Professional proofreading

The last set of eyes your manuscript needs before it goes live.

Final-pass proofreading from a senior proofreader with Big-5 publishing experience — every typo, spelling error, punctuation slip, and formatting inconsistency caught before your book goes to print, KDP, or distribution. The only edit that stands between your work and the reader.

  • Delivered by a senior proofreader with Big-5 publishing experience
  • Typos, spelling, punctuation & formatting errors caught throughout
  • 5-10 business day turnaround — clean copy + marked-up copy delivered
  • 100% confidential — NDA available on request
★★★★★ 4.9 / 5 from 870+ verified author reviews

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Submit your manuscript and get it print-ready before publication

100% confidential. NDA on request. Reply within 1 business day.

Proofreading is not copy editing. It’s the last gate before publication.

Copy editing fixes grammar, style, and consistency. Proofreading is the final read — catching what every previous pass missed, checking the formatted pages against the manuscript, and making sure nothing slips through to print or live upload.

What self-proofreading gives you

  • Your brain auto-corrects errors it wrote — you stop seeing your own mistakes
  • Friends and family catch some typos — miss formatting breaks entirely
  • No check against a style sheet or house standard
  • Transposed and repeated words passed over every time — invisible to the author
  • Widows, orphans, and page breaks in the formatted PDF left unexamined
  • Publication-day errors that readers screenshot, post, and review negatively

What our proofreading delivers

  • Every typo, transposition, and repeated word caught on a fresh cold read
  • Spelling, punctuation, and capitalisation cross-checked against your style sheet
  • Formatted page check — widows, orphans, bad breaks, and page numbers verified
  • Running heads, chapter titles, and TOC verified against the manuscript
  • Two delivery formats — clean corrected copy + marked-up copy for your records
  • Submission-ready or print-ready — signed off before it leaves our desk
5,800+ Manuscripts proofread
99.9% Error-free on delivery
5-10 Business day turnaround
4.9 Average author rating

What proofreading catches that every other pass missed.

Every proofread covers eight categories of final-pass errors. Here’s exactly what your proofreader looks for on every page.

Typos & transpositions

Every mistyped, transposed, and accidentally repeated word caught on a fresh cold read — the errors the author has become blind to after months of drafting.

Spelling & homophone errors

Correctly spelled but contextually wrong words — their/there, its/it's, affect/effect, compliment/complement — caught throughout and corrected against your style sheet.

Punctuation & spacing

Missing, doubled, or incorrect punctuation caught — including double spaces, failed smart quotes, stray hyphens, and ellipsis formatting errors throughout.

Capitalisation consistency

Capitalisation checked against the project style sheet chapter by chapter — inconsistencies between sections flagged and resolved to a single documented standard.

Formatted page check

Widows, orphans, bad line breaks, and stray hyphens checked in the final formatted PDF or InDesign file — the errors that only appear after typesetting.

Running heads & page numbers

Running header text, footer content, and page numbering verified against the manuscript — section breaks, chapter numbering, and Roman numeral front matter all checked.

Table of contents & cross-references

Chapter titles and page numbers in the TOC verified for accuracy. All internal cross-references, footnotes, and endnotes checked against their source material.

Final formatting compliance

Print-on-demand margins, bleed, and trim compliance checked. KDP and IngramSpark upload requirements verified so your file passes on the first submission attempt.

From submission to print-ready in 10 days.

A transparent, five-step process. You always know exactly where your manuscript is — and when it comes back clean.

01

Submit

Final manuscript or formatted PDF + your project style sheet (or we apply Chicago as default). Note any specific areas of concern you already know about.

02

Proofreader Match

We assign a senior proofreader with Big-5 experience in your genre — matched before work begins so the right eyes are on the right kind of text.

03

Cold Read

Your proofreader reads the full manuscript as a completely fresh pair of eyes — no familiarity with the text, no prior passes, maximum error catch rate.

04

Verification Pass

A second targeted pass: style sheet cross-reference, formatted page check, running heads, TOC accuracy, and page numbering all verified against the manuscript.

05

Final Delivery

Clean corrected copy + marked-up copy delivered to your inbox. Premium packages include an error summary report and final print compliance sign-off.

Final-pass standard
Final-pass standard

Proofreading is the last professional act before your reader opens page one.

At Big-5 houses, a proofreader reads the final formatted pages — not the manuscript — because that’s where the last errors hide. Our proofreaders have carried this standard at Penguin Random House, Hachette, and HarperCollins. They read cold, they read twice, and they sign off before anything goes to print or live upload.

  • Two delivery formats — clean corrected copy + marked-up copy for your records
  • Style sheet checked on every project — no arbitrary decisions on house standards
  • Genre-matched across fiction, nonfiction, academic, business, and children’s
  • Full and Premium proofreads reviewed by a second proofreader before delivery
Submit your manuscript →

Our Proofreading Packages

Manuscript Proofread

A clean final-pass proofread for manuscripts ready to go to the formatter or straight to upload.

