Aug 10 2008
Standard proofreader’s marks
A short note today about standard proofreader’s marks: Learn them! If you’re interested in the editorial side of publishing, you will use them on a daily basis. And if you use them when you take a proofreading test (even if you’re not required to know the marks), it will appear to the test-grader that you already know what you’re doing.
They’re very simple to learn. The first resource I used was the University of Colorado Boulder’s style guide website. Now, because my publisher uses CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) as its preferred style guide, I refer to the proofreader’s marks included in the CMS text. There are variations to most marks, but as long as you’re close, usually your reader can figure them out. Delete, insert, close up, make italic, make bold, and stet (short for “let stand as set”) are very commonly used. Center justify and align horizontally are ones I don’t use often. Some marks are carried over from the printing and typewriting days, so they aren’t always applicable for use in reviewing manuscripts that have been written electronically.
