Proofreaders

Proofreading is the last set of eyes on a manuscript before it becomes a book. A book proofreader catches the spelling that a spellchecker waves through, the name spelled two ways across 300 pages, the quotation mark facing the wrong direction, the chapter number that repeats. Manuscript proofreading happens after editing and before typesetting, or after typesetting on the page proofs themselves.

Writers come here when the story is finished and the errors are not. Novelists, memoirists and nonfiction authors preparing to self-publish, and publishers needing proofreading services for a list, all look for the same thing: someone who reads slowly and marks precisely.

The tags split the category by country: United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. That map matters more than it looks. A proofreader working in the United States reads American spelling, punctuation inside quotation marks, and the serial comma as house style; a proofreader in the United Kingdom handles the opposite conventions, and a manuscript set for one market can look wrong in the other. Australian and Canadian listings sit between the two, and Canadian proofreaders often work in both British and American styles depending on the publisher. Choose the branch that matches where your book will be sold, not where you happen to live. A self-publishing author printing through a US platform wants US conventions throughout, even from an Australian desk.

The listings themselves divide by what they proofread. Louise Harnby and the Freelance Editors' Network work across fiction and nonfiction for independent authors. Beth Jusino, Claire Bradshaw, Bryony Leah Editorial, Jen McIntyre Editorial, Erin Middleton and Natalia Iwanek take manuscripts directly from writers. Book Butchers and PenUltimate Editorial Services handle the final pass before files go to print. Brisbane Self Publishing Service and Vivalogue Publishing bundle proofreading with the wider production of a book, and One Lit Place and 1106 Design sit closer to the whole editorial and design chain. Design for Writers covers layout and typesetting, where proofreading happens after pages exist.