It is the final step before your manuscript can safely and joyfully be declared done and is essential for any work intended for publication.

Eventually, all writers and even editors grow so close to the manuscript that small mistake can hide in plain sight and ultimately slip through the cracks. A proofreaders’ job is to catch those remaining errors in punctuation, spelling, referencing, and more. For this reason, proofreading is sometimes called a “surface edit.”

Proofreading also involves a visual scan of the pages to assure regular formatting, including consistent margins, line and paragraph spacing, and inconsistencies in front that can easily be overlooked.