The importance of a proofreader

Most folks don't think proofreaders are necessary. They don't even know what a proofreader does! People think that the proofreading part is covered somewhere between the writer and the editor but unfortunately that is almost always never the case. As a writer, editor and proofreader, I can speak from all perspectives. When I write an article, I am so involved in it that I could easily be 'seeing' words that are not even there. I can even make myself believe the words I read in a certain sentence make sense even though they are not in the right order for that phrase to read right. Not that I want to, but it is human nature. Some of you might remember a little posting that makes an appearance at least twice every year where the sentence has all letters jumbled in it yet the human eye reads and the human mind processes the sentence. See image for this post if you don't know what I am talking about. As an editor, I can tell you the same thing is bound to happen in the process of editing. I read an article so many times, checking on it for clarity and brevity and flow and content, that I completely do not pay attention to how a word is written, or whether there is a comma in the right place for that sentence to not be misinterpreted. And this is where a proofreader comes in. To ensure that what the writer and the editor overlook are caught and corrected before the article heads out to the presses. In the digital age we are lucky - we can go back and make a few corrections although if someone has already read the article in its original un-proofread version, then they already know your weaknesses. But God forbid what you wrote was for print! It will be out there in circulation in its hard copy published form for years...not nice. So please, before you send out anything on email, company letterhead, official announcements, articles to be published, book manuscripts, marketing collateral - it never hurts to have an additional pair of eyes review the piece. I cannot share who my corporate clients are and what work I do for them but this morning I averted a major disaster being the last pair of eyes to see a designed advertisement before it went to print. The original copy was not written by me and was typed out wrong, the design was reviewed by a handful of folks, and yet all they looked at was the design of the piece, and not the wording! They were close to submission deadlines and could have chosen to not have the piece proofread, in which case, knowing the publication that design would have made its way to, they would have been the laughing stock of the industry. Luckily they did send it to me, and I was able to look at the copy and make corrections to it. So thankfully, they know the importance of a proofreader and they are good about ensuring all the processes in a design project are implemented. Can you say the same about your work, your brand, your company?

---