Most of the books we receive to format have numerous errors. Probably the most common one is two spaces instead of one. To find these you need to turn on your Formatting Tool (it looks like a q at the top of your word document). It will show most of your double spaces. Don’t put two spaces after a full stop…that rule changed years ago.
You can also run a spelling/grammar check by clicking on tools and select spelling and grammar. Now, sometimes Word will say that something is wrong and it isn’t. So check each suggested change. Also if you decide to change something like dr to Dr and you select the Find and Replace feature, then even words like driven will change to Driven, not just the doctor shortcut.
You can choose whether you wish to use English/Australian or American spelling. Our advice is to make sure you keep it consistent throughout the whole book. If you think your book will mostly be read by Americans, then use their forms of spelling.
Despite your best efforts you cannot fully proof-read your own book. Recently Katrina (who is an excellent speller and writer) asked me to proof-read one of her latest books in the Julia Jones Series. She had combed it several times and was sure there were no errors. I found about 20. You can’t successfully correct your own book. Ask someone else to do this task for you, after you have made your best efforts to make sure it is correct.
I found this blog post today on proof-reading from an editor, she points out the most common mistakes she finds in new books:
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