word to is missing, but you may not see or hear that it is missing because you assume it’s there, simply out of habit.  This skill may take awhile to really perfect, but it’s well worth practicing.

6.    Proofread the body of work more than once to ensure accuracy.

7.    Be conscious and alert.  A common error most of us make is to look at a word and not recognize it as being incorrect because we have always spelled it incorrectly.

8.    Don’t proofread when you are tired, and stop and take a break if you are beginning to feel distracted or fatigued. If you don’t, it could really affect the accuracy of your work because proofreading requires great concentration.

9.    Eliminate items from your environment that could distract or disrupt your concentration. If the phone, clock or TV is going to pull you out of the “proofreading zone,” then remove these items so you don’t even have to see them, let alone hear them. Even the slightest distraction can cause you to overlook something.

10.  Always have your style guide and style sheet accessible.

Tell me what you think your weaknesses would be as a proofreader based on errors you’ve made in proofing your own work.  For instance, I’ll often have extra spaces between sentences, I can write ‘are’ instead of ‘or’ which a spell check won’t pick up, I’ll reverse letters and my eye won’t pick it up unless I read my work aloud….

-I leave out words like to or it because my mind moves so fast when I am typing, and subsequently reading over the work. So I will be thinking the sentence correctly in my head, but will leave out a word. An example is,

“I told you to bring down the stairs.”  I left out it after bring.

-I am comma crazy. I will add commas even when one may not be required.  I add commas when I am listing items in a sentence without really knowing for sure if they are all necessary.

-Punctuation in side or outside parenthesis? That is the question.  I am not consistent with this.

-My most recent faux pas was that I sent out a newsletter to my email list regarding an event, and had the right day of the week paired with the wrong date. So instead of reading Sunday, May 4^th it read Sunday, May 3^rd.  I kept reading it over and over looking for spelling, grammar and layout, but never once did I check the date.

-I always spell recommend wrong.  It’s a poor habit.

-Sometimes I add one space after a period before the next sentence begins. At other times, I add two spaces. I am inconsistent with my spacing.

For the Proofreader, here’s a little humor… Read here

What’s the difference between editing and proofreading?