Unbeknownst to many, I’ve been proofreading for one of the small indie queer publishers for a couple of years. While technical grammar skills are NOT my thing, there are a few other things I do very well.
So, what is a Proofreader and what can you expect from them?
A PROOFREADER takes your damn-near finished manuscript and gives it one last read. At this point, your editor should have caught all the misplaced commas, the dangling participles, and a really good editor should have been able to catch the plot inconsistencies.
But what does a proofer do? We hunt down those last little things in your novel that might make a reviewer go, “Ugh, this was so good, but there were just too many typos.”
Here’s what I generally catch:
Missing words/Extra words – inevitably, when doing editing with your editor things can get jumbled and occasionally you delete, or forget to delete words that your editor told you to get rid of/include. I can help you with that.
Echos – ever read a story and think, wow, that story would have been great if the story didn’t use the same words throughout that story? That would have made for a really good story. Echos are the same words or phrases used too close together. Did you notice I used the word “Story” five times? Yeah, that’s an echo.
Missing punctuation – every now and then we forget that opening quote, or closed quote, or a period. Sometimes we even mess up and end up with strange punctuation that just doesn’t make any sense,.” <– you see that? You got it, right? Wrong punctuation.
Wrong words – this can be a couple of different things. Have you used the wrong word for something? I’ve caught handfuls of these – you’ve got their in the sentence but it should have been there. Listen, even Editors can sometimes miss these.
But then there’s the second kind of wrong word. The words you choose because you think they’re really cool! Those 10-cent words. You know, the ones you found in the thesaurus? Sometimes they work brilliantly, other times, those are words your character would NEVER use – and you shouldn’t either.
Spelling Mistakes – these can happpen to the best of us. Never mind you have Grammarly installed, it still happpens – like all the bloody time.
Medical Things – Okay – so I’m no expert – I’m not a clinician, or a doctor, but I worked in IT and supported physicians on the front lines in hospitals, end of life, pediatrics, seniors care, and outpatient areas for over 25 years. I can tell you the femoral artery is no where near your penis (yes, I actually caught that once). Generally, I’ll catch the medical stuff you might get wrong, or if you have specific questions I have contacts I can ask.
Botanical Things – I’m not certified as a master gardener, but I’ve raised plants for years, hybridized my own line of African Violets that are internationally grown, and been rather successful at raising and showing orchids of various species. I’ve landscaped several gardens…in short, I come to the table with some knowledge.
Genres – My best: MM Romances, MM Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, and Horror. It’s important to get folks to edit your work who know a thing or two about the genre you’re writing in. Please do not send me non-fiction, crime, or sapphic literature – it’s not that I won’t like it, it’s just that I am not as familiar with those genres. I won’t do your project any justice – but the genres I listed above – those are my JAM. I live for those stories. Bring it on. Gimmie!
I have a few other tricks up my sleeve, but my job as a proofreader is to catch those last-minute things that everyone else missed. Now, will I get it perfect? Absolutely not – and I’d never guarantee that – ever. But will your manuscript be better than it was before? 100%.
Rates:
I charge $0.002USD per word when proofreading. That means:
A 50k word novel is going to cost you roughly $100USD and take me about a week to get read and notes returned.
A 75K word novel is going to cost you roughly $150USD and take me about a week and a half to get read and have notes returned to you.
A 100+ word novel is going to cost you roughly $200USD and take me about two weeks to get read and have notes returned to you.
Make sense? Email me if you have more questions: J.P.Jackson.LGBTQAuthor@gmail.com
So, what is a Sensitivity Reader and what can you expect from them?
A Sensitivity Reader takes your finished manuscript and gives it a good read with a critical eye from a viewpoint that correlates with your main character. In other words, if your main character is gay, but you are not – you might benefit from having a gay person read your manuscript to make sure you got it all right.
Now, writers are strange creatures, we like to stretch our wings, broaden our minds, and write outside of our lived experiences – and we should! A good writer will be able to step outside of their own shoes and slip into someone else’s and still be able to tell a damn fine story.
But sometimes you miss the nuances. The magic. The essential tidbits that make your characters come to life in the right way. So, to avoid this, once your manuscript is all done, and you’ve completed all the research you can do, you give your finalized story over to someone who has LIVED the same/similar existence as your main character.
A Sensitivity Reader helps you hone your characters’ words, actions, and responses in such a way as to resonate with others who also have lived that same/similar experience.
However, hiring a Sensitivity Reader can be expensive. Why? Because oftentimes the material is emotionally difficult. Did you grow up gay? No? Right – okay, then you’d never know what it feels like to be on the outside – forever – constantly looking at the world and knowing you don’t fit in, that others will always judge you, that you are never completely safe, that you must ALWAYS keep your walls up until proven that you are in a safe environment. That you consist of only 10% of the population or less. That self-esteem issues run rampant. That alcohol and chemical dependency has a higher percentage within the queer community. That the life expectancy of a gay man is less than the average because of the stress of living in a world designed and created for straight people. That governments all over the world are constantly trying to claw back any protection or rights you have because they’d rather see you not exist than to grant you the freedoms given to your straight brothers and sisters.
No Lie. It can be that awful. There’s also a certain kind of power that comes from knowing you’re different, that living on the outside gives you a different perspective, and that being ‘other’ can be empowering in its own right if you have the fortitude to withstand the constant barrage from society stating how you shouldn’t exist.
So, Sensitivity Readers package up all of their own personal baggage, and read your manuscripts, pick apart all the nuances, and help you get your characters right. Not an easy task.
Rates:
I charge $0.005USD per word when doing a sensitivity read. That means:
A 50k word novel is going to cost you roughly $250USD and take me about a week and a half to get read and notes returned.
A 75K word novel is going to cost you roughly $375USD and take me about two weeks to get read and have notes returned to you.
A 100+ word novel is going to cost you roughly $500USD and take me about two weeks to get read and have notes returned to you.
Make sense? Email me if you have more questions: J.P.Jackson.LGBTQAuthor@gmail.com
Lastly, I’ll say this.
Pick your editors/proofreaders/sensitivity readers carefully. You have to be able to work well together. As an author, you have to be in the right headspace to receive criticism and to hear that perhaps your manuscript isn’t as award-worthy as you might believe. In the end, your editors are only here to help you take your novel and make it the best possible story it can be.
Again – got questions? Shoot me an email. We’ll chat. I know people. If you and I don’t click, I’m pretty sure I can find you someone else.
J.P. Jackson 