Proofreading

[Christopher Valen]

Check out this hilarious YouTube video on proofreading. And then think about it the next time you're proofing your galleys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OonDPGwAyfQ

[I. J. Parker]

I think I might have loved that, but I just discovered that my new pup has chewed through the audio wires. Thanks anyway.

[Christopher Valen]

Sorry to hear that, I.J. I'm sure the video will be on YouTube for a while. You can check it out once repairs are made. New pups can be hazardous:)

[I. J. Parker]

Dear God, yes. This one works silently while I labor over my latest book. At least she didn't electrocute herself.

[Caroline Trippe]

This one works silently while I labor over my latest book.

She is just "helping," don't you know?
There must be some "products" that taste nasty to doggies that you can rub on your wires...but I'm not sure what they are.

[I. J. Parker]

Good idea. Some research is indicated! :) Thanks.

[cj forrest]

This is one of the funniest videos I seen in a long time. What scares me is that it makes sense in a variety of levels.

[I. J. Parker]

Having replaced my speakers (Thank you, Puppy!), I got it this time. The spell checker is amusing. In my case, it marks all characters' names, plus Japanese words. And of course it doesn't tell you, if the misspelled word happens to be in the dictionary and means something altogether different (i.e. public & pubic).

But what gets me is the grammar checker. It's totally wrong in a large number of instances, besides being useless when you're writing fiction.

[Christopher Valen]

Exactly, I.J. That's why having a good copy editor and proof reading galleys are so important. Still, mistakes do slip through. It's surprising––and frustrating––how many times you can read a manuscript or galley and miss something.

[I. J. Parker]

It's probably impossible to catch every last thing. Novels are monsters in size and complexity. I can handle both grammar and spelling as well as any one, but I miss something every time. The copy editors are very good at publisher's house rules. In my case they are also great on capitalization and hyphenation, both of which mystify me.

The business with the galleys (proofs) has improved since they transfer text electronically. If you keep notes on the prior revisions, you can do spot checks instead of rereading the entire ms.

By the way, I have always transferred changes to my own copy. This turned out to be helpful when we needed accurate copies for foreign clients, etc.

[Christopher Valen]

Yes, transferring everything electronically to a PDF copy does make it easier. And I do keep notes for each revision so I don't have to keep rereading the entire manuscript. I also make changes on my own copy as well. All good ideas to save time and make the whole process a bit easier. Thanks, I.J.

[Morgan St. James]

That is really funny. I wish I'd seen it when I wrote my columns about proofreading in the Las Vegas edition of Examiner.com. Mike Dennis and I write a column called You Don't Say for the Sisters in Crime Southern Nevada newsletter that deals with the foibles of the English language. This is right in step with it.

[Christopher Valen]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Morgan. I was not only impressed with the humor, but also with the difficulty of memorizing the whole speech.