Mark Roth, Proofreader

If you write much of anything, you need to proofread.

Errors in spelling, usage, punctuation, and grammar can be very entertaining to the reader. But you may not want to have your writing provide that kind of entertainment.

Proofread your work!

• books
• articles
• newsletters
• brochures
• business cards
• promotional letters
• ebooks
• websites
• blogs

Now let me break some bad news to you.

We all easily miss some of our own mistakes.

Any honest-and-able proofreader or editor will confirm that point.

So what to do?

Get another set of eyes hitched up to another brain.

But the cost is prohibitive. And I doubt your health insurance would cover the procedure.

It would be far less expensive to pay me a (relatively) few dollars to put my set of eyes (hitched up to my brain, of course) to work on your writing project. And think of the pain and downtime you could avoid.

But why me? What am I?

A professional proofreader?

Well, please stand by while I puff out a few fine notes on my own horn. I really do dislike doing it, but I suppose if I did, you would feel better about entrusting your work (and your dollars) to me. So here goes…and I’ll try to keep it short and not too loud:

I taught high school for ten years (or was it twelve?). I had to read and grade way more writing than you’ll ever submit to me.

I reviewed and edited various projects for Christian Light Publications and Lamp & Light Publishers. (And I did both English and Spanish projects.) And once upon a time I went to Nike headquarters as a temp and proofread a glossy catalog for them.

Even when I’m reading non-professionally, my mind still snags the word that’s misspelled or incorrectly used.

Regarding my own writing…

• One of my editors at Christian Light told me he had to make very few changes to my work.
• A reviewer, commenting on a Spanish manuscript I submitted to Publicadora La Merced in Costa Rica, wrote, “Blessed is the editor who works” on my material.

OK. Enough of that. What will it cost you to engage my service?

Naturally, I reserve the responsibility to refuse any project.

Four projects that could have used my help 🙁

• Key Bank business cards: I saw one that featured the non-word Cleint.
• Christian Light Publications’ new book: incorrectly uses descendent on the back cover.
• Arctic Circle coupon sheet: one of the coupons used Solid (instead of Sold).
• Elance proofreaders’ profiles: several actually use grammer!

Don’t let your work become another example! 😯 😉