TRY OUR FREE APP

Write your book in Reedsy Studio. Try the beloved writing app for free today.

Craft your masterpiece in Reedsy Studio

Plan, write, edit, and format your book in our free app made for authors.

Reedsy Community

Blog • Understanding Publishing

Last updated on Dec 06, 2022

What Do Proofreading Marks Mean?

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Dario Villirilli

Editor-in-Chief of the Reedsy blog, Dario is a graduate of Mälardalen University. As a freelance writer, he has written for many esteemed outlets aimed at writers. A traveler at heart, he can be found roaming the world and working from his laptop.

Having your work come back from an editor covered in red pen is daunting to begin with. Receiving a manuscript that's covered in proofreading marks that might as well be hieroglyphics can be even more intimidating.

But before you reach for your cipher wheel, remember that the purpose of proofreading marks isn’t to confuse you. It’s to provide a detailed roadmap to a professional and polished final manuscript . While independent authors are not likely to spring for large print runs that would be ruined by more than a couple of typos — proofreading still remains an essential step for most serious self-publishers.

These days, it’s unlikely for the proofreading process to occur via pen-and-paper, meaning that the use of proofreading marks is also becoming increasingly rare. Most proofreaders used tools such a “tracked changes” to flag issues — and many indie authors choose to forgo professional proofers for software such as Grammarly or the simple red, dotted line that signifies a typo in processors such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

That being said, screen fatigue is a real thing, and there’s something about a hard-copy document that seems to draw the eye to errors more than a digital one. So if you’re working with a proofreader and want to ensure the collaboration fulfills its top potential, it’s worth getting to know the meaning of the more common proofreading marks.

So, without further ado…

What are proofreading marks?

Proofreading marks are used to highlight spelling, vocabulary, grammatical, and punctuation errors, along with formatting and layout issues.

When proofreaders are editing a hard-copy manuscript, they will leave corrections on both sides of the margins: on the left-hand margins for corrections in the first half of the sentence and on the right-hand side for corrections in the latter half of the sentence. A corresponding mark will also be included in-line to indicate where the issue is.

-oMx3Z5bvOw Video Thumb

Alright, now let’s take a look at these formidable editing symbols.

Proofreading marks chart

The following proofreading symbols are taken from The Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition. While in-house style guides may vary from publisher to publisher, these symbols are standard across the industry.

Let’s start with operational marks, which cover everything from spelling to sentence structure to improper spacing.

List showing the marks made by proofreaders for operational purposes

  • The “delete” symbol on its own will refer to a word, while “delete and close up” will refer to a letter in a word.
  • The “let it stand” symbol would be used when more than one round of proofreading was done, and it indicates that a correction or alteration should be ignored.
  • The “transpose” symbol indicates the order of words needs to be changed (spot the transpose problem).

Next up are the punctuation marks, which — you guessed it — indicate that punctuation needs to be added .

List showing the marks used by proofreaders to indicate punctuation errors

Then there are typography marks, which denote formatting corrections.

List showing the marks used by proofreaders to indicate typographical errors.

Lastly, these are common abbreviations used by proofreaders to indicate issues related to the copy itself.

List showing the abbreviations used by proofreaders in manuscripts

The importance of proofreading

Ensuring that your book is polished and error-free is just as important to the reader experience as the writing quality. Your book can’t effectively communicate if the reader is constantly paused by spelling mistakes, awkward sentence structures,       or      uneven       spacing.

Here's what these proofreading marks look like in use, when a proofreader returns a manuscript, and when their suggestions have been incorporated:

essay editor symbols

Looking to get your book proofread?

First, we recommend doing as much of the work yourself as possible. Here are a few resources that will help:

  • Reedsy Studio will point out spelling and grammatical errors as you go.
  • How to Self-Edit Your Manuscript Like a Pro is a free Reedsy Learning course covering the ten most common writing mistakes — how to find and how to fix them.
  • What to Expect From Beta Readers is an informative blog post about how to work with beta readers to get your book ready for publication.
  • What Are Sensitivity Readers? is all about the controversial topic of sensitivity readers and what they actually do .

Free course: How to self-edit like a pro

Rid your manuscript of the most common writing mistakes with this 10-day online course. Get started now.

Once you’ve done all the proofreading work you can, we encourage you to consider working with a professional. Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process and will ensure your book fully meets its potential for success.

The average costs of working with a professional proofreader on Reedsy are:

  • $350 for a 40k-word book
  • $520 for a 60k-word book
  • $700 for an 80k-word book

Head to our marketplace to request quotes from a variety of professional proofreaders for free, or check out this post for more information on what you might expect to pay for professional proofreading services.

