By Elaine Viets
Are there more typos in novels these days?
Readers complain about “it’s” instead of “its,” “grizzly murders” (beware of those killer bears), and plain old misspellings.
Yes. There are more typos, in my professional opinion.
I’m speaking as a professional proofreader. I worked my way through college proofreading everything from phone books (snore) to medical journals, including The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, along with Allergy, Surgery, and more. Reading medical journals gave me a lifelong distrust of doctors.
I’ve never forgotten proofing that stirring editorial in The American Journal of Surgery, reminding doctors to count their sponges and surgical instruments before sewing a patient back up.
I proofread from 1968 to 1972, and made $1.59 an hour, forty cents more than the minimum wage. Each medical journal was proofread three times, by three different people. They were nearly flawless.
Publishers can’t afford to do that any more. Now you’re lucky if your book is read once. It’s your job to catch those typos.
Betty Wilson, a master proofreader, taught me the trade. She believed hunting typos was a matter of life and death – and for medical books she was right.
It’s harder to proofread your own books. Your mind substitutes the right word for the mistake that’s there.
But Betty’s three-step method will help you catch more. If you’re like me, you’re better at catching typos on paper than on a computer screen, so if you aren’t reading page proofs, print out the manuscript.
Here’s how I read my page proofs:
(1) Read the novel through once.
Find a quiet spot with good light. Then turn off the TV, CD player and other distractions, and pour yourself some caffeine. 
If I’m reading a 320-page novel, I break it into 70 to 80 pages a day. Take short breaks every two or three chapters. Pour more caffeine, scratch the cat, stretch, rest your eyes, then go back to reading.
(2) Read your book again, holding a piece of plain white paper under each line.
You will be surprised how many typos you missed the first time.
When you’ve finished with the white paper read, you’ll be sure you’ve caught every single mistake. Boy, are you in for a surprise. It’s time for Step three.
(3) Read your novel out loud.
You don’t need to shout it out. You can mumble quietly in your chair. Your family’s used to that. But reading your novel out loud is crucial. Also, crushingly boring. And hard on the throat.
This time, skip the caffeine. It dries out your throat. Drink water. Cold will do, but I use the radio announcer’s trick for scratchy throats. I drink hot water with a slice of lemon. It works.
So does reading your book aloud. You will be shocked to find still more typos. I guarantee you’ll catch at least four more this way.
Will you get them all? Not this time.
But you will see the last few typos – when your finished novel arrives.
***
DEAD-END JOB FANS: Enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of BOARD STIFF, the ultimate beach book, in time for Labor Day. Hope you get to take my 12th DEJ book to the beach. Hurry! Sweepstakes ends tomorrow, August 16. Click on
http://elaineviets.com/new/Contests/Contest_Enter.asp
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I am the terriblest prufreader ever, trulyy. Therefour, I pay pepole to due it four me. Works grate.
…
I Joke People…my brother is actually the terriblest ever….I’m a distant second…
Actually Elaine these are spectacular tips. I do the reading aloud thing, but I can see the value in the others. Having it mostly well proof read before sending it to an editor can save $$ too for us indies…not to mention making it more likely to get a better shot at a big boy deal.
You nailed it, Basil. I heard an NY editor say she wasn’t going to buy a book she liked because she didn’t want to deal with the typos.
More typos turn up after the line and copy editors and page setters get hold of your work. A common one I find is when a line should be bumped ahead to a new paragraph. Thus you have to keep an eye out for spacing problems. Missing or incorrect punctuation is another one to watch for during your proofreading sessions. For example, this last round I found a reversed quote mark. It requires intense read-throughs to catch these errors. The most I can do in one day is 50 pages. Good tips, Elaine.
Right, Nancy. Every time some else touches your copy, they risk adding more typos. Sort of like meddling with a crime scene.
This is gold, Elaine. Thank you. I am the world’s worst when it comes to proofreading. This will help.
Proofing your own work is harder than reading someone else’s Joe.
Tyops are the bain of our existence.
And the Internet doesn’t help — it gives us instant opportunities to make mistakes.
Great tips, Elaine. I have a daily round of edits I do as I continue to write my word count goal, so every word gets scrutinized over and over as I head toward the finish. Reading aloud is great advice. It’s part of my final process. Next time I’ll try it with lemon water.
I’ve tried it with scotch, Jordan, but the typo rate goes up.
*snort*
Great tips, Elaine. Despite what others have claimed here, I’m really the worst proofer. I’ll definitely try your 3-step plan in the future.
