Is professional proofreading a selling point?

[Cassian]

Having recently read several blogs criticizing the standard of some self-published books, I've just added the following line to the details pages of my two SF novels, "Ave Judas" and "Baxter Mariah" ...

"(Please note that this title has been been vetted and corrected by a professional proofreader.) "

What do my fellow Loungers think? Is this a good idea? Will it reassure would-be readers? Should I place it before the synopsis? Or does it suggest marketing desperation?

Cheers, Cassian in Sydney

[Alpha]

I don't think its a selling point more so than a basic standard used with most books. Now I understand no book will be 100% perfect but still.

As for the line you want to use prior to reading. I don't think it will be a desperation point but may become one soon when self-published authors start using the line when they haven't had their books professionally published.

[Cassian]

Thanks Alpha Jan

In light of your comment I am now thinking of removing that line.

Cheers, Cassian

[Chrysoula]

Yeah, I think that line is actually meaningless unless you're providing the name of some widely recognized proofreader which isn't, I think, a concept that exists at the moment. Best thing to do is make sure all the easily accessible details of your book absolutely sing, and so do the sample pages.

[[deleted user]]

Cassian wrote: "Thanks Alpha Jan

In light of your comment I am now thinking of removing that line.

Cheers, Cassian"

I will be crediting and providing links for my developmental editor, my beta readers and my copy editor, for my next novel (ebook). I think it's good to let readers know that the book has had professional editing and to give credit to those that have provided that service.

Georgina.

[Chrysoula]

Oh, sure. Credit should be included in the book's front matter, near the copyright notice and all that. But the thing about 'professional editing' is that it's visible, right there on the page. The proof is in the pudding. It's specifically crediting a 'professional' editor that ends up looking weird. All 'professional' means is that they've convinced people to pay them for the service, not that they're good at it.

[[deleted user]]

Chrysoula wrote: "Oh, sure. Credit should be included in the book's front matter, near the copyright notice and all that. But the thing about 'professional editing' is that it's visible, right there on the page. The..."

Quite right. :) Georgina.

[A.G.]

I credit my editor in the front matter and list her as a contributor on the book page. There is a spot on there where you can list an editor.
I think if you have a sentence in the description, the reader will assume that you doth protest too much...

[[deleted user]]

A.G. wrote: "I credit my editor in the front matter and list her as a contributor on the book page. There is a spot on there where you can list an editor.
I think if you have a sentence in the description, the ..."

I'm doing the same with my TBR novel and I'll also have a thank you section so I can also acknowledge my beta readers.

[Mary]

So many authors whose books I have read could use a profreader. Many have gone through beta readers and all the rest, even claimed to have paid editors, but the proofreading is atrocious. I think they are paying someone to run it through an autoeditor and Microsoft Word spellchecker. People are looking hard at plot, structure, characters -- I don't know what, but has our culture gone down so far that we can't stop the flood of homophone and punctuation errors?

[[deleted user]]

Yes, I'm terrible at punctuation. I paid a developmental editor (Teresa Edgerton) to go through my manuscriopt. I'm working on the recommended changes to it now, then it goes to my Copy Editor Tricia Kristufek.

I've also found my kindle's text to speech option brilliant in locating problems: punctuation, typos others haven't picked up. I found that my sorcerer's skirt was stained! That one got through so many people including my ex-literary agent. But not my kindle...

[Mary]

Shudder for shutter, wondered for wandered, its for it's, revile for reveille ... ehhhh.

[[deleted user]]

Yep. I've found some doozies in my manuscripts. Of course the computer doesn't see them as spelling mistakes. I've had a 'pool fool', and one of my characters 'stiffened' a scream.

Releasing an unedited book is like going out in public in your pajamas...

[Lanie]

Commas. I hate commas. They are the bane of my existence. I wouldn't necessarily blame the lack of proper punctuation on a decline in culture (although to some degree it is applicable), but more so to simple confusion and well, laziness.

Comma rules are boring, confusing, and exasperating. I've had numerous different college professors want their commas in different places.

If they are going to be so complicated and no one can seem to agree on where they actually belong, then I will just put them wherever I damn well please and let my proofreader try to figure it out.

In all honesty though, percentage wise, how many average readers do you think really know when a comma is out of place or missing? I'm not talking about the really obvious places, like lists. I mean other more obscure uses.

Some of the most avid readers I know wouldn't recognize a comma if it punched them in the face.

[[deleted user]]

I just love that reply Lanie!!

[Lanie]

:) You feel my comma pain, don't you?

[[deleted user]]

I do! And I share it! :) Georgina.

[Virginia]

Reading your MS cranked up to about 150% zoom gives you a refreshing viewpoint.

[[deleted user]]

Kindle text to speech! I can't rave enough how valuable it is in picking up errors. You hear them because the voice is different than your own.

[Lanie]

Virginia wrote: "Reading your MS cranked up to about 150% zoom gives you a refreshing viewpoint."

That sounds an awful lot like looking into one of those magnifying mirrors that make you cringe at the sight of your own pores.

[Nike]

Cassian wrote: "Having recently read several blogs criticizing the standard of some self-published books, I've just added the following line to the details pages of my two SF novels, "Ave Judas" and "Baxter Mariah..."

Many authors, indie and published by houses, put "edited by _____ ______" in the opening credits of the novel.

[[deleted user]]

I've added one of my editors to my TBR novel's listing, I also included both editors and my illustrator in the opening credits.

[Doc]

Maybe this is too simple, but why not just thank the editor in the book's dedication?

Doc

[[deleted user]]

That works too. I also thank my beta readers there.

[Paul]

This topic stirred up memories of reading a menu in the window of a nice looking restaurant. A small note pinned neatly to the bottom of the menu read "We now have a food hygiene certificate!".

I walked away.

I agree with the suggestion of thanking the editor in the dedication. It's a another vote of confidence in the book, without making it look like a crutch the book needs.

[Christopher]

I think crediting an editor is fine, but putting that particular statement in calls attention to the editing and may make readers be overly sensitive to any errors that might still exist.