I used to think I could edit and proofread my books all by myself. Really, I did. After all, I catch errors in other writers’ books all the time. But here’s the thing…you KNOW what you’re trying to say, so if you say it wrong or misspell a word, your mind sees what you MEANT to say or type. Our minds play tricks like that. You should always be the first editor/proofreader of your book and you should be the last. But in the middle, you should have other people looking at your manuscript.
So, what if you can’t afford an editor? Barter for services if you can! This advice actually comes from my friend, Ruth Ann Nordin, a very prolific author. And that’s what I do. I have some very good beta readers who are also great editors and proofreaders. One actually does that in her full time job. I do the same for them, and it’s worked very well for us. And it’s funny how one might catch totally different things than another. In the last book I had them read, there was only one thing that two of them suggested changing, and both of them had a different way of changing it. That’s when you, as an author, have to make the decision. Should you do it your original way, or pick one of the ways the editors suggested? Remember, I said you should be the first and last editor. Ultimately, it’s your book, and you’re going to be responsible for the content.
There are at LEAST four people who look at my books. Two of them are authors (they write in totally different genres), one is an avid reader, and the last one is my mom. Yes, my mom. I have several different people take a look. Now, I know people say not to use relatives or friends because they won’t tell you the truth. Well, my mom will definitely tell me the truth. And the funny thing is, she’s almost 79 years old, and yet she caught an error a professional editor didn’t catch. That’s the beauty of having multiple people look at your books.
I can honestly say that, lately, I’m finding as many or more errors in traditionally published books than in indie published books. The book I’m currently reading is published by a small publisher, so I don’t know what kind of editors they have, but I’m finding multiple errors in the book.
I had a reader call me the other day (we have a professional relationship in my full time job, and she starting reading my books) and I was so happy when she told me she was impressed because she had found no errors in Soul of a Vampire. She told me she had just read a traditionally published, popular book and found several. She was full of praise for how well my book was edited. That made me all kinds of happy. 🙂
So, tell me, do errors pull you out of the story? Does it depend on how many errors there are? I would love to hear from both fellow authors AND readers who don’t write and see if there’s a difference of opinion.
lauralynnelliott.com 
Hey! I’m glad you brought this up. I read a new release from one of my favorite authors recently, and found error after error….traditionally published does not mean error free, especially today. I feel bad for those authors, because I think the editing quality at publishing houses used to be FAR superior to what they have now. And the authors aren’t used to cleaning up the editing — in the past that was done for them by their publisher.
Publishers do very little for authors anymore, in my opinion. That’s why I continue to pursue my indie career. I’ve never even tried to get published traditionally, because I can’t think of much a publisher would do for me (except take part of my royalties) that I can’t do myself. Unless you have a tremendous best-seller, no one wants to promote you.
I have a proofreading business and what helps me the most is that when I read my mind sees the book as a movie. The errors screech everything to a halt.
I’m writing my own series of books as well, and I struggle with the same thing of finding it hard to believe I wouldn’t catch my own errors. But I know it’s true. I have beta readers lined up and have bartered with authors.
The more books I proof the more anal I’m getting about errors in the books I’m not proofing. I have written one particular publishing house several times about their obvious errors. One of their books changed the guys name in the very same paragraph! They didn’t seem to care much. I feel it reflects poorly on them but also the author. So yes, errors mess with my already messed up mind.
Even a professional proofreader like yourself might have problems catching your own errors. It’s just the way our minds work. I mean, I catch a lot of my errors (yes, I’m one of those people who have to edit as I go, no matter what other people say about that), but I still don’t catch them all.
If errors in books bother me as an author, I know they have to drive you crazy as a proofreader. And it bothers me that publishing houses don’t care. Something else that bothers me…these people who spout off the drivel about how indie books are so horribly edited, blah, blah, blah, and I see more errors from publishers. Unfortunately, indies are held up to a higher standard. We should be held up to the SAME standard.
You make a valid point. I have spotted many an error in other work and I too struggle to find them in my own.
I’m looking at paid services an am starting to wonder if the books will ever earn enough to cover the cost, which puts me off writing.
Thanks for sharing.
It’s very important to build online relationships with other authors (which you may have already done). That way, you might find writers in your genre who know of editing services that aren’t so far out of reach. That’s how I found people. Sometimes it takes awhile.
You’ll hear terms like copy editor, line editor, content editor, etc. When I took a class at a recent writer’s convention, I found out that some of these are the same thing. I just use the same few people to do everything, because they’re good at all of it. 🙂
Last time I used 4 different people read over my novel. But this time I’m gonna have it professionally done, plus the 4 people that have already read it and made notes. Plus I’m super anal and edit looking for specific things: dialogue, characterization, etc…
All I can say is make sure the professional is REALLY a professional. After some of the errors I’ve been seeing in traditionally published books, I don’t know who the professionals are anymore. LOL. Besides, one of my four is a professional. 🙂
Just echoing this one. I’ve paid several professionals and ended up with the same amount of errors as I usually got with my team of non-paid beta readers/proofreaders/editors who I bargain services with. It’s very hard to find a professional who can catch 98% of the errors. I don’t expect anyone to catch 100%, but if I’m dealing with someone who is running a business, I sure do expect 98% (and rarely get it).
I agree, Ruth. Professionals should be able to catch almost all errors (ideally all, but we are human). I felt so good the other day when a reader told me they didn’t find a single error in Soul of a Vampire, but she had found several in a popular traditionally published book she had recently read. That speaks very well of my beta readers. 😉
Right or wrong, I expect to find errors in indie books, so when I come across them I tend to skim over and move on and they don’t bother me. When I notice something in a trad published book, I smile. 🙂
Yes, that makes me smile, too. 😛
Swapping services with people who know what they’re doing and what you need them to look for is the best way to go, in my opinion. I don’t know why people think family and friends can’t do a good job. My husband catches more errors than anyone else (including the professionals who I have paid). And he’d brutally honest if something doesn’t work. I can take the criticism from him and from any other author friend because I know they care about me and want my books to be the best they can be.
I’ve found that going over the book a final time while listening to my Kindle’s text-to-speech feature and reading it on my computer does wonders in self-editing. I do that after everyone else is finished with their part and I polished up stuff they pointed out. 😀
I used to do my proofing on the computer, but I found I catch more errors when I print it out. We are the first and last proofreaders of our own books, but those in between people are VERY important. 😉
My mom would be honest, too. She’s kind of disappointed that I haven’t worked on that Christian romance I started a long time ago. LOL. She’s definitely honest about that. 🙂