Enrichment · Passion Projects

Every correction,
found, decided, made.

Proofreading a book means hundreds of small changes across several passes and several readers, and the dangerous ones are the changes everyone agreed to that never made it into the file. Log each change with where it is, what kind, the text before and after and its status. The side panel shows what is still to key in and which kinds of error keep coming back.

Log a changeWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Passion projects kit, $39 for 43 items.

Changes

The worked example is made up: four changes from the second pass of a middle-grade novel, found by two readers, RK and AT. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Passion Projects$5

What you finish with
A record per change: date, location, kind, text as it stands, the correction, a note or source, who found it, which pass and its status. Counts changes still to key in, by status and by kind; flags a correction identical to the original, accepted changes not made, facts with no source and consistency fixes that need a whole-manuscript search.
Who it is for
Writers self-publishing a book, student writers preparing a manuscript, and friends or family helping proofread.
Format
Browser log with a saved record per change. Prints one change, the whole log in a table (to hand to whoever keys in changes) or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Passion projects kit ($39) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Log each change where you find it, one per record.
  2. Copy the text exactly as it stands, then the correction.
  3. Decide each one: accept or reject.
  4. Mark it made once it is in the file.
  5. Print the log for the final check against the proof.

Log a change

Proofreading

Seven kinds of changeKindExampleTypo or spellingits going → it’s goingPunctuationa missing closing quotation markGrammarbetween you and I → between you and meConsistencyGrey Harbor on p. 12, Gray Harbor on p. 63Facta date, a name, a moon phaseFormattinga chapter title in the wrong styleStylehouse style for numbers and dashesSeven kinds of changeTypo or spellingExample: its going → it’s goingPunctuationExample: a missing closing quotation markGrammarExample: between you and I → between you and meConsistencyExample: Grey Harbor on p. 12, Gray Harbor on p. 63FactExample: a date, a name, a moon phaseFormattingExample: a chapter title in the wrong styleStyleExample: house style for numbers and dashes
Counting changes by kind shows a writer which errors keep coming back, which is where the next draft’s style sheet should start.

Keep a style sheet

Editors keep a style sheet: the chosen spelling of names and places, how numbers and dates are written, which words are capitalized. A consistency change in this log is usually a style sheet entry waiting to be written.

Search, then replace

Find and replace across a whole book can change words you did not mean to change. Search for each instance and replace them one at a time, especially for short words and names that appear inside other words.

Sources

  1. The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition (2024), chapter 2: manuscript editing and proofreading, including proofreaders’ marks and style sheets.
  2. Einsohn, A., and Schwartz, M. (2019). The Copyeditor’s Handbook, 4th edition. University of California Press.
  3. Saller, C. F. (2016). The Subversive Copy Editor, 2nd edition. University of Chicago Press.
  4. Editorial Freelancers Association (the-efa.org): stages of editing, from developmental editing to proofreading.

The worked example is made up. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.