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From Karen Saunders

Your Branding, Marketing & Self-Publishing Coach



Posts About ‘Proofreading’

March 27th, 2017 | By: Karen Saunders

10 Deadly Book Production Mistakes Made by Self-Publishers

At the top of the list of the most common book production mistakes is: 1. The book was not edited! You should ALWAYS hire a professional book editor to edit your book. Find someone who specializes in your genre. Don’t ask your child’s English teacher! An expert editor will comb through your manuscript and will let you know if you should hire her for content editing, copy editing or both. To learn the difference, click this link to go to my blog post that explains the distinction. 2. The book does not have a professional cover design. Your book deserves an eye-catching cover…

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May 28th, 2016 | By: Karen Saunders

Better Writing: When to Use “Like” vs. “Such As”

Better writing skills: My team editor Barbara McNichol is passionate about teaching self-publishers how to write like a pro. During the summer months of June, July and August, I’ll post a 3-part series on helpful writing tips by Barbara.    Have you ever wondered about the distinction between “like” or “such as” in your writing? Here are two phrases to consider: . . . the answers that so-called geniuses like / such as Newton seem to embody. . . . centuries of innovations like / such as the airplane and the space shuttle have resulted. In these examples, “such as” is preferred over “like” because the word…

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August 27th, 2014 | By: Karen Saunders

What’s the Difference Between Content Editing, Copy Editing and Proofreading?

Smart self-publishers have their manuscripts edited and proofread by professionals. To meet this need, we offer an assortment of editorial services, from content editing to proofreading. Our award-winning team of editors and proofreaders specializes in a wide range of genres with a variety of skill sets in both fiction and non-fiction. It’s so important to find the right fit for each client, and we feel it is our responsibility to educate our clients about the different types of editing and proofreading services. As a visual person, I like to make analogies with visual images. I think about editing from the…

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February 27th, 2011 | By: Karen Saunders

3 Steps to Take the Heat Off Grammar Mistakes

This article on avoiding grammar mistakes is written by Barbara McNichol, a member of my creative team. Barbara is an expert editor and author of Word Trippers available in Kindle format at Amazon.com. She has edited numerous award-winning and best-selling books. Here’s her article: Did you know grammatical errors are a hot topic? Yes! I learned that when a blog post about writing connected with Ezine Articles took a subject close to my heart and made it relevant to everyone. Within 24 hours of posting an article about 6 grammatical errors that make authors look unprofessional, this blog post received 776…

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June 28th, 2010 | By: Karen Saunders

How to Improve Your Proofreading Skills

The first impression a business often makes with prospective clients or customers comes from the written word. Your company can lose credibility by having just one typo in the volumes of words it sends out. Here’s how to improve your proofreading skills so you can improve the quality of your written or printed communications. Therefore, to minimize mistakes, be sure to proofread everything that gets written in your office—and this includes email. Use a guide to help you methodically check for errors. Avoid proofing your own copy in the final stages because it’s easy to become too familiar with it. If…

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January 30th, 2008 | By: Karen Saunders

Self-Published Authors: Essential Tips from an Award-Winning Editor

My guest writer today is award-winning writer and editor, Barbara McNichol. As writers, we can get caught up in an idea or feel particularly attached to a word or phrase. Our writing can suffer as a result. When editing your own manuscript, dare to be brutally honest with yourself. To help you, here’s a list of tips and techniques for steering clear of common pitfalls and strengthening your manuscript along the way. An editor will ask these questions: Is every word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, section, and chapter necessary? Is the message clearly understood? Can your ideas be expressed more simply? Miracles do…

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