Editor, Editor. Please Check My Work.

Another friend has published a book – a story of her life.  I have read it.  It is a memoir of a very interesting life, but sadly there are many errors in it.

Who needs an Editor?

One of the challenges for writers, especially those who self-publish or publish through a “vanity press” organisation, is the editing and proofreading of their work.

It is very expensive to use the services of a quality editor – it could cost between $1000 and $2000.  Some writers find that difficult and rely on friends or family to “edit”.

Story One

A number of years ago, our writers’ group asked a lady who had written a crime fiction book to present at an afternoon tea event.  The book was given to me and I read it.  It was the first ever book that I took to with a pencil, marking out the errors I found. One of the characters, a doctor, had his name spelt three different ways, and there was a strange explanation of a skeleton that had a muscle spasm.  It turns out that this lady had paid an editor.  Sadly not a good one.

Story Two

A lady known to me published her story as an e-book.  I bought it and read it on my Kindle. I was shocked at the number of errors in it.  She invited me to coffee one morning and we talked about her book and the errors.  She took me to her computer and I looked over the manuscript.  I asked if she had even done a spell check.  Apparently, she did, but perhaps did not save it.  She was horrified when she saw the errors when I turned on “spell check”.  I don’t know what she did about the book.  We have not met up since.

I like to tell everyone about Grammarly, which I have used for over 2 years.  It is a free program (you can pay to upgrade to more services), but the free program is incredibly helpful.

It doesn’t matter if I write an email, a Word document, or a blog post – Grammarly checks everything and puts a line under what it considers to be errors.  I can choose to accept Grammarly’s advice.  Sometimes I do not accept Grammarly’s recommendation – if I am determined to do it “my way”.

Editor, Editor. Please Check My Work. 1Editor, Editor. Please Check My Work. 2I trust you, dear reader, will not find any errors as Grammarly has done its work for me.

Try it for FREE.

Editor, Editor. Please Check My Work. 3

Grammarly works with computers – not handwriting.




 

 

 

 

Share This:

About Di Hill

My business card says "Writer, Traveller, Camera Addict, Bamboo Fan, Workshop Presenter." This website will focus on my writing - and the workshops I present. Workshops on Blogging, Marketing for Writers, and Life Story Writing.
This entry was posted in Writing. and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Editor, Editor. Please Check My Work.

  1. Pingback: WordCamp Brisbane 2017 attracted several hundred WordPress fans.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.