Page Proofs.—The printer then proceeds to make the book up into pages, and duplicate page proofs are forwarded to the author. These again should be read carefully to make sure that all corrections which were indicated in the galleys have been properly made, and returned to us for final casting into plates. Changes, and additions other than typographical corrections, which involve the overrunning and rearranging of lines or pages, often mean the remake-up of many pages of type and an expense that is usually out of all proportion to the good accomplished. Corrections and changes should, therefore, always be made in the galley proofs, to avoid the difficult question of author's corrections, which is discussed on page 18.
The duplicate set of page proofs should be retained by the author for use in preparing his index, in order that the copy for the index may be forwarded as soon after the final shipment of page proofs as possible.
Answering Queries.—Frequently the proof-readers query certain points in the manuscript on the galley or page proofs. It is important that the author note these queries in all cases and indicate his decision regarding the questions so raised.
Proof-reading.—In technical books especially, good proof-reading is essential. We use every effort to submit proofs which follow closely the original copy, but the experienced author knows that he himself cannot exercise too much care in proof-reading. The amount of damage which has been done to the reputation and sales of many otherwise excellent technical books, by carelessness in proof-reading, would astound the inexperienced author.
One set of galley and one set of page proofs which the author receives are marked with the printer's corrections, generally in green or red ink. The set containing the printer's marks should be returned with the author's corrections added. The duplicate set the author should keep for his own files.
For the guidance of those who are inexperienced in proof-reading, we give herewith a reproduction of a sheet showing the ordinary proof-reading marks. It is helpful if the author follows this general system in marking his proofs. It is essential that the corrections be clearly marked.
PROOFREADER'S MARKS
| Insert the letter, word or punctuation mark indicated. | |
| Insert or substitute a period at the place indicated. | |
| Insert an apostrophe. | |
| Insert quotation marks. | |
| Insert a hyphen. | |
| Make a space at the point indicated. | |
| Close up or join separated letters or words. | |
| Delete or take out. | |
| Change from capital to small letter. | |
| Change to capital letter. | |
| Change to small caps. | |
| Change to italics. | |
| Change to roman type. | |
| Wrong font letter. | |
| Transpose. | |
| Words or letters inclosed by line should change places. | |
| Paragraph here. | |
| No paragraph here. | |
| Restore word or sentence mistakenly marked out. | |
| Is this right? | |
| Broken letter. | |
| Move to left. | |
| Move to right. | |
| Push down space. |
In preparing copy for the printer the writer should underline: