Have you ever started reading a book and the story was good but the errors were distracting? I have, and one of my biggest fears about publishing was that everyone would see through my writing and realize I don’t have a degree in English grammar. Errors occur for everyone, even those who are trained in writing but so many of us are publishing stories because we love our stories, not because we are experts in our field.
There is a massive amount of information out there on who to hire for what. I realized early on there were certain things I could do myself, and other things I could learn to do myself. One thing that still crept up in the back of my mind was the need for a proofreader. I mean who really knows where that comma is supposed to go anyway? Yes, of course I could Google the easy stuff but what if I didn’t even realize I was making a mistake?
Romance is the largest and most popular genre in the book world. Many of our readers are very forgiving but if the structure of the writing becomes too distracting they will put a book down and likely not read anything from that author again. There are thousands of qualified proofreaders out there but finding one willing to do steamy romance was tricky. The prices for these services vary greatly and some will make the changes for you, where others will just tell you what to change. That means you pay them and you still have a great deal of work to do.
Amidst my difficulties in trying to find a reputable proofreader I reached out to a fellow author. Sarah Bailey spoke at a virtual writing conference last year and shortly after that I fell in love with her books. First let me say I am amazed at how helpful so many authors are in the writing community. My thought process was if I could hire the same proofreader she used I would know they are are both comfortable with steamy books (that’s pretty much all she writes), and they would be good because I’ve read her books and I haven’t found any mistakes. You could imagine my surprise when she told me her business Twisted Tree Publications offered proofreading services.
Anytime you send your manuscript off to someone you get nervous, this was no exception. The proofreader I’m working with is a college professor! However, the process of working with her was amazing. The price, turnaround time, and detailed changes were everything I was looking for. I am relieved to say all my fears were squashed with my first experience in working with someone else on my project. Unstoppable, book two in my series, is getting sent off later today and I’m excited to see the final product. It just goes to show there are plenty of people out there to help, sometimes all you need to do is ask.
Happy Reading.
-Nikki Rome