Recently, a friend posed this question on Facebook, and I decided to post my answer here on this blog:
Q: How do you know what errors/typos you have [when you edit]? – Christopher
A: That’s an excellent question. There are different style guides that a publisher will go by. Or, if you’re self-publishing, there’s The Chicago Manual of Style or Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. Running the spell check on your writing processor can catch some errors but not all of them. Grammarly’s a good free site. But nothing replaces doing it yourself and then hiring an editor to catch what you’ve missed. Let’s face it: You will miss things.
To make errors pop out, it’s a good idea to read your manuscript out loud, since your brain will fill in missing information when you’re reading silently. Or you could have your computer read your manuscript to you. Other ideas include switching things up by printing the manuscript out or looking over it on your e-reader.
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Circus in a Shot Glass is out from Clean Reads! You can get it today on Amazon.com.
Beth Overmyer 