McGraw-Hill's Proofreading Handbook

Excellent

It is very useful for people who want to start a career in proofreading and editing.

Helps nothing

Es demasiado profesional y no tanto útil para lo que quería. Pero en sí, me parece un libro bien hecho

A supportive book during a course.

So this book is about proofreading in a very technical sense. That is, this book is about reading printer proofs and correcting them before they are published for general consumption of the public. The book talks about many different aspects of this job, including the aptitude required for such work and different ways of going about the work. How to train yourself to find errors in a text and how to mark those errors for correction. Perhaps the most helpful aspects of this book is its chapter on developing style sheets to help keep a manuscript consistent with one style. It also talks about reading slowly and training yourself to do so, reading out loud and comparing live and dead copies. It also covers what you as a proofreader are responsible for, and not responsible for, and how to tactfully query an author for clarification where necessary. Towards the end of the book it delves into highly technical areas of the proofreader’s domain. I never knew there was so much to know concerning fonts and typefaces, but I learned what a serif was. The book also warns against reading a text backwards. I found that bit of advice to be refreshing. It sets the tone for the type of helpful advice the book gives the reader and potential proofreader. It debunks a lot of “helpful” advice people have given you over the years, and gives you the tools you need to really do a professional job and not burn out. I highly recommend this book to writers and would be authors, translators and publishers, and especially graduate students writing dissertations. Really, the book will be helpful for anyone who finds themselves proofreading even if it is your son’s term paper, or your friend’s dissertation. If the job is worth doing it is worth doing well, and this book teaches you what goes into doing this job well.

I’m a line editor and proofreader, so this is a great book to keep on hand rather than having to look something up online. Unfortunately, Amazon shipped it in a bag instead of a box, so it arrived a bit banged up and dog-eared.

This thin little book has become a go-to tool in my writing tool-box. It has aided me to up the quality of my own books ten-fold. I highly recommend any author who take their craft seriously to have a copy. Thank you. The tips and tricks for making sure you are putting out perfect copy every time is invaluable.