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The Dreaded Typo...Your Last Line of Defense

So, you’ve written your future bestseller. You’ve sent it to beta readers, the editor, proofreader, and have read it so many times the thought of having to read it once more makes you want to throw up.
The precious has been uploaded and released into the wild and all you have to do is sit back and wait for the reviews to start rolling in.

Then there it is, the dreaded one star. “The book had a typo on page 5. So typical. This is why I don’t read self-published books.” Catch my drift? We can read and read, and yet that pesky little typo still slips through. It’s not because you didn’t try, but because it just happens.

One reason is because when we read the same thing over and over, our eyes have the tendency to skip over certain words, or our brain automatically converts the word to what we think it should be. What is one way to avoid this? Try listening to your manuscript.

What I mean by listening is this. Find an electronic device that has a Text To Speech feature. Upload your manuscript and listen as the device reads the story to you. During this process you will hear the exact words that you typed, not what you meant to type. This will help you hear the difference between closely spelled words, or if a word has been repeated, or entirely left out.

 Devices that I have found to have Text to Speech are: The Kindle Fire, iPhone, iPad, and the writing application Scrivener. Heck, even my old school Kindle, like second generation Kindle, even has the feature. Out of all of these devices my Kindle Fire and Scrivener program have been the easiest to operate.

 How do you do this you ask? Well the first thing you have to do is upload the manuscript to your device. If you are using your Kindle, find your Kindle email address, and email your manuscript to your Kindle. You’ll find your book under Docs. Then turn on Text To Speech. (for this process see video below)

 If you are using an iPhone or iPad, download the Kindle app, then email your manuscript the same way you would to your Kindle. Next open Settings, click on General, click on Accessibility, then click on Voiceover. Turn Voiceover on and let Siri do the talking. This process takes a bit getting used to, but trust me, it’s worth it.

 Do you have any tips or tricks that you like to use when when proofreading? Please share below. Happy Writing!



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