Writing a book is a wonderful endeavor regardless of the reasons for the work. An author could write because a general subject means something to them or applies to their life in some way, or to share something specific with the world or just because writing is a passion and they want nothing more than to be an accomplished author. No matter the reason for the writing, there is a sense of pride and accomplishment when an author finishes a manuscript even though the work is still far from complete.

Once a manuscript is finished and the author has said all they think they have needed to say within the work, there are other things to do before the manuscript can be considered ready for publication and marketing. Obviously the author should always run a spelling and grammar check, but that is still not enough to consider any written work completed.

The next thing an author needs to do is double check for any other errors such as incomplete sentences, unfinished paragraphs and ideas that seem to go nowhere. Even if a spelling and grammar check is done, the program the author uses sometimes will not catch all the errors, which means the author or a person the author asks to proof read should go over the manuscript in search of any more missed errors. Proof reading is also a good time to make a note of any other problems that might be found along the way like ideas or thoughts that were left out and repetitive words, phrases or ideas.

Another problem that should be addressed during proof reading is the formatting of the entire manuscript. Formatting issues can range through a number of simple errors that can depend on what the author is writing. For example: the use of paragraph indents, extra spacing after an indent, too many spaces between words, spacing or lack of spacing between paragraphs, title page errors, words and phrases with a strike through that does not apply to the manuscript, and any comments or notation correspondence that does not apply to the written work.

Formatting errors can quickly cause a reader to stop reading. While editing and revising is a must for any manuscript, the reader does not want to read through the process unless of course the work is a ‘how to’ or DIY guide that is teaching the reader to edit and revise on their own.

Placing notations, crossing out with a strike through, highlights, random words in red, comments from another person, personal notations or any other mark ups can be very confusing formatting problems that will inevitably cause a reader to turn away from the work. That being said, there is nothing wrong with placing any of these things directly into a manuscript but they should be removed prior to publication and marketing. There are some good ways to go through the proofreading, editing and revising process that will make it easier on the author and not subject a reader to the errors.

1. The author could make a second copy of the manuscript; these separate documents will become the ‘rough draft’ and ‘final copy’. Allow the markups to remain in one copy and use it as a reference to ‘fix’ the other copy so that it is ‘reading ready’. Once the copy without the notations has been ‘fixed’ or completely edited, this will be the copy that is ready to be published and marketed.

2. If an author does not want to make a second copy, they can easily take notes on a simple clipboard or notebook (pencil and paper method) to reference as they proofread the manuscript.

3. Correspondence from another person who is proofreading can be placed in a second document on a computer or the author can make handwritten notes on paper so that markups and comments do not ‘clutter up’ the original work.

It is safe to say that nobody is perfect; even the most successful writers have to proofread, edit and revise their work or have someone else do these things for them.