You’d think that since I do some of both for a living, I’d be really clear on the distinction between copy-editing and proofreading. I am in theory, but inevitably if you’re officially doing one you will do a bit of the other too. Copy-editors will remove typos and proofreaders will spot tiny plotholes remaining in the text. It’s a bit like having two people clean the same patch of floor, with the expectation that the second one is going to find a lot less muck but there’s bound to be something that the first one missed.
Proofreading, while not obviously exciting, and generally worse-paid than copyediting, can be quite enjoyable, particularly if the author and editor have already taken great care over their labour of love and you are just saving them from bloopers. Messier MSS can be a bit of a problem, as you scrawl everywhere, wondering if you are overstepping the bounds of your job.
I’ve just been proofreading some charming books for a very small publisher, and I think their editor was very glad to get the job off her desk; all too often, when the budget is squeezed, the editor of the book will end up having to do the proofreading herself.
This looks good to the finance department, but it’s not good for the book. By the time you have edited a book, you’ve read it at least half a dozen times and you don’t stand much more chance than the author does of noticing the kind of errors that hide in plain sight. One book I edited while working in-house a while back has an Amazon review complaining about the typos, and this kind of thing is demoralising for an editor – there wasn’t money for a proofreader, which is why the job wasn’t done to the highest standard, but of course the public don’t know that, they just think the author or editor (depending on their level of awareness of the industry) is a bit rubbish.
Even in the best-edited book I would expect to find one error, even if it’s only an extra space or an infelicitous repeated word, every couple of pages. Proofreading is really not a luxury extra. Authors, demand that your publishers provide it!
Then again, there’s always a high-risk alternative strategy of laissez-faire. Recently Penguin Australia made a notorious proofreading cock-up, and ‘ground black pepper’ turned into ‘ground black people’ in a pasta cookbook. I’ve got to wonder if some corners were being cut on the proofreading there. It turned out fine for them though, as after all the publicity sales of the book in question jumped fourfold.
Still, I wouldn’t recommend you try that at home.
I feel very strongly on the subject of copyediting - I believe it's a whole professional field that is quite distinct to in-house project editing and/or proofreading. Having seen expert copyediting (and been overwhelmingly impressed by the craft), I know that's not what I've been trained to do as an editor and if I've ever been asked - 'oh, you can copyedit this' - I've been quite firm in saying 'But I'm not a copyeditor.' I'm not trying to be difficult, just saving myself and the publisher the danger of a badly done job. Thank you for such an interesting and overlooked topic!
ReplyDeleteI find it almost impossible to proof read my own writing for any purpose at all. The tendency to read what you believe you wrote is even stronger than the tendency to read what you think someone else has written. I am however still wondering if the Penguin Australia "error" was an error at all. It caused an uproar here Downunder.
ReplyDeleteKaren - Ooh yes, the golden ideal of having a project editor AND a copy-editor AND a proofreader. To be honest I’ve seldom encountered a situation where that luxury was available. In my experience project editing and copy-editing have mostly been merged already, and the fight is on to stop finance departments getting ‘the editor’ to proofread too.
ReplyDeleteIf WP do use an editor, a copy-editor and a proofreader though, hurrah for them. I should be sending in my CV.
Then again, the question of what editors are trained to do is a murky one. I haven’t had any training beyond an English degree and learnt all my editing skills on the job. On the occasions I didn’t know quite how to do the work I was being offered, I took it anyway, and taught myself. Still, that was when I was working in-house and there was a bit of a safety net – I wouldn’t take on work for an independent client if I didn’t know how to do it properly.
Cat – Are people suggesting that ‘error’ was deliberate mischief, then, or an attempt to get publicity? From my experience of the pressure editors are under, it sounds like a simple mistake, but then I don’t know the Australian publishing environment.
Editing and proofreading are like twins.
ReplyDeleteOne would be incomplete without the other.