If you’re going to make your self-published book look professional, it’s vital that you go through every step that a traditionally published book would go through.

Proofreading is a stage that you absolutely can’t do without. Yes, your book has been seen by a professional editor and you’ve read it a thousand times. Your beta readers may even have had a look at it by now, if you’re using them, and surely your book is perfect. But is it?

I’d done every step above (apart from the beta readers) but my proofreader still spotted mistakes. She’s read it twice and I’ve made the changes she suggested. I’m sure I could have read it a few more times but I’m now pretty confident that the book looks as good as I can make it.

Alli sel publishing services guide

ALLi’s Self-Publishing Services Directory can help you find a proofreader

Proofreading takes an immense amount of skill and as such doesn’t come cheap. But, and I can’t make this clear enough, you must, must, must make sure you allow for it in your publishing budget. It is a step – like a professional cover design – that you cannot skip.

Here are a few tips I picked up from working with a proofreader:

  • As ever when employing someone, do your research – I investigated a number of proofreaders through personal recommendations and through the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), of which I’m a member. I contacted several to find out about costs and also availability.
  • Respect them as a professional – as with any freelancer, they book months in advance. I was lucky that my proofreader could fit in with my schedule to some extent but was then booked up for several months ahead. When I’m working on the next book, I’ll make sure I contact her much sooner and make sure I’ve left enough time in my schedule to allow it to fit with what time she has available. You may need to alter your production timetable if you want to work with a particular proofreader.
  • Check out the terms of what your proofreader offers – most will do three read-throughs of your manuscript before returning it to you. Mine does the three read-throughs separately and sends back the manuscript after each read so that you can make the changes she’s spotted and she can check them again.
  • Pay up quickly – all I’ll say is make sure you have the money ready to pay them quickly. My proofreader takes a deposit to book her time and won’t release the manuscript until the balance has been paid. I was on a tight timeline (not a sensible idea, believe me) and so I had to be ready to pay quickly. She prefers payment by PayPal so that was fine because the money transfer moves very quickly. Make sure you check with the proofreader how they want to be paid if that might be an issue for you.
  • Be gracious in response to their feedback – as with any comments on your work, you may not agree with them. You don’t have to agree, but remember that they are a person and as such they have feelings too. If you’re offended by negative comments about your writing, they will be too. If you have any questions about what they’ve done, ask for an explanation in the right language. I know this seems like an obvious point, but when you’re communicating by email it’s easy for language to be misconstrued.
  • Respect their time – I have a full-time job and my writing is mostly done outside business hours. However, remember that your freelancers are more likely to work during the usual office hours. Don’t assume that because they’re freelance that they work all hours of the day and night, because they don’t. Nor should they. In fact, my cover designer works so much during the rest of the year, that she took the whole of August off. So another thing to remember is that if you email them at 6pm, they may not respond until they open their office at 9am the next morning.

So, there are a few points for you to think about when you get to the stage of employing a proofreader. And if you’re planning to self-publish your book this is a stage you must go through. If you want to build a good reputation as a serious author, then creating a professional book is the only thing you need to focus on.

My book will be out in the next few weeks and although I’m terrified by the idea of people seeing my work at long last, I’m pretty confident that, thanks to my team, it’s looking pretty good.

You can find out more about the Alliance of Independent Authors at their website.