Seven Proofreading Rounds Before Sending Tortoises on the Trail to the Printer

There is always a moment near the end of the children’s book publishing process when you think, “Surely we are done now.”

And then someone finds another typo.

That was us with Tortoises on the Trail. Before sending the book to the printer, we went back and forth with our proofreaders seven different times. Seven rounds of checking grammar, punctuation, spacing, missing words, repeated words, capitalization, and all the tiny details that somehow hide in plain sight during the final stages of book production.

By this point, the story had already been written. The illustrations were complete. The pages were designed. But proofreading a children’s book is its own kind of work. Once a manuscript is laid out for print, little things suddenly stand out differently on the page. Something you have read twenty times before can still slip past you on round twenty-one.

Proofreaders are such an important part of the publishing process.

We are incredibly thankful for the people who took the time to read every page carefully and thoughtfully. Each proofreading round helped make Tortoises on the Trail cleaner, stronger, and more polished before it heads into children’s hands.

When we visit schools and talk with students about writing and publishing children’s books, this is something we discuss often. Many children think authors sit down, write a story once, and the book is finished. We love showing them the real process behind creating a book.

Writing takes revision after revision.

Books are built through teamwork. Authors revise. Illustrators revise. Editors make changes. Proofreaders catch the small mistakes everyone else missed. Creating a children’s book is never the work of one person alone.

We also want students to understand that revision is not a bad thing. Going back to improve your writing does not mean you failed. It means you care enough about your work to keep making it better.

Even though we were no longer changing the story itself at this stage, we were still revising in another way. We kept going back and forth until every page felt right and the book was as polished as possible.

Now, after seven rounds of proofreading, Tortoises on the Trail is officially off to the printer.