Book Editing
The Importance Of Proper Punctuation In Book Editing, And Proofreading
Author: Nina Browne
Why is proper punctuation necessary? Well, if you have passed signs on the road saying “Smoking Pets and Bicycles are not allowed in this park” or “The best service mean’s XYZ company,” you know how important proofreading your documents is! So, if you intend to make a future career out of book editing and proofreading, you need to know proper punctuation.
A misplaced comma in a legal document caused one company a loss of over three million dollars. That case did not even involve the numerous spelling mistakes that make their way into our documents. So what will your reaction be when you are confronted with a sentence like this, “I asked my English teacher, “Can you tell me more about the right placement of comas, in a sentence?”” QED.
Let’s talk about homophones. “Right” and “write” are definitely not interchangeable, and sew do make sure that you make the write choice when righting your document! Also, do make sure that you do not use “sew” for “sow” or “so.” The meaning of any sentence will be changed if you use homonyms or homophones incorrectly. Just imagine a melodramatic heroine shrieking in a tragic manner, “I cannot bare it,” instead of “I cannot bear it.” So naturally, you need to know about homonyms and homophones when editing or proofreading any document.
You should also look at the usage of apostrophes and contractions while Book Editing and proofreading. There is a great difference between “its” and “it’s.” So, if you read something which says, “The dog wagged it’s tail happily,” you need to do a double take and double check! In the same way, plenty of people make mistakes between “they’re,” “their” and “there.”
You might be surprised to discover that many professional proofreaders read a sentence backwards. According to them, it makes it easier for them to spot grammatical mistakes. That is because the brain is not reading the document in a set pattern. So you are reading what has been written on the document, word by word, instead of what “looks” apparent to your brain on paper. You might want to enlarge the font size of the text, so that the mistakes jump out off (or off ?!) the screen. You might want to proofread documents a couple of hours after you have completed the writing. This means that you will look at the document from a fresh perspective. As a result, you may find it easier to edit it properly. You will add and subtract information from the document as required. If you are in a hurry to get the document’s (saw the difference between the apostrophe placement? That mistake was deliberate, by the way!) proofread, use the services of a professional company with experienced proofreaders and book editors.
Double checking is always a good idea. Even though you may have proofread or edited your document, it is always a good option to get somebody else to proofread your document once more. There is absolutely no tool available on the Internet that will take the place of experienced book editors and proofreaders. So make sure that your documents are edited by people who have many years of experience behind them in this field!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-ideas-articles/the-importance-of-proper-punctuation-in-book-editing-and-proofreading-2165894.html
About the Author
Nina Browne is a professional writer for www.grammar101.com. For more tips and information on fast, high quality proofreading services visit http://www.grammar101.com.
Tagged with: book editing • english proofreading • essay editing • grammar 101 • grammar101 com • manuscript proofreading • proofreading services
Filed under: Uncategorized
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
You are already well qualified…have you considered text book editing…look at your text books and contact these companies.
the internship is a great idea for the summer and the extra course will only help you land a job
if you want to edit other books contact publishers like Random House, etc.
New York City. You need to move there after college. You need to major in either journalism or english.
A “true” professional editor is just that. An editor. They are paid to put your ideas in the proper order, grammer, etc. Write to a publisher and find out if they can help you find one, or send out your manuscript and if the publisher likes it enough they will probably assign one to you.
http://celtx.com/
Proofreading and editing are two different functions. First, you need to be clear what these functions are. Second, the client needs to be clear what these functions are.
Proofreading: checking for typos, spelling errors, and grammar issues. Generally, proofreaders charge $1-$3 per page.
Editing: reading critically for POV, plot, character development, mood, theme, consistency, etc. A line by line edit generally is anywhere from $3-$5 per page.
So first you need to determine if you feel you are fully qualified to perform this work. Only you can answer that. Some people are very good at proofreading. Some are very good at editing. Few are expert at BOTH. I’m a good editor, but I suck at proofreading. This is why I employ a proofreader for our titles.
In order to do both jobs adequately, you will have to read the book twice (minimum) as each time you will be looking for different things. The two jobs are mutually exclusive. You can’t hunt typos at the same time you are trying to remember is Bob’s eyes were green or blue in chapter two but are brown in chapter seven.
