Proofreading most basic – and final – kind of edit

The most basic type of editing you can have done is proofreading.

A proofreading generally includes the correcting of:
• Spelling errors
• Capitalization errors
• Punctuation errors
• Obvious grammar errors (such as missing words)
• Inconsistent use of fonts and styles in chapter/subchapter titles, headers and footers
• Inconsistent use or errors in margins and line spacing
• Page numbering issues
• Tables of contents and index accuracy

In many ways, proofreading is like copy editing. The main difference is that copy editing is a more sweeping review and can involve a minor rewriting of lines. At the proofreading stage, the author simply needs a reader to look for typos in the text and errors in the formatting.

While the above listed corrections generally are made on each draft you write, a proofreading without any other level of editing usually is done only to a formatted manuscript before it goes to the printer.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks: