MEET THE PRO - Proofreader Mark Schultz

This month I'm delighted to chat to proofreader Mark Schultz, who I first saw on X many years ago. I spotted him because I enjoyed his book reviews and his humour is brilliant (you'll see his amazing tee-shirts throughout this post - each one is so funny!). So lets meet him. 

Welcome, Mark, and can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I have been proofreading for about 50 years. It was a serious struggle to find clients before the internet became common. I loved to read my entire life. A retired school teacher taught me how to read before I entered the first grade.

I started proofreading for a friend in the 70s. He sent me a carbon copy of his books, this was before personal computers became popular. I discovered I had a knack for spotting spelling errors without hunting for them. They would jump off the page at me, daring me to fix them. I obliged, of course.

How lovely that you can spot them so easily - that's a real talent! Why, do you think, do you enjoy proofreading so much?

I love to read, and polishing books is second nature to me. There are a lot of books that need polishing. Ninety-five percent of published books have spelling errors. Those few without spelling errors have punctuation or grammar errors.

I remember reading that even professional editors and proofreaders miss things, but the statistic quoted was an average of 5% - 10% errors on each pass, which surprised me! But we're all human (she says, then googling AI's rate and it's about the same!). 

Talking of which, do you have any opinion on how AI will be changing your profession?

Some people are using AI to edit but not write their story. I had the opportunity to provide a sample of Hyper-Spelling based on a 3,000-word section from the middle of the book for an author who did exactly that. I found lots of errors and was surprised at how silly some of the errors were. The author told me he was going to rewrite his book and not use AI to edit.

I think that's very wise, as surely the technology isn't advanced enough yet to handle nuance, dialects, or make contextual judgements for a long time (if ever!)? But AI is such a bone of contention, so let's move on!

What's the most common mistake you see in your work?

The top two spelling errors are homophones, words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings. Vice and Vise. The first is a crime category, the second is a device to hold something while it is being worked on. 

The second homophone set I see frequently is lightning and lightening. The first is a bolt of electricity from the sky, the second is darkness being gradually replaced with light.

It's so easily done! I must admit, I was fascinated by your 'Hyper-Spelling' service. You state it 'lets me find the invisible spelling errors computers miss in over 95% of published books’ – can you tell me more about this?

I coined the term Hyper-Spelling to succinctly describe what I do. I read anywhere from 40 to 60 books a year, in addition to the proofreading I do. The spelling errors jump off the page at me while I am reading. I am not reading slowly, looking for the errors. But they do stop me in my tracks and distract me from my reading pleasure. I do as much of my reading on my Kindle as possible. It’s easy to mark a misspelled word and resume my reading.

Gosh, that's so many books! I wonder, how do you stay focused when reviewing long documents, like novels?

Good question. As a boy, I read everything I could get my hands on. I truly enjoyed reading. I trained myself to read in any circumstance, including travelling in a car. I overcame being carsick and learned to block out all noise in the immediate environment. I would read until I got tired.

That sounds like amazing focus to me and oh, to be able to read in the car! I only have to pick up a map on a journey to feel green 😖 Thank goodness for satnav!

What's the trickiest error you've ever spotted?

That’s easy to answer. Affect and effect. They are commonly confused by people. They have a common definition each and a technical definition. They can be a noun or a verb also depending on context and pronunciation.

Oh, that's one of my favourite gaffs! I can't tell you how many times I've had to look it up, it's so frustrating, even though I know there's a mnemonic I can never remember it!

RAVEN. Remember: Affect is a Verb, Effect is a Noun. This will cover the common circumstances most people will encounter.

That's the one! Okay, so a technical question now. How do you balance correcting errors while preserving the writer's voice?

Good question. Important also. 

That idea is at the basis of my proofreading methodology and the heart of my proofreading philosophy. I hold the writer’s words in the highest respect, I don’t change them. I use the commenting feature in MS Word to make all of my suggestions about proofreading. I seek to keep the voice of each character consistent as well.

That's good to know, because it's something that worries some authors, particularly newbies like me. But have you ever had to tell a client that their work needed more than just proofreading? 

A few times. One client turned in little more than a somewhat fleshy outline. I explained that it would not hold the interest of most readers. He didn’t want to learn how to write, so I found a ghostwriter for him.

That was kind! What types of projects do you enjoy working on most?

My personal favourite genres are science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and cozy mystery.

And if readers could take away just one lesson to improve their writing today, what would it be?

Read my latest blog on my website here. It explains why we miss simple spelling errors in writing. I also have 13 tips about how to trick your brain into showing the simple spelling errors instead of hiding them.

I do love that blog post! Thank you so much for chatting to me, Mark, and where can people find you?

My account on X is here, my website is here and I have a lot of resources for writers on my website. The humour page goes on for a long time! 

Right, I'm off to check that one out!

I also promote books and that information is found here. My book promotion package seems to be unique, I haven’t seen a book promotion done anywhere else like I do. 

I am on other social media platforms but I ignore most of them because it takes away from reading and proofreading.

You're right, they can take up a huge amount of time, but I'm so grateful you've taken the time to chat to me today.

Thank you for this opportunity, Jaye. I love reading and I love helping authors! I know where the books come from. I am honoured to have a small part to play in the process.

Aww, that's so lovely, Mark, it's been a joy, and I've loved learning more about you.

If you'd like to learn more about Mark and his services, then it's well worth checking out his blog, as there's so much there to see.

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