Why You Need an Editor, Not Just a Proofreader, for Your Planner Design Files
So you’re confident that you’ve created the perfect product — a beautiful day planner you know will revolutionize the way we plan our days.
You have it all mapped out, every detail, and it’s as stunning as it is functional.
But are you 1,000% certain that all dates, holidays, and quotes throughout are accurate and without error? Is every page formatted consistently, every line of copy grammatically correct?
A thorough review of your planner from cover to cover is vital to the success of your product and credibility. But, you’ll need more than just a proofreader to get their hands on your planner design files for a detailed review before they go to print; you’ll need to work with an experienced editor.
Below, I’m sharing why.
Beyond the basics
If your custom product has any text at all, it must be reviewed.
During our first proofreading pass at Copper Bottom Design Co., we’ll read through your planner and fix any typos, while also making sure all of your headers, calendar templates, numbering, symbols, line weights, column spacing, etc. are consistent throughout.
From here, we will fact check everything — this is important. We’ll check every date on the calendar, every holiday, and every website you list against hard data.
And if you include quotes in your planner design, we’ll check them as well. And we don’t simply search for them on Google. We’ll find the author’s official website, find the quote in a reference book such as Bartlett’s Quotations, or verify the quote against multiple web sources.
As a proofreading team led by experienced editors, we’ll look for every tiny technical error, including the things you didn’t even know you didn’t know!
HOUSE STYLE AND YOUR Custom brand STYLE
We use the Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster's dictionary (11th edition) as the basis of our style for proofreading your text. Our editors will also go beyond the standard level of proofreading by working with you to create your own style sheet that aligns with your brand voice and style.
For instance, if you choose to lowercase month names, we make sure that’s noted and styled consistently. Do you list Jewish holidays? Would you like them listed on the day they start at sundown or do you prefer to list them on the first full day? We will update your style sheet accordingly.
PROOFREADING TILL IT'S PERFECT
After the edits have been approved by you and your planner pages have been adjusted to include these edits, we proofread again by comparing the marked-up planner pages, line by line, to the new updated version to ensure every correction has been made and new errors haven’t been introduced.
Nobody’s perfect, and even with years of experience, editors make mistakes. In fact, we will use a different proofreader to check the updated file to make sure the first reader didn’t miss anything.
And if you have more than one planner in your series, we will make sure corrections are made across the planners as necessary.