I don't proofread.

I've never been able to accurately proofread my own writing. Invariably, I read what I think I wrote.

For sure, I'm a terrible proofreader of my own work. I still cringe over a typo I wrote for Elegant Hotels, "there's free wi-fi in all pubic areas."

I was fired by an agency for a typo the same week I won a Clio.

In general, writers are notoriously poor proofreaders of their own work. Writing and proofreading require different skills.

UK psychologist Tom Stafford says, “The reason typos get through isn’t because we’re stupid or careless, it’s because what we’re doing is actually very smart."

Our brains trick us into not seeing errors during the self-editing process. Further, when our minds are in recognition mode, not reading mode, we tend to overlook the majority of typos.

I'm a wizard at catching errors made by other writers. Just not my own.

Most expensive typos in history.

Typos and writing seem to go hand-in-hand.

Google earns $497 million every year from people who misspell popular website names and land on "typosquatter" sites.

In 2013, Macy's sent a mailer to Texans advertising a $1500 necklace for $47. The correct price was $497.

In 2006, Alitalia airlines mistakenly advertised $3900 plane tickets for $39. They honored the offer at a cost of $7 million.

In 1962, a missing hyphen in the code used to navigate Mariner 1 forced NASA to explode the rocket, at a loss of $80 million.

An e-Bay seller left out a letter in the name of a rare bottle of beer. A savvy biddy bought the beer for $300 and resold it minutes later for $503,300.

A typo caused houses in Wasatch County, Utah to be assessed at $1 billion, more than double the actual market value.

Two solutions for one comma problem.

Hire a professional proofreader.

I can arrange to have the project reviewed by a qualified proofreader. The cost is around 14 cents per word depending on the subject matter and project complexity.

Or proofread it yourself.

If you have a good proofer on staff, more power to you. Just be careful not to let heavy-handed editing alter the style. Marketing copy is colloquial not rigidly grammatical.

Do you want proofreading?

I'll get an estimate once the draft is approved.

Proofreading is priced per word so we need final copy to get a quote.