At last, I allowed my book to get a proper update, which was long overdue. I did a couple of updates on my own because I was so used to proofreading essays written by others. But I fell short of doing a good job. The time had arrived for me to seek some help from an expert. And I did just that!
A professional editor & proofreader examined my book. And I can’t tell you how happy I am! The fact that typos & other minor errors are gone brought great joy to me. So refreshing to know that such “saboteurs” are gone. “Typos suck”!
It’s the golden rule that a writer should ALWAYS submit his book before publication to a professional editor and a competent proof-reader. Much common sense there, for writers, can be blinded to typos and other minor errors. Neuroscience offers an explanation for the “blindness”.
According to an article, I came across, “you become blind to details because when you proofread your work, your brain already knows the destination. That explains why your readers are more likely to pick up on your errors because their brains are on this journey for the first time, so they are paying attention to the details along the way and not anticipating the final destination.” (excerpt from “What´s up with that: why it´s so hard to catch your own typos” by Nick Stockton on website WIRED)
The work of famous/established writers receives three to four proofreaders. Submitting one’s book to an editor makes a lot of sense. But I went against my better judgment, which had really to do with trust and cost that were issues I faced.
About the lack of faith, I believe it’s imperative to find a competent and trustworthy editor. As you already know, self-publishing has become big business, and for anyone who wants to self-publish, the results can be rewarding or disappointing, or a bit of both. Will share some of that later on.
The cost for professional editing and proof-reading I’ve always considered to be way too high for my modest economy. But common sense and the sheer discomfort of such claims got the better of me.
And so, the errors that marred the book and irritated they caused a few readers have now belonged to the past – fingers crossed! Now I can focus more on practicing the ways of marketing my book to potential readers. The pros and cons that require patience and time!
Larry Taylor (@lgt41 )
Lawrence G. Taylor's Blog 