Comments on: Top Tips for Proofreading Your Press Release

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 07:33:12 +0000

I agree. Don’t rely too much on your Word Processor’s grammar and spell check because it is not enough. The spelling checker can only tell you if words are misspelled; it cannot tell you if the word usage is incorrect. The grammar checker is even more limited; it cannot understand that many expressions have multiple meanings and that the context of a single word can change the entire meaning of a sentence.

An experienced proofreader can spot all of these common errors as well as the uncommon ones.

By: The Publicity Hound’s Blog » 12 proofreading tips for press releases, blogs & other copy

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:40:16 +0000

[...] 12 proofreading tips for press releases, blogs & other copy Before you send that next press release, or add copy to your online press room, or post something to your blog, or upload a new article to an article directory site, use Mickie Kennedy’s 8 top tips for proofreading. [...]

By: Rowena

Rowena — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:22:05 +0000

Great information about proofreading material. I have never heard of reading backwards but it sounds good and makes a lot of sense. I am going to d/l your ebook and see what other great tips you offer. Thanks I Can Sleep Better

By: Flo Selfman

Flo Selfman — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:21:06 +0000

As a proofreader/copyeditor as well as a publicist, I’d like to offer a few more tips based on material I’ve read.
They include:
- Proofread only when you are well-rested.
- Remember the old comma rule: when in doubt, leave it out.
- Learn the different between a dash and a hyphen. In terms of function, the hyphen is a connector and the dash is a separator.
- Don’t use a hyphen at the end of a line unless the word actually contains a hyphen. When the document appears, the hyphen will also appear, even if the word is in the middle of a line. It then might also contain an unwanted space.
- Learn the difference between singular, plural and possessive.
- Use a ruler or folded sheet of plain white paper so that you only look at one line at a time.
- Read every single word. Don’t skip over the little words. You might find out out that you’ve written “and” when you meant to write “the.”
- Periods and commas go inside quotation marks in American English. Colons and semicolons go outside quotation marks. Question marks go inside if the quotation is a question, and outside if the sentence is a question but the quotation is a statement.
Want more tips? I’ve posted them on Joan Stewart’s blog, http://ow.ly/1dcK1

By: Mickie Kennedy

Mickie Kennedy — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:31:57 +0000

Thanks Joan. Great stuff as always.

By: Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound

Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:52:19 +0000

Your tips are fabulous. Here are four more:

–Check all numbers. If the headline says “8 tips for spring cleaning,” make sure there are 8 tips within the body copy. If the story says X is Y percent of Z, double-check it on a calculator.

–If there’s a phone number within the press release, pick up the phone and call the number, even if you are the one who typed the number and you’re sure it’s correct! (This is old newspaper copy editor’s trick. Yes, I’m an old newspaper copy editor.)

–Ditto with URLs. Make sure all URLs click through to correct web pages.

–Make sure someone’s name is spelled the same way consistently throughout the release.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:48:26 +0000

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