In this installment of Word Knots we’ll focus on another two publishing terms that are often confused. 

Once again our source for this is installment is The Dictionary of Disagreeable English by Robert Hartwell Fiske (Chicago: Writer’s Digest Books). It’s a great book: Check it out.

From Fiske (excerpted):

proofreading

Misused for copyediting.

As Fiske writes (edited and excerpted):

Proofreading means only one thing: comparing one document (an edited manuscript or galley) to another (a typeset galley or page proof) to ensure that all changes have been correctly made. Copyediting means reviewing a manuscript for grammatical errors, spelling, punctuation, and the like. Proofreaders are not copy editors.

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These are very important distinctions, although in some cases the lines have become somewhat blurred, especially in the self-publishing world.

For an in-depth look at copyediting, see our author tips here. To learn about proofreading, see the tip here.

If you’re a self-publishing author, it’s critical to understand the difference.

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