Is anybody using the Kindle to proofread documents? Any tips?

Clau · 03-15-2012, 06:12 AM

Hi. I do a lot of proofreading so I'm excited about using my not-yet-received KT to help me out. I'm trying to come up with the most efficient way to it, particularly how to move the documents between the PC and Kindle, with highlights, notes, etc.

I'm thinking of using plain doc or rtf files (I just need to proofread text), but I don't know if the notes created in the KT will be compatible with Word or Google Docs (probably not) like highlighting and commenting works. So, is anyone already doing something like that and how are you doing it? Maybe there's a work-around or we could use this thread to come up with one, even if it's not perfect.

For the record, I chose the Kindle because I wanted to avoid eye-strain caused by proofreading but I also buy most of my books from Amazon, so it would be perfect.

Thanks.

DiapDealer · 03-15-2012, 08:33 AM

I don't bother trying to copy stuff back and forth between Kindle and PC. It ended up taking up too much of my time trying fiddle the clippings.txt into some sort of workflow.

I create a quick note (on the Kindle) at the spot where something is wrong (I also tend to include a chapter number in the note). Then I sit down with the source document open on the PC, and my Notes and Highlights open on the Kindle. With the chapter numbers, it makes it fairly trivial to search the source for some nearby text that the Kindle included in its highlight.

I read a few chapters, then fix those chapters in the source, rebuild the MOBI... reload on the Kindle, and pick-up reading where I left off with a fresh, empty clippings file.

avantman42 · 03-15-2012, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clau

I'm thinking of using plain doc or rtf files (I just need to proofread text)

Note that the Kindle won't read doc or RTF files, so you'll have to convert them. Calibre can convert RTF files to Mobi (Kindle's native format), or you can e-mail doc files to your Kindle and they will be automagically converted.

Personally, I just highlight when I find a problem, then copy the My Clippings.txt file off the Kindle. I do a search on the original document to find the error.

One thing I've found is that the text-to-speech function is a useful extra for proof-reading. Some mistakes are much more obvious when spoken out loud.

dwig · 03-15-2012, 09:30 AM

My workflow is similar to DiapDealer's.

I proof a MOBI format file and make notes my simply moving the cursor to the offending area and typing some often cryptic note indicating the error. When back at my PC, I open the book on the Kindle and View Notes & Marks. The Kindle shows a short block of text around the annotation and my note. I open the source document, usually an epub at this stage in the proofing, and use search and replace to find the section of text to correct.

I find this easier than attempting to sync with Kindle for PC or simply using a copy of the Kindle device's clippings.txt file and its Locations references to manually find the same section of text in Kindle for PC. These methods still require that you do a S&R in the source text to find the matching position.

Clau · 03-26-2012, 09:31 PM

Thank you all! I was also thinking of the text-to-speech feature.

HarryT · 03-27-2012, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avantman42

One thing I've found is that the text-to-speech function is a useful extra for proof-reading. Some mistakes are much more obvious when spoken out loud.

No use at all for finding errors in punctuation, though!

Lazer · 03-27-2012, 12:15 PM

Yes, proofreading on the Kindle works for me. I change it to a mobi file using Calibre (it's free). I just send it to my Kindle using its XXXX@kindle.com address. While proofing I highlight the problem sentences and then sit down with the laptop and make the adjustments. (You can just open up your highlighted stuff from your Kindle menu)

I've also used the audio for proofing too and that works too. You'll just have to play with it and see what works for you.

HarryT · 03-27-2012, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazer

I've also used the audio for proofing too and that works too. You'll just have to play with it and see what works for you.

Can you explain how you use audio for proofing? I find that things like missing quotation marks are far more common than misspelt words. How does audio help you to find those?

Lazer · 03-27-2012, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Can you explain how you use audio for proofing? I find that things like missing quotation marks are far more common than misspelt words. How does audio help you to find those?

Audio doesn't help with missing quotation marks. What it helps me with is missing words. I had an editor point out a missing "be" in this sentence recently:

"It was good to back in my marked truck wearing the uniform and gun belt."

When I read it in my manuscript, my brain inserted the word "be" twice before I too noticed it was missing. Maybe it was a bout of dislexia or maybe everybody's mind will place needed words while reading. Dunno. But if I listen to it on Kindle, I'll hear the missing word. I'll also pick up a tense change.

BTW, I also use Grammarian software– it'll pick up orphaned quotation marks but it doesn't replace a good editor.

avantman42 · 03-27-2012, 03:10 PM

I didn't phrase it very well, but I was trying to say that the text-to-speech is a useful thing to use as well as more standard proof-reading. I tend to use it once, as an additional step after all other proof-reading is done. I don't find many errors that way, but I have found a few.

The errors I tend to find with text-to-speech are wrong words that look similar to the word that should have been used, but which are legitimate words and therefore aren't picked up by a spell checker.

JonathanH · 03-27-2012, 06:50 PM

For some reason I'd never considered highlighting or annotating on the Kindle while proofreading - I just used a digital voice recorder to record the problem instead! Quite embarrassing to realize there's an easier way of doing things

Anyway, to make up for that, here are three more things that I've found useful.

