In today's age where publishing is no longer a lengthy process involving copious amounts of people, time and money, self-publishing has become the way of modern times.
For the editorial freelancer, self-publishing can potentially be a lucrative market, as the line between copy-editing and final polishing has become fuzzy. Before even reaching the stage of publishing, the text or document needs to be looked at and proof-read in order to make sure it is ready to be sent on to the editing and eventually, final publishing stages.
Many first-time authors tend to know little to nothing about the traditional editorial process, with the 'proofreader' often being forgotten about. In turn, this is making for a new wave of editorial freelancers becoming frustrated with the way they are becoming expected to simply "sort everything out". "Getting a manuscript into a publishable state, however, requires a lot more than proofreading", and can leave these first-time authors vunerable of wasting money on "a freelancing skill set that is inappropriate for their stage in the process" and "the hard graft they’ve put into creating their book will be worthless because it’s still not fit for market".
Lack of know how about the traditional publishing process is therefore raising a new generation of authors hoping that their mauscript will do well, without going through the appropiate channels to achieve this status. Proofreader Louise Harnby says that if you are wanting to be an author, it is important that you do your research in this area before jumping into anything that may waste your time and/or money. She has provided a free guideline for new authors to follow, and can be found here.
Sourced: Monoprapher: Publishing and the creative economy
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