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I wrote a 40-chapter book that is nearly ready for me to self-publish. I intend to hire a professional proofreader (not just a grad student, but costing real $$$) to have a final check of things.

Its would be much easier for me if I just sent 40 *.tex files, one per chapter, and they returned it edited, so I can just copy their files in and compile. I don't seem much a need for them to have all the files with macros, etc. for them to compile on their own, as that doesn't have any text that is proofread.

But these files aren't just the writing--there is some code mixed in. Though I was careful to keep the code mostly separate from the writing, there is occasional italicizing, some section headings...but every document has custom code that handles the citations:

\mycite[author1999]{3-1}

(I'm using ConTeXt, but I think that might not be so relevant to my question)

Can professional proofreaders typically work directly on TeX/LaTeX/ConTeXt files? Or is some work needed to make it "normal", e.x. send them a Word Document, and then convert their edits back to the TeX format?

Village
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  • Why wouldn't you want them to see galley proofs? – cfr Mar 27 '24 at 00:58
  • @cfr I was assuming they would just edit Word document in Show changes mode. Is it more common at this late stage they will mark up a physically printed page? – Village Mar 27 '24 at 02:17
  • I don't know. When I proofread as 'only a graduate student' (yes, for cheap), I was given galley proofs. One of the other faculty paid for professional proofreading and was so disgusted he then paid $1 per error to postgrad students to find all the mistakes before the next edition. He expected it to cost him several hundred dollars in dollar bills. So I'd ask for references/recommendations before hiring. I'm absolutely sure he would have got better results if he'd hired a postgrad. (He'd probably have got better results if he'd hired an undergrad, for that matter.) – cfr Mar 27 '24 at 03:49
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    I worked for a math publisher for 56 years. Always, the proofreaders worked with "final" formatted copy. When TeX became the composition tool, they were taught TeX and were able to correct the files, but they didn't proofread those -- only the formatted copy. I'm editor of TUGboat, and I wouldn't think of proofreading only the source files; it's too easy to miss something. It's really necessary to see what it's going to look like. Widows and badly hyphenated words simply can't be detected in the source file, – barbara beeton Mar 27 '24 at 03:51
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    @barbarabeeton That's what I'd expected. I can't imagine proofreading even a class handout without looking over the PDF. – cfr Mar 27 '24 at 03:57

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