Welcome to Author Dock 4.0

Dear Author,

RE: Editing/Proofing options

While we do a technical proof of the layout as part of the service we offer, we don’t do copy editing/proofing. Here's what I suggest (which is always in flux based on client feedback):

The danger in proofing someone else’s work is that often, what may appear wrong to me is exactly what the writer intended.

Writer’s Digest offers a variety of services through their pool of editors, but to get pricing for proofing you do have to reformat your book to their specifications. A typical 50,000-word manuscript will run you about $350 to proof.

Online Grammer Checkers:

• Pro Writing Aid
• Grammarly
• Ginger
• WhiteSmoke

Google Docs also has a built-in grammar checker.

A client told me about Reedsy, but I don’t have any feedback on it yet.

Editing is subjective, and I’ve found that one author will love an editor that another author hated. I also feel that the number of concurrent projects an editor has at the time, as well as the deadline to complete the work will often impact the quality of work.

Locally, the gals at Crimson Quill might be a viable option, although their pricing seems reasonable, their availability may be less so.

Some final thoughts:¶

• Proofreading can’t be rushed! If you rush an editor, the quality of work their work will be impacted.
• When you advertise for an editor, often the only responses you get will be people who are available, and you have to ask yourself if they are good, why are they available? Referrals are always the best way to go.
• You can always release the 2nd edition at a later date, but should put your best work out, because if it's not edited much at all, you will run the risk of a bad review that will stick with the book even after you fix the problem.
• I always recommend an author get a printed proof because so many errors don't become evident until you see it in print, I believe it really has to do with how the brain works.
• You could let us drop your manuscript into PubWriter so you could have it read (text-to-speech) to you. Here's a sample. There's a small fee unless you are get it ready yourself (we can provide instructions on how to format it in markdown and share it with us via dropbox). There's also a way to do this using Pages on the Mac.

Grammarly¶

Grammarly is quickly becoming an indispensable technology for all writers - I can’t imagine the hours of rework that we could have avoided if every author used Grammarly BEFORE sending us their manuscript to format!

Here’s a video I made for a client to show it in action.

Here’s the MS Word Add-in (if you are on a PC):
https://www.grammarly.com/office-addin/windows

If you are on a Mac, you'll need to copy & paste into their web editor, which is very easy to do.

Answer Hub¶

Please view this discussion in the Answer Hub for more options, including contact information for a few editors I've worked with.

Hope that helps!

~Brian