Printing Your E-Book Before Proofreading

The final editing task to complete your e-book manuscript is to proofread it to catch any last errors. When you’ve worked on the same material for months or years, though, it can be almost impossible to spot your own typos. Though your eyes know what you meant to write, they skim over the words on the page.

One simple trick for improving your ability to proofread is to print your manuscript. You’ll see it in a different way, and it’s easier on your eyes than reading on a computer screen. You can easily circle words or phrases on a printed version of your book, too — you don’t have to make corrections in the manuscript as you’re proofing.

You can either print your e-book on your home printer or use a print-on-demand service to create a single copy of your book, for your own use. I’ve done this several times via www.lulu.com , and it usually costs around $10 for a full-length novel.

When you proof, go slowly, and have a pen or highlighter in your hand. Look out for these common errors:

Misspellings and confusing words: Double-check any of your habitual trouble spots.

Missing punctuation: Especially scrutinize closing quotation marks and closing parentheses.

Grammatical mistakes: They often creep in during editing.

The proofing stage isn’t the place to edit for flow or voice. If you spot a jarring error, fix it — but resist the urge to rewrite paragraph after paragraph of your manuscript. At this point, you’re only focusing on eliminating errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation.