Here is part 3. It is a little longer but I cannot emphasize the part in yellow enough! Thank so much!!!
Spelling and Grammar Matter
Thanks to the internet more people than ever are writing on a daily basis – they are blogging, Twittering, Facebooking, IMing, emailing, texting, etc. etc. However, all this writing has lead to a decline in basic grammar and spelling. This may be fine for everyday communications but that does not make it fine for books. Spell check will find words which are spelled incorrectly but it will not differentiate between there/their/they’re, point out words that are used incorrectly, correct punctuation, etc. There are also grammatical conventions for constructing things such as dialog that should be followed if you want your published work to look professional.
Authors who are not open to having their manuscripts proofed, edited, and critiqued should really consider whether they are serious about publishing. Professionals in the publishing business tell me that if an author resists editing and making changes they cannot work with them and will terminate the contract. While it is perfectly reasonable to resist significant content changes to a book (one of my agents wanted me to rewrite The Old Mermaid’s Tale for the Young Adult market — I refused), writers have to comply with standard grammar, punctuation, structure, etc. if they want to be taken seriously.
COMMIT TO QUALITY
Please remember this: when you publish a badly written, badly proofed,
badly edited book, you don’t just make yourself look bad,
you make all self-published authors look bad.
Readers are becoming increasingly sensitive to self-publishing and have no reticence
to give very bad reviews to badly constructed books.
As a self-publisher commit to the highest standards possible.
Preparing Files: Print Publishing vs. ePublishing
Remember: printed material is made of ink, electronic material is made of light.
Continued at: http://parlezmoiblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/part-3-before-you-go-to-press.html
Good Morning Gloucester 