When proofreading, always keep adjusting the font face, font size, line spacing, and margin spacing - thankfully the Kindle makes this easy! The reason is that when proofreading you want to keep your eye/brain in the "whoa, what are those letters?" mode, rather than the "yeah yeah blah blah fill in the words blah blah" mode. Shaking things up all the time really helps (cf Wikipedia article on proofreading)
I use a statistical approach to get some assurance that I'm done - because unless you're really good, one pass won't catch EVERYTHING. When I think I'm done, I set font/line spacing/margin to cram as much as is readable on one page, then jump to 10 locations spread evenly through the book (e.g. if the book has 31,000 locations, then jump to 3000, 6000, 9000, ...), and read each of 10 pages in isolation. Again, this breaks up the flow of reading, and since I "only" have 10 pages to read, I can really concentrate and find every single problem. If I don't find any, I call it done. Otherwise, I fix the errors, then offset by a bit (e.g. 3100, 6100, 9100) and repeat the process. You can tune the number of pages here to taste, depending on how much confidence you need
As soon as you find an error, think about how to prevent it in the future - for me, this means a regular expression that I can use in Sigil to search for the same error. I now have quite a collection of them that I can run, which catch a lot of the common errors before I even start proofreading.

03-15-2012, 06:12 AM	#1
Clau Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	Is anybody using the Kindle to proofread documents? Any tips? Hi. I do a lot of proofreading so I'm excited about using my not-yet-received KT to help me out. I'm trying to come up with the most efficient way to it, particularly how to move the documents between the PC and Kindle, with highlights, notes, etc. I'm thinking of using plain doc or rtf files (I just need to proofread text), but I don't know if the notes created in the KT will be compatible with Word or Google Docs (probably not) like highlighting and commenting works. So, is anyone already doing something like that and how are you doing it? Maybe there's a work-around or we could use this thread to come up with one, even if it's not perfect. For the record, I chose the Kindle because I wanted to avoid eye-strain caused by proofreading but I also buy most of my books from Amazon, so it would be perfect. Thanks.

03-27-2012, 06:50 PM	#11
JonathanH Enthusiast Posts: 43 Karma: 153036 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	For some reason I'd never considered highlighting or annotating on the Kindle while proofreading - I just used a digital voice recorder to record the problem instead! Quite embarrassing to realize there's an easier way of doing things Anyway, to make up for that, here are three more things that I've found useful. When proofreading, always keep adjusting the font face, font size, line spacing, and margin spacing - thankfully the Kindle makes this easy! The reason is that when proofreading you want to keep your eye/brain in the "whoa, what are those letters?" mode, rather than the "yeah yeah blah blah fill in the words blah blah" mode. Shaking things up all the time really helps (cf Wikipedia article on proofreading) I use a statistical approach to get some assurance that I'm done - because unless you're really good, one pass won't catch EVERYTHING. When I think I'm done, I set font/line spacing/margin to cram as much as is readable on one page, then jump to 10 locations spread evenly through the book (e.g. if the book has 31,000 locations, then jump to 3000, 6000, 9000, ...), and read each of 10 pages in isolation. Again, this breaks up the flow of reading, and since I "only" have 10 pages to read, I can really concentrate and find every single problem. If I don't find any, I call it done. Otherwise, I fix the errors, then offset by a bit (e.g. 3100, 6100, 9100) and repeat the process. You can tune the number of pages here to taste, depending on how much confidence you need As soon as you find an error, think about how to prevent it in the future - for me, this means a regular expression that I can use in Sigil to search for the same error. I now have quite a collection of them that I can run, which catch a lot of the common errors before I even start proofreading. Last edited by JonathanH; 03-27-2012 at 06:55 PM.

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03-15-2012, 08:33 AM	#2
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,389 Karma: 203720150 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I don't bother trying to copy stuff back and forth between Kindle and PC. It ended up taking up too much of my time trying fiddle the clippings.txt into some sort of workflow. I create a quick note (on the Kindle) at the spot where something is wrong (I also tend to include a chapter number in the note). Then I sit down with the source document open on the PC, and my Notes and Highlights open on the Kindle. With the chapter numbers, it makes it fairly trivial to search the source for some nearby text that the Kindle included in its highlight. I read a few chapters, then fix those chapters in the source, rebuild the MOBI... reload on the Kindle, and pick-up reading where I left off with a fresh, empty clippings file.

03-15-2012, 09:30 AM	#4
dwig Wizard Posts: 1,613 Karma: 6718541 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Paradise (Key West, FL) Device: Current:Surface Go & Kindle 3 - Retired: DellV8p, Clie UX50, ...	My workflow is similar to DiapDealer's. I proof a MOBI format file and make notes my simply moving the cursor to the offending area and typing some often cryptic note indicating the error. When back at my PC, I open the book on the Kindle and View Notes & Marks. The Kindle shows a short block of text around the annotation and my note. I open the source document, usually an epub at this stage in the proofing, and use search and replace to find the section of text to correct. I find this easier than attempting to sync with Kindle for PC or simply using a copy of the Kindle device's clippings.txt file and its Locations references to manually find the same section of text in Kindle for PC. These methods still require that you do a S&R in the source text to find the matching position.

03-26-2012, 09:31 PM	#5
Clau Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	Thank you all! I was also thinking of the text-to-speech feature.

03-27-2012, 12:15 PM	#7
Lazer Groupie Posts: 174 Karma: 1498858 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle 3	Yes, proofreading on the Kindle works for me. I change it to a mobi file using Calibre (it's free). I just send it to my Kindle using its XXXX@kindle.com address. While proofing I highlight the problem sentences and then sit down with the laptop and make the adjustments. (You can just open up your highlighted stuff from your Kindle menu) I've also used the audio for proofing too and that works too. You'll just have to play with it and see what works for you.

03-27-2012, 03:10 PM	#10
avantman42 Wizard Posts: 1,090 Karma: 6058305 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I didn't phrase it very well, but I was trying to say that the text-to-speech is a useful thing to use as well as more standard proof-reading. I tend to use it once, as an additional step after all other proof-reading is done. I don't find many errors that way, but I have found a few. The errors I tend to find with text-to-speech are wrong words that look similar to the word that should have been used, but which are legitimate words and therefore aren't picked up by a spell checker.

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