Proofreading: The Final Polish for Your Book

Proofreading is the last editing step of your book. It runs over the whole book at once and polishes the language like a professional human editor: It improves clarity, flow and style. It also corrects grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Proofreading is the final part of the PublishFlow Writing Process. It becomes available once you have run the Developmental Editing. You find it in the left sidebar of your book, in the Proofreading section.

Before You Start: A Short Checklist

Because there is only one run, make sure your book is really finished:

• All chapters are written and fact-checked
• You are done with Developmental Editing and have accepted or rejected its rewrites
• Your own manual edits are complete

Step 1: Start the Proofreading

Open the Proofreading section in the left sidebar of your book and start the run. Since this is the final step, PublishFlow asks you to confirm before it begins. PublishFlow proofreads the entire book. The proofread chapters appear in the sidebar for review.

Step 2: Review the Suggestions Chapter by Chapter

The suggested changes are shown per chapter as a red/green comparison, directly in your text. In the panel on the right you decide what happens:

• Review each suggestion individually and accept (✓) or dismiss (✗) it.
• Apply everything at once with Accept changes or discard everything with Keep original. Both apply to the whole chapter.
• Or accept every correction in the whole book in one go with the accept-all button at the top of the sidebar.

Nothing is final until you accept it. Take your time with the review: You can go through the chapters one by one.

Good to know: Your word count can change slightly through fact-checking and proofreading.

Bringing Back Earlier Versions: The Version History

The run cannot be repeated, but your text is never lost. The clock icon at the top of the editor (next to undo and redo) opens the Version history of the current chapter. It is available throughout the whole writing process, already while you write your book:

• The history lists the saved states of the chapter, grouped by day, with time and word count.
• Click a state to preview its full text.
• Restore it with Restore this version.

Your current text is not lost either: It is saved as the newest version first, so you can always switch back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the Proofreading section locked?
There are two possible reasons:

• You have not run the Developmental Editing analysis yet. Proofreading unlocks after it.
• The Proofreading has already been completed. It only runs once per book, so it stays locked afterwards.

Can I run the Proofreading again?
No. Proofreading is used once per book. If you want to polish individual passages afterwards, edit them directly in the editor or use the Inline Editing Tool.

I accepted the corrections and want my old text back.
Open the version history via the clock icon at the top of the editor and restore the earlier state of the chapter (see above). The Proofreading run itself stays used, but your text is back.

What is the difference between Developmental Editing and Proofreading?
Developmental Editing looks at the content: structure, depth, gaps and the flow of the whole book. Proofreading is a language edit: It suggests stylistic corrections and fixes grammar and spelling.

What Comes Next

Your manuscript is done! Now you format your book and export it for publishing, see Format & Export.

Updated on: 11/09/2026