My best friend tells me the other day that I should take my incredibly annoying and frighteningly accurate habit of proofreading everything I see and start using it constructively. I do, I told him. I edit my author friends’ works and I edited your resume. You got a job, didn’t you? He says, yes but you need to charge money for your services. Can I do that? A quick Internet search of editing services proved to me that this function is very much alive and well. Which does not explain why almost every menu I pick up in a restaurant has misspelled meals listed (that I happily point out to the waitress) or why one of the biggest billboards in my hometown has errors on it. I guess no one got the memo, “Use your spell-checker!” Of course, spell-checkers only check for correct spelling. They do not pick out punctuation, syntax, grammar or typographical errors that correctly spelled new words. The “second set of eyes” is essential here. When an author writes his masterpiece, whether it be the next best-selling novel, a love-struck poem, Web site content, a collection of short stories, or a technical piece, he or she is considered “too close” to the work. One reads what one has in mind, not what actually made it into print. Your editor sees the words as they are written and can pick up where the spell-checker ends. A submission to a publisher must already be proofread and edited. So ~ here comes the sales pitch ~ if you are an author, either aspiring or established, you need me! I work from home so I am able to offer reasonable prices. You can find me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter or e-mail direct at editor.afloat@yahoo.com