Professional Book Proofreading Services
Give your manuscript one final, careful review before it reaches your readers.
You’ve written your book. You’ve revised it. You’ve worked through the editing process.
Now it’s time to catch the small errors that can remain before your book is published.
Alice Osborn provides professional proofreading for authors who want a polished, publication-ready manuscript. With almost two decades of professional editing experience, Alice has a sharp eye for the details that are easy to overlook when you’ve read your own manuscript dozens of times.
Ready for a fresh set of eyes on your book?
What Is Book Proofreading?
Proofreading is the final quality-control step in the editorial process.
Unlike developmental editing, which may address plot, organization, characters, pacing, or structure, proofreading focuses on errors that remain after the manuscript has already been edited and revised.
Alice carefully reviews your manuscript for issues such as:
These errors may seem small, but they can distract readers and make an otherwise strong book feel less professional.
Why Your Book Needs a Proofreader
When you’ve spent months, or years, writing and revising a book, you become extremely familiar with the words on the page.
Sometimes too familiar.
Your brain knows what a sentence is supposed to say, making it surprisingly easy to read right past a missing word, duplicated phrase, incorrect punctuation mark, or typo.
That’s why even experienced writers benefit from having someone else proofread their work.
A professional proofreader approaches your manuscript with fresh eyes and one purpose:
to find the errors you no longer see.
Editing and Proofreading Are Not the Same Thing
Authors sometimes use “editing” and “proofreading” interchangeably, but they serve different purposes.
Editing Improves the Manuscript
Depending on the type of editing, an editor may address:
Editing can result in substantial changes to a manuscript.
Proofreading Polishes the Manuscript
Proofreading comes after editing and revision.
At this stage, the book shouldn’t need major rewriting or restructuring. Instead, proofreading focuses on catching the remaining errors before the book reaches readers.
Think of editing as improving the book and proofreading as performing the final inspection.
Not sure which service your manuscript needs?
Proofreading for Fiction, Memoir & Nonfiction
Alice has worked with writers across many genres during almost two decades as a professional editor and book coach.
Her experience includes:
Fiction
Typos and inconsistencies can pull readers out of the fictional world you’ve worked so hard to create. Alice carefully reviews fiction manuscripts for errors while respecting the author’s style and intentional use of language.
Historical Fiction
Historical fiction is one of Alice’s specialties. In addition to proofreading mechanics, her experience with the genre gives her an understanding of the consistency and attention to detail historical fiction demands.
Memoir
Your memoir is your story, told in your voice. Proofreading provides a final polish without changing the personality and authenticity of the writing.
Nonfiction
Professional presentation is especially important when you’re using a book to communicate your knowledge, experience, or expertise. Proofreading helps ensure small errors don’t undermine the credibility of your work.
Alice also has experience working with children’s writing, poetry, screenwriting, and other forms of writing.
An Eye for the Details
One of Alice’s greatest strengths as an editor is noticing things other people miss.
She has an eye for missing words, inconsistencies, punctuation, hyphens, capitalization, and other small details that can easily survive multiple rounds of revision.
That attention to detail comes from almost two decades of professional editing experience.
Alice is also a published writer herself, so she understands both sides of the editorial relationship.
She knows how much work goes into a manuscript—and how important it is for the final book to represent that work professionally.
 An Experienced Editor and Published Author
Alice Osborn has been a professional editor and book coach for almost two decades.
She has edited across genres, including fiction, nonfiction, memoir, historical fiction, children’s writing, poetry, and screenwriting.
Alice is the former editor of Wake Living magazine, where she edited and wrote articles for the quarterly publication. She has published four books of poetry and is currently working on a historical novel.
She has also been a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network for 20 years and served on its Board of Trustees for ten years.
Her experience as an editor, writing teacher, book coach, and published author gives her a unique understanding of what writers need as they prepare their work for readers.
When Is Your Manuscript Ready for Proofreading?
Proofreading should usually happen near the very end of the publishing process.
Your manuscript is probably ready for proofreading when:
Making extensive changes after proofreading can introduce new errors, which is why the timing matters.
If your manuscript still needs substantial work on plot, structure, character, organization, or writing, Alice’s Manuscript Editing service may be a better place to start.
Frequently Asked Questions About Book Editing