It’s always nice to look at a document that’s just been proofread and see no changes marked. It’s a bit less nice to hear the proofreader say that they marked several changes, but for some reason you can’t see them.
Today I was trying out a new way of working with proofreaders: Google Drive. Normally I just use Libre Office Writer or PDF editing software, whether I’m hiring a proofreader or being hired as a proofreader myself. But this kind of collaborative working is what Drive was designed for, right?
“Finding people to fix your typos is easy.” As someone who makes part of their living from proofreading, perhaps I shouldn’t admit it; but it’s true. Seth Godin’s blog < sethgodin.typepad.com > has gradually opened my eyes to the fact that spotting mistakes, amending, editing and so on is easier work than taking productive initiative.