Strunk’s Elements of Style
APA Manual
Have a look at http://www.dcmag.co.uk/ and although it mainly covers CS3 and elements, there is not a lot of difference.
Also, join http://www.redbubble.com/ where you will be able to join groups like those listed below.
http://www.redbubble.com/groups/graphic-editing-101
http://www.redbubble.com/pixelations-art-of-photoshop
http://www.redbubble.com/photoshop-help
RedBubble is TOTALLY free.
Hope this helps.
If you want to know more, then message me.
You will start as an apprentice. You need experience more than anything else to be an editor. Why don’t you see what there is available at different publishing houses and work your way up to the top?
Check with your editor and publisher, many want it sent to them in a certain format like MS word document format.
I took a few classes on line with eclecticacademy.com , they charge $20 for a six week course and you may download the classes and create your own book for future reference. I found this more effective than any book I purchased.
What do you think of professional book editing?
I want to get my book professionally edited but I’m worried about my ideas being stolen. I was going to get it copyrighted beforehand. If I do that, is the copyright still applicable to the “edited” version of the work ?
How much to charge for editing book?
I am going to edit a book of 60,000 words, 209 pages, but I’m not sure how much to charge as the client said price is negotiable and this is my first editing job. I don’t want to charge too much and ruin chances with future clients, but I don’t want to do it for nothing either.
The job includes proof-reading, editing, and giving comments on character development and the overall structure of the novel.
What is the best way to begin a career in book editing?
Hello! Can those of you who know about book editing please give me some advice as to how I can possibly enter into the field? The following is my experience:
* B.A. in English literature
* certificate in secondary English education
* one year of teaching middle school English
* several summers of assisting a professor in her research of high school students’ grammatical errors in writing (including coding and categorizing errors in essays, organizing data, and proofreading articles to be published in education journals)
* a lifelong passion and talent for grammar and spelling
My main questions are these:
1. Should I complete an editing certificate program at a university, or would that be a waste of time and money?
2. Would it be worthwhile for me to pursue an internship next summer, when I have time off from work?
3. I would like to stay away from newspapers and magazines and focus on books. Is this a realistic goal?
Any help will be very appreciated. Thanks!
What software is the best for book editing?
I am about to publish a book I am working on, but due to it’s content: math activities and game book, I need to create some drawings, before I send it to the editor, so please tell me wich is the best software for this. Thanks!
What is the rule book for editing in the publishing world?
I am doing some editing for a book company in Nepal and I want to brush up on the rules for proofreading for poetry, literature, academic works, etc.
What is the most current manual that shows the latest trend in grammar and also copy editing formats for published works?
Good book for editing photos in photoshop?
I’m looking for a recommendation of a good book about using photoshop to edit photos, more for things like improving colors and minor retouching, not “wacky” or extreme editing.
Learning by trial and error with the program is great but that’s not my question. I’m looking for books…
Telling me to search amazon isn’t a recommendation either… Anyone can search and read reviews on amazon. A real answer comes from experience.
Whats the best guide book for editing digital portraits on photoshop 7. I am new to photo editing?
I have brought Photoshop 7 for dummies and couldn’t really see anything in it about editing people, skin tones and airbrushing. I would be very gratefull if you could guide me in the right direction for a guide book to help me on this matter?
what kind of education is required for a career in book editing and where should I apply?
also, what major cities are home to book editing careers?
How do you get into the book editing field?
I’ve been searching online and I’m not really finding anything. I’m currently getting a major in English but there doesn’t seem to be any classes on editing or publishing. Can I get into freelance work right now or do I need to wait until I get my degree. Please if you have any answers or helpful websites I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
Is there a web based comic book editing software?
Is there any such thing as web based comic book editing software. A friend and me recently started collaborating over the internet to produce a web manga. But neither of us are able to afford software such a manga studio and other things. So we were wondering if there’s such a thing as free web based (As in you do it from the comfort of your web browser) comic editing software. One where we can add our own word and thought bubbles and maybe even allow coloring.