I’m reviving this instead of starting a new thread because I felt compelled to stress the importance of editing. High quality beta testers can perform some of the copyediting tasks a professional would do, but it’s not the same as using a professional.
Here’s my specific example: I think Community College Hero had (has) some of the most awesome beta testers around, and there were a ton of them! We worked HARD during the final beta process. It took several months of thorough checking and re-checking. I think I listed over 70 people in the “About” credits. And here’s the thing…I still missed TONS of mistakes. TONS. As the author, this is 100% on me.
One reader alone on Steam listed out 40(!!) typos that escaped my efforts at editing. I was mortified!
What I’ve learned:
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It would probably be best to hire a copyeditor but I know most of us can’t afford the $1000 or so it would take sooo…
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Running your files through a spellcheck (which I did) is necessary but only a tiny step in the editing process. It doesn’t guard against skipping words or using the wrong word.
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As time-consuming as it is, I would recommend reading your entire story out loud, using your finger/mouse to move from word to word. I think I would have found many of the mistakes doing this. I WILL do this with Part 2.
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Look for mistakes with articles and other short words. I think your eyes and brain tend to skip over these when you read your story. I missed dozens of "the"s and "a"s and "an"s.
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Many beta testers would rather not hunt for typos, but take advantage of those who are happy to do so. Don’t brush it off with, “Don’t worry about typos - I’ll run spellcheck.” Let them hunt for typos!!