$499 one-time, all-inclusive
  • Full manuscript proofread (up to 80k words)
  • Typos, spelling & punctuation errors caught
  • Capitalisation & spacing consistency
  • Style sheet cross-reference
  • Clean corrected copy + marked-up copy
  • Delivered in 7-10 business days
Most Popular
Full Proofread

Manuscript proofread plus formatted page check, TOC verification, and KDP compliance — fully print-ready.

$799 one-time, all-inclusive
  • Everything in Manuscript Proofread
  • Formatted page check (widows, orphans, bad breaks)
  • Running heads & page number verification
  • TOC & cross-reference accuracy check
  • KDP / IngramSpark compliance check
  • Error summary report
  • Delivered in 5-7 business days
Premium + Sign-Off

Two-proofreader review, front & back matter, print-compliance check, and a final sign-off letter.

$1,199 starting from
  • Everything in Full Proofread
  • Second independent proofreader pass
  • Front matter & back matter proofread
  • Print-on-demand file compliance (trim, bleed, margins)
  • Final sign-off letter for your records
  • Priority 3-business-day turnaround

What every author is guaranteed.

These are standing commitments on every proofread — confirmed before work begins, delivered without exception.

Cold Read Standard

Your proofreader comes to the text with no prior exposure. Fresh eyes, no familiarity bias, maximum error catch rate — the only standard that works.

Two-Format Delivery

Every project delivers a clean corrected copy and a separate marked-up copy — so you see every change made and have a clean file ready for upload.

On-Time Delivery

Proofread delivered by the agreed date or your next service is free. We commit to a specific deadline before we accept your submission.

Style Sheet Compliance

Your project style sheet is the reference standard on every decision. No arbitrary corrections — every change traceable back to the documented standard.

Full Confidentiality

NDA available on request. Your manuscript stays in our secure system and is never shared externally under any circumstances.

Second-Reader Check

Every Full and Premium proofread is reviewed by a second independent proofreader before delivery — two sets of eyes on every page, not one.

Trusted by business leaders, entrepreneurs & executives

From first-time authors to seasoned CEOs — our clients use their books to build authority, attract clients, and leave a lasting legacy.

I've been running my consulting firm for 14 years and always knew a book would elevate my positioning. Hawthorne made it real. The ghostwriter they matched me with understood my industry from day one. The final manuscript reads exactly like me — sharp, direct, and full of the frameworks I use with clients. Closed two six-figure engagements before the official launch.

MT
Marcus T.
Mar 2026
★★★★★

I came in with a half-finished manuscript and no clear direction. The developmental editing process was transformative — they helped me restructure the entire argument without losing my voice. The book is now the anchor of my thought leadership strategy and has been picked up by three business podcasts. Worth every dollar.

SK
Sarah K.
Jan 2026
★★★★★

Hawthorne handled my business memoir from outline to Amazon launch. The project manager kept everything on schedule and the ghostwriter captured 20 years of entrepreneurial lessons in a way that is genuinely engaging. It's already ranking in two categories on KDP and my speaking inquiries have tripled since launch.

DR
Daniel R.
Feb 2026
★★★★★

As a business coach, credibility is everything. Publishing my book with Hawthorne gave me a tangible asset I can put in front of every prospective client. The team handled the cover, interior layout, ISBN, and KDP submission flawlessly. I didn't have to touch a single technical detail. Professional from start to finish.

JW
Jennifer W.
Dec 2025
★★★★★

My executive team had been suggesting I write a strategy book for years. Hawthorne turned that idea into a polished, published reality in under five months. The ghostwriter conducted thorough interviews, the editor tightened every chapter, and the cover design looked better than books I've seen from major publishers.

RA
Robert A.
Nov 2025
★★★★★

I used Hawthorne's book marketing and Amazon Ads service post-launch. The team built a proper campaign strategy, ran the ads, and optimised the metadata. Within six weeks we hit bestseller status in two categories. The visibility it created for my startup brand was unlike anything I'd achieved through traditional PR.

MC
Michael C.
Oct 2025
★★★★★
Read more

Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers to the questions authors ask most about this service.

A proofreader checks the formatted, print-ready file against the approved edited manuscript. They catch typos, spacing errors, orphan and widow lines, incorrect fonts, missing punctuation, page numbering issues, header and footer errors, and any new errors introduced during typesetting. Proofreading is the final gate before a book goes to print or digital distribution.

Proofreading is always the last editorial step — after developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, and interior layout/formatting. It is never a substitute for earlier editing stages, and should not be treated as one.

No. Copy editing corrects errors in the manuscript before typesetting. Proofreading checks the typeset file after layout. Both are necessary for a professionally published book.

For print books, a print-ready PDF with crop marks is ideal. For eBooks, we work from the EPUB file. We can also proofread from a formatted Word document if layout is not yet finalised, but a post-layout proof is always recommended before distribution.

A 70,000-word manuscript typically takes 5–8 business days for proofreading. We deliver a marked PDF or annotated file with all corrections listed in a change log for your approval.

We can proofread any manuscript, but we will note if the document has issues beyond proofreading scope — grammar errors, structural problems, or style inconsistencies that proofreading cannot and should not fix. In those cases, we recommend the appropriate prior editing stage.

A 3-minute strategy call is the fastest way to find the right path. No obligation. NDA on request.

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