Guest Speaker Robert Medak on Editing and Proofreading

Today we have a guest speaker. We are speaking with editor, book reviewer and freelance writer Robert Medak. He speaks with us about editing and proofreading. Read his interview below.

Dominique Watson (DW): How important is editing and proofreading when it comes to putting a manuscript together?
Rober Medak (RM): Editing and proofreading are as important as writing the story itself. If there are typos, grammar and punctuation errors, it could mean the difference between publication and not.

DW: As a writer, do you have any personal struggles when it comes to editing or proofreading your own work?
RM: it is always easier to edit someone's work than you own. When self-editing, you need to be even more aware of any and all errors.


DW: People say that it's important to get a second pair of eyes to read over your work. Do you get a second pair of eyes to check for mistakes or do you edit your own work?
RM: It is great to have a second pair of eyes to oversee the writing. I trust my wife to read and tell me what I might have missed.

DW: What qualities should an editor/proofreader provide?
RM: First is to get along with the author. Second is to make sure that they are a reader. Third manuscript is the best it can be from the standpoint of consistency, verb subject agreement, spelling, punctuation, and typos because the editor/proofreader has experience.


DW: Is it important to hire someone to get the job done or should writers try to complete the task themselves?
RM: Hiring someone to look over the manuscript is always good idea if you can afford to. If not, be very careful when you self-edit.

DW: What is the typical cost of hiring an editor?
RM: The cost varies form editor/proofreader to editor/proofreader. The average is between $2 - $5 a page for a manuscript.

It takes time to build up proficiency, and experience with many different writing styles. As a editor/proofreader you do not want to change the manuscript, only improve it to make it the best it can be. The editor/proofreader working closely with the author, to improve, not change the writing style of the author, does this. When the editing/proofreading is completed, and then sent back to the author with suggestions by using Microsoft's "Track Changes" feature. At this point, it is up to the author if they are willing to accept or reject the editor/proofreaders suggestions.

If the author agrees with the suggestion, then they update their manuscript and submit it to the agent, publisher, of whoever.

The editor/proofreader has to be someone who enjoys reading books in the genre they the author writes in. For example, if the author writes romance, and the editor/proofreader has never read a romance, this is probably not a good match. If the author is looking at hiring an editor/proofreader, be sure to ask questions. Make sure that the author and editor are on the same page.
Authors have said that the real writing is in the rewriting. Get the story down, but what good is a story that does not tell one, because there are errors that make the author seem a fool? This is where a second pair of eyes or an editor/proofreader comes into play. It is their job to find any errors in the manuscript.

Working as a copy editor, there are typos, grammar, verb subject agreement, spacing after punctuation, and punctuation errors found when editing. Since the use of computers is so prevalent in writing, the spacing after punctuation has changed. This is a major faux pas found in much of my editing, as well as simple spelling errors.



This interview was So helpful. So many times we think that we can edit ourselves and sometimes our own eyes don't pick up small mistakes. In my opinion, I think it's wise to get a second opinion; get someone else to look it at it just incase. This interview was also helpful because it gives you a bit on insight to what to expect when dealing with editors.

Before we end today's blog...
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Signing Off,
Dominique Watson