Hm — you can’t all claim that title. Maybe we need a reader’s choice vote.
The word tedious comes to mind. Also the word necessary.
The idea of the blank paper under each line is a great idea but I know what will happen. I’ll end up changing words, sentences, paragraphs, instead of looking for typos. Every time I think, “okay, that’s it, I’m done, all I have to do is proofread” I end up with new ideas on how to make it better.
But I’ll give it a whirl.
Before you use the blank paper tip, Amanda, re-read the fine print in your contract that says if your changes are more than 10% of the pages, you may have to pay for them. It will help you choose between necessary and unnecessary changes.
Good to know, thanks Elaine.
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”
Mark Twain
Mark Twain, my favorite Missouri writer. I also like Abe Lincoln on the subject. It goes something like this: The doctors gave me so much medicine to get well, I was sick for a long time.
What a great tutorial, Elaine. Thank you for the great tips.
I’m actually a good proofreader, and people pay me to do it, which is nice. I tell people I love editing work because it allows me to use my Grammar Nazi tendencies to help rather than hurt. But I definitely wouldn’t publish anything without having it proofed by a different set of eyes (really, more than one).
I do find more typos now than ever before. And, I’m grateful you mentioned the “it’s” vs. “its” — that one is my grammatical pet peeve. Much like James Scott Bell and semicolons.
Just as Basil pointed out, self-publishing authors can certainly save money on editing if their manuscript is as clean as possible before sending it off. The tips you outlined here are good ones I can pass along to help authors get the most bang for their buck.
Now, I’m going to submit my entry for your giveaway.
Elaine,
I went to Amazon to look up your book, BOARD STIFF, and I had a good chuckle after reading your story above about proofing medical texts. The search results on Amazon for “Board Stiff” list your book first, then the third book on the list is this one:
Board Stiff: Preparation for Anesthesia Orals: Expert Consult – Online and Print, 3e by Christopher Gallagher MD
LOL.Didn’t read that one, and knowing what I do about doctors, it would have scared me stiff.
Would you rather the docs don’t count the sponges? 0.o
I worked as a proofer for a small house for about a year and can attest to the condition of manuscripts. I would get them in Word docs with the big red squiggly lines that the writer had let go right on through to the editor.
I do the reading for proofing and flow. That “elegant” dialogue occasionally sounds more a bad Google translate when spoken and the typos stand out like neon.
Great article, one I wish a few more would read.
Terri
It’s also true what they say about doctors’ handwriting, Terri. They would scribble corrections in the margins that were unreadable. And don’t get me started on the guy who mixed up ml. with mm.
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My process is similar, though I condense it a little and fold it into the final edit.
On Day 1 I read Chapter 1. That’s it. Just read it.
On Day 2 I edit Chapter 1, and read Chapter 2.
On Day 3 I print a hard copy of Chapter 1 and read it aloud. I know this is the last time I’ll look at it, so there’s some pressure on to do it right. Edit Chapter 2, read Chapter 3.
Rinse and repeat until THE END.
No, I don’t catch them all, but I’ll put my finished products up against “professionally” edited books and do quite well.
(Of course, I caught two as soon as I posted.)
You’re smart to leave a day or so before you read your work again, Dana. Clears the eye –and the mind.
Thanks Elaine! I’m not great at proofreading so I also divide up the novel into 50 page chunks and see who I can enlist to check those pages for typos. It’s amazing what other people spot! Your tips are great ones and since I’m about to do some proofreading I shall employ them all forthwith!
Happy hunting, Clare!
Oh God…this post strikes terror in my heart. I am so bad at proofing and like Elaine, I used to do it for a living for newspapers.
But THIS IS IMPORTANT!
You can’t count on even the Big Six (or is it five now?) publishers getting your book right. You have to find them yourself. And if you self-pub an eBook, the formatting problems can also defeat you.
Readers notice typos. Typos make them mad. Some readers are forgiving but many are not. They take it as a sign that you don’t care about quality. After we pubbed our book “Dead of Winter” we got emails about the typos. ALSO: if you have typos or formatting problems Amazon will contact you and demand you correct them.
We re-posted “Dead of Winter” three times. Still had typos! We finally hired a retired college prof who now combs through our manuscripts. She’s the best…although she does have a passion for commas that I don’t share.
Good tips, Elaine. Esp the one about using a piece of white paper. I used to do that in the newspaper biz…back in the old linotype days. Yeah, I am THAT old.
Lin-O-Type! i still remember the huge, black clattering machines with the pots of melting lead hanging on them. The printers were mostly deaf — it was taught to them as a trade.
