Quick Proof Reading Can Lead to a Costly Mistake

 by: Laura Hickey

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One Isn't Enough When it Comes to Proof Reading Your Work

Here's a story of an author who had to learn the hard way that one proof reading isn't enough.

She had finished her manuscript and was really excited. She knew a local retired English teacher and approached her about her book. She offered to pay for her services but the retired English teacher refused. She expressed interest in proof-reading for the reason of helping a local writer. The author was happy and satisfied about having her work edited for free. After she edited the mistakes, she had her book typesetted. That seemed like the logical step at the time. Then she sent the files to the printers. She order 300 copies.

As she started selling, politely a women told her about some mistakes in the book. She was horrified by this. She put away her fears and reviewed her book. Her happiness had deflated within minutes. There were mistakes and more than a few. This was her fault. She should've checked throughly before approving her printing order. But there's also another lesson in this story. Never trust one person's proof reading. Have relatives and friends that you trust not to steal your work to proof-read. Heck, even hire a professional as well if you feel that your manuscript still needs editing. Always have more than one person proof reading your work. What two people may miss, the third person reviewing may notice.

What happened to her 300 copies? Some went to reviewers, others for free copies. Please keep in mind to warn the reviewer if you do have some bad copies about the grammar and other mistakes. Don't make the same costly decision she did. One editing, isn't enough.