Continue reading

Recommended posts from the Reedsy Blog

essay editor symbols

Why You Should Write More Than One Picture Book (+ Children’s Book Ideas)

To break into the market as a professional picture book author, having just one book idea isn’t enough. Here’s why.

essay editor symbols

Romantasy: The Hottest New Trend in Fiction, Explained

Everything you need to know about the viral publishing trend that everyone’s talking about, complete with tips on how to write it and examples from popular contemporary literature.

essay editor symbols

How to Format a Book in Google Docs in 7 Simple Steps

While there are much better alternatives, here's how you can format a book in Google's popular writing app.

essay editor symbols

The 6 Best Ghostwriting Companies to Write Your Book

Learn which companies you can trust if you want to find a ghostwriter to write your next book.

essay editor symbols

How to Publish a Book For Free: The 7 Best Sites

If you want to publish your book without spending a single dime, check out this handy list of 7 free self-publishing services.

essay editor symbols

12 Elements of Poetry Every Poet Needs to Know

In order to become a poet, you need to learn the basics. Find out more about the foundations of poetry in this post, where we look at 12 of its most important elements.

Join a community of over 1 million authors

Reedsy is more than just a blog. Become a member today to discover how we can help you publish a beautiful book.

Let us test your proofreading skills!

Take our 2-minute quiz and get your grade.

essay editor symbols

1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.

Enter your email or get started with a social account:

Article type icon

Proofreading Marks: What Do They Mean?

#scribendiinc

Last updated: June 1, 2017

An overview of commonly used proofreading symbols

If you've ever had a hard copy of a document proofread, chances are that you're familiar with the strange typology of professional proofreaders. Your returned document is so full of symbols (hieroglyphics? squiggles? cuneiform script?!) that you think it has been translated into Martian!

These strange markings are the "footprint" that your proofreader has left on the document to highlight where changes need to be made to the text. The proofreader uses a series of symbols and abbreviations to suggest changes, correct spelling errors, improve punctuation, and generally enhance the quality and readability of a hard copy document.

Locating proofreading marks

In hard copy proofreading, corrections typically appear in the left or right margins beside the line containing the error. A mark is also placed in the text to indicate where the correction needs to be made. A caret (^) indicates an addition, and a line through the text indicates a deletion or a replacement. Proofreading marks are traditionally written in red ink for better visibility.

Frequently used proofreading marks

Delete a letter: a diagonal line through the letter with the delete mark in the margin

Delete a word: a straight line through the word with the delete mark in the margin

Frequently used abbreviations

Faulty diction: DICT

Awkwardly expressed or constructed: AWK

Wordy, too verbose: WDY

Wrong word used (e.g. to/too): WW

Eliminate the need for proofreading marks

Deciphering a proofreader's suggested changes used to take hours; fortunately, it doesn't have to any more. Submit your document to any of our proofreading services today for a speedy, easy-to-use document review that makes use of Tracked Changes instead.

Image source: Kay Ransom/BigStockPhoto.com

Achieve Perfect Writing with High-Quality Proofreading

Try our personal proofreading service , or get a free sample.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

Related Posts

10 Reasons to Hire a Professional Editor

10 Reasons to Hire a Professional Editor

Active and Passive Voice

Active and Passive Voice

Editing or Proofreading?

Editing or Proofreading?

Upload your file(s) so we can calculate your word count, or enter your word count manually.

We will also recommend a service based on the file(s) you upload.

English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker.

I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal.

I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package.

I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.

I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread.

I want to sound professional and to get hired. I have a resume, letter, email, or personal document that I need to have edited and proofread.

 Prices include your personal % discount.

 Prices include % sales tax ( ).

essay editor symbols

IMAGES

  1. Editing Essay Symbols : Editing and Proofreading Marks in Composition

    essay editor symbols

  2. Editing Symbols

    essay editor symbols

  3. Revising Your Writing (& Awesome Editing Symbols You Should Know

    essay editor symbols

  4. editing marks for writing for 3rd grade elementary in 2020

    essay editor symbols

  5. Proofreading Symbols: Your Guide to Editing Marks

    essay editor symbols

  6. Editing Symbols Poster by Think Bright

    essay editor symbols

VIDEO

  1. Use This FREE College Essay Editor to Get Into Your Dream School

  2. The Use and Structure of SignMaker 2015

  3. Relating cultural symbols using dynamic I Ching configuration

  4. Paragraph MAKEOVER: Watch Me Turn an Essay Into an A+ With These Edits

  5. Microsoft Word 2007 Bangla Tutorial Part-16 on equation editor for word & word symbols

  6. Symbols, Frames, Fonts and Barcodes