So, my New Year’s resolution was to properly launch the squeal to A Vacant Throne. Here we are in the middle of February, and I haven’t forgotten about my resolution. Not a bad start.

Crucial to this process, of course, is proofreading. Don’t try this at home.

Seriously, don’t try to proofread your own work. You wrote those errors, and you will read right through them. Then there is comma usage and other such punctuation pitfalls. There are a number of online editors, such as Grammarly and Hemingway. Almost all of them have a free version worth checking out. For my (lack of) money, QuillBot has the best free version. It will integrate into Word (if you have a new enough version), and you can call it up in Word. The free version will process up to 20,000 words at a time. You may need to chunk your novel into digestible parts to use the free version.

A quick tip. If you use QuillBot in Word, bring it up, select Grammar Checker, then move your cursor over to the text and hit Ctrl A. The QuillBot’s AI magic is off and running.

“AI!” you may say. Don’t think you haven’t used it already. It is behind most search engines and many apps. AI is a tool. It is a hammer. We can use it to build a house or bash in our neighbor’s head. The choice is ours. And, like the hammer, it is here to stay.

I am not going to suggest you use an online editor in lieu of a living proofreader or editor. However, the cleaner a manuscript you submit to a professional, the more likely they will work with you in the future and the more professional you will look. Don’t underestimate that.

Years ago, when we mailed (not emailed) entire manuscripts to agents, the first time I did that, I was not careful to follow the precise instructions and sent it in the wrong font. It was returned to me in my SASE without a mark or comment upon it. I am sure he opened it, saw the wrong font, and sent it back to me unread. Research how to be professional.

One more item before I go crawling off to bed. I shelled out five bucks to get a book launch checklist from Paper Raven. For the five dollars, they offer up some other freebies, but which I have not explored as yet. I intend to use the checklist. One of my faults is being unstructured. I’ll let you know how this works for me. And, yes, I am a panster.

All I have to do now is run the above through QuillBot, and I can go to bed.