The Woods copy-edit

[sleigh]

The other day, I received the copy-edit notes and current PFD file for THE WOODS. which Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick will be releasing later this year in trade paperback and ebook format.

I am appalled!

No, not because it was a terrible copy-edit. Quite the opposite. I'd sent Shahid at Arc Manor the file I'd used for the ebook version of THE WOODS I'd released myself, which I and a few other people had proofed, and which should have been relatively clean. But Laura, Arc Manor's proofreader, came up with 14 pages of notes and corrections. While several of the notes concerned 'house style' changes, and yes, there were a couple STETS, many of her comments concerned simple mistakes. Errors. Textual problems I somehow managed to miss. Things like:

p. 53: "I listened to the fading sounds of his wild retreat, then at Sheila." Add “looked” after “then”?

Laura has reminded me what a godsend a good proofreader can be. And reminded me that I ain't one -- at least of my own work. Thanks, Laura!

Comments

Your Own

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

Writing is the hardest to proof. It always sez just wot you meant to say in just the words you meant to use, except, of course, when it don't.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

Rule #1: "You can't proofread your own stuff." Your brain knows what is supposed to be there and that's what it sees, not what really is there.

It's a sad thing that so many newspapers and publishers are dispensing with proofreaders and copy editors as an unnecessary expense. Kudos to Arc Manor for maintaining quality standards.

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

It's also a fact that most people proofread better on paper than on a screen. It's true. I do it too.

[podling]

I proofread about a dozen books a year (not my main gig) and it's crazy how often you see those types of errors. Like someone else said... Your mind fills it in if you wrote it, so you go right past it.

[parsleigh.livejournal.com]

I did some proof reading of this, too, and missed it. I do find I do better on paper than online.