The business was incredibly romantic then, and I loved the smell of printer’s ink.
you can’t find all the typos. You must leave at least one in to appease the gods of printing. But only one.
But which one doesn’t get kicked off the island?
Elaine,
So…remember our old friend etaoin shrdlu?
Shrdlu do.
Thank You Elaine! I can’t recall the number of times I have gone through a story only to have the Editor and Wife red pencil it to death. Then to see what some people self-publish and defend with rabid vehemence! Great tips!
Glad it could help you, Dane. In your defense, it really is 10 times harder to proof your own work.
Plenty of comments here. Proofing strike a nerve, does it? Hmmmm? I’ll say this much: It sure feels like life and death to me. What great tips. Back in the day when everything ended up getting printed, you couldn’t avoid cruising through hardcopy, red pen in hand. I’ve found that I catch a bunch on a Kindle run-through, too. Just highlight the buggars. The trick with the blank sheet of paper is a good one. I always read my stuff aloud. That’s when I discover that absolutely nobody would say it like “that!” However, I’m going to record a few chapters, and then come back and listen after a couple of days. I’ll bet that’s interesting. Well, cheers to you all!! And happy editing:)
That recording thing is a terrific idea Jim. One of the benefits of narrating my own in audiobooks is that I also find things to change on the fly when I’m in studio that I otherwise wouldn’t catch. It’s a good idea to record yourself reading, even if you don’t plan to use your own voice for the audiobook version (which actually is advised against for most authors unless they’ve got serious acting chops as well).
Reading aloud, recording it and coming back to listen again — what a good way to sharpen your dialogue, Jim & Basil.
I’ve narrated my audio books — I had speech training in New York — and remember reading a passage my editor wanted me to cut. No, I told her — it was so good. As I read it, I realized she was right. It was bad, and in the book.
OH my god, Elaine. This is perfect timing. I’m reading through my page proofs (printed out, check) right now. The thought of going through it twice more wilts me to the core.
Despite copyediting AND proofreading, I’m still finding little things. It’s mindbogglng. I’m surprised by the paragraph smooshing that Nancy mentioned above.
Good luck, Lisa. Proofing is like being hit on the head with a hammer — it feels so good when it stops.
Go get those mistakes.
I believe in the possibility of an error-free book, just not upon the first release (alas), though I do the absolute best I can.
I have a standing offer in the back of each book & story: if you find 5 errata, you get a free book of your choice, any format. I have one reader, a lawyer, who has found her 5 in each novel so far — she’ll never pay for another book at this rate.
But I’m relieved to have fewer than 10 in a 440-page book on first release (this includes punctuation, missing word, etc.), and one of the best things about indie publishing is the ability to correct and re-upload to both print and ebook.
These are wonderful suggestions, Elaine.
In addition to my own typos, I find that MS Word Spellcheck (I have Word 2003) suggests the wrong corrections all the time, especially for plural versus possessive form. Also, the Word dictionary seems woefully incomplete–it frequently tags legitimate words as “not words.” If I’m not paying attention, Word makes incorrect changes for me. I leave Spellcheck on, because it does catch many errors, like duplication of words and missing words.
Spellcheck is really untrustworthy. It must make like extremely difficult for people who speak English as a second language.
Thanks for the excellent tips, Elaine!
Thanks, Elaine. Good stuff. Amazing that even after three proofreads, typos are still missed.
Elaine, EXCELLENT suggestions for proofreading. I’m going to work this into my creative writing classes for all of my students. Even if they all don’t follow it, the ones who truly want to be writers will be glad they heard it. Awesome stuff, thank you!
Glad you found it useful,Jake.
I recently ran into this problem, and upon going through it one last time, found so many type-os that my publisher delayed the release when I brought it to their attention.
“It’s your job to catch those typos.” – This is so true, and I felt that after I brought it to the senior editor’s attention. In my mind, I was like, dude, I just came off of four rounds of rough editing, then a day after I was told to go through–and hurry–to make sure it gets out on time. There was no way I could have found all of the errors.
“It’s harder to proofread your own books. Your mind substitutes the right word for the mistake that’s there.” – Many of my co-authors ask this all the time. We know what we wanted to say, and like Betty mentioned, that’s what your mind wants to see.
In the future, I’m def going to be using this advice. Thank you so much for the post.
DC
http://www.authordcstone.com
Nice one!!!
I loved the book Fifty Shades Of Grey. I am so glad i enjoyed Christian and Ana’s story.
Waiting eagerly for movie release….
Fifty Shades of Grey
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