This is the second post in 3-part series on crafting your work for the marketplace. See the previous post here.

What does editing have to do with marketing? Well, since the quality of your product will affect its “saleability,” you need some quality control measures. Publishing houses just don’t have the resources to do extensive edits on the mountain of submissions they receive. They routinely reject manuscripts that are shot through with spelling, grammar, and usage errors. So—don’t handicap yourself by submitting your work without thorough proofreading and editing.

Self-editing is the only way to make sure you submit your very best work, short of hiring a proofreader. Here are a few of the methods I use to edit my articles.

  • Use the features of your word processor. I use MS Word 2007 which includes a plethora of editing helps that go way beyond the standard spellchecker. Settings appear on the Microsoft Office Button menu under Word Options, then Proofing. You can choose grammar and style as well as readability statistics. My last post on this blog rated 7.0 on the Flesch Kincaid readability scale. That means the reading level is 7th grade. Check here to find out how this is calculated. If you use a different word processor, explore your help section or search online for help on how to use the features you have.
  • Perform a screen edit. The spelling and grammar checkers will not catch some errors. For example, I recently caught an error where “pane” was used instead of “pain.” Spellings of people’s names are rarely in the spell-check dictionary. As you read through your work on-screen, sometimes it occurs to you that you should re-order a sentence or shorten run-on sentences. Reading out loud can help you catch awkward constructions, too.
  • Print a hard copy. Once you’ve corrected the errors you’ve found, it’s time to print it out. This is a good time to let the document sit overnight, if possible. I was taught to “let it rest” in my high school English classes, and it’s one of the most useful things I learned there. Mark the errors you find on the hard copy. Read it aloud again, and mark revisions to transfer to the electronic file.

If you think this might be more time-consuming that the original writing, you’re right. A familiar writers’ adage is “writing is rewriting.” Resist the temptation to send your first draft after you’ve run the spellchecker. A thorough self-edit might cost you some time but it will earn the editor’s attention when you submit.

Online Helps:

Proofreading Tips

Self-Editing Checklist