Speaker 1: When you put your book out into the world, you want it to be as perfect as possible. Every word spelled correctly, every comma in the right spot, every sentence sounding superb. These days, computers promise that they can proofread and perfect your book for you, but is proofreading software the way to go? If you're asking yourself that same question, stick around, because this video is for you. Hey there, I'm Julie the Book Broad of Book Launchers, your expert self-publishing services team. Let's face it, proofreading and polishing your manuscript is tough work. It takes precious time, it's hard to make sure, every little mistake is pinpointed, and, well, hiring a proofreader to do the job costs money. So who wouldn't prefer to pop the pages of their book into some proofreading software, save that effort and money, and call it a day? Well, these editing apps apply artificial intelligence to go beyond spellcheck, and they check grammar, style, sentence structure, clarity, repetition, and picky details like spacing. Essentially, it's all the technical tasks of a human proofreader, put into a program or app, sped up and simplified. Sounds a little bit like a dream come true, doesn't it? Well, sort of. Like most dreams, there's also reality, and the most popular software out there right now is Grammarly, which comes in three different versions, basic, which is free, premium, or business. There's a reason it's a well-loved tool for a lot of writers out there, because it has some of the smartest AI on the market right now, which means many of the suggestions actually make sense. Its interface is easy to use across all its various formats, whether you use it as a browser extension, a desktop app, an online app, or a Microsoft Windows app. Grammarly also can catch plagiarism plunders. We use it at Book Launchers to check on our writers' and our authors' material, because plagiarism isn't cool, whether intentional or unintentional, and your book can't be called a hashtag no boring book if you plagiarize, so Grammarly is a great way to make sure that you're not accidentally copying another work out there without proper credit. Grammarly might be the one we use at Book Launchers for spotting plagiarism and reducing the number of typos in the bi-weekly launch letter, which you can get your copy at by heading to booklaunchers.com forward slash number seven steps, link below, which by the way, we don't send you a ton of emails, just a couple of high value tips and updates a month. But Grammarly isn't the only other software out there. You have other options. Hemingway is another popular one that promises to make your writing bold and clear, a la the style of Hemingway. But Hemingway doesn't really give proofreading fixes the way that Grammarly does, more like writing suggestions. It may help you to get a general idea of your writing mistakes, but it's not really going to polish up your book the way you might want. Another program that we like is ProWritingAid, and it really stands the test against heavyweight Grammarly, because like Grammarly, it's available in different forms, like a desktop app, an extension for Chrome, Google Docs, Microsoft, Scrivener, all of those places. And ProWritingAid's interface is good, but maybe not quite as slick and intuitive as Grammarly, but it's a solid choice and also does plagiarism checks. ProWritingAid recommends improvements to content that is either vague or incorrect. It checks for sentence length variation, repetition, overcomplicated sentence constructions, passive voice, usage, and a lot more. On the fly, it also gives users contextual thesaurus. A contextual thesaurus. On the fly, it also gives users a contextual thesaurus. Got it. And Word Explorer, so that you can try using some different words other than your usual repertoire. Just like Grammarly, it's a great way to start to spot some of your most common writing errors. But, and this is a big one, now that you've gone and downloaded your software, you're probably thinking you can skip the proofreader, right? Did you say no? Hit that thumbs up button if you said no, because you're right. Proofreading software, whether you roll with Grammarly or ProWritingAid, definitely can provide benefits for your writing. It can help you clean up the work before you send it to an editor, but you're still going to need humans to edit and proofread your work. Here's why. Robots' brains rely on rules, not context, and language doesn't always play by rules. Grammatical errors, clarity, sentence structure, overall word meaning, all of these things change depending on the meaning and intention behind the sentence. Context is key. And the human brain is not simply better at comprehending the complexities of writing, it's better at grasping language and all the ways we use it. If you skip out on hiring a skilled human, or any other human editors for that matter, you may find yourself getting some low star reviews on Amazon criticizing that editor in charge. So, sure, run your book through some proofreading software, it'll make your book a little smoother, and possibly faster for your humans to work on when you hire them. Keep your Pro Writing Aid or Grammarly plugin on for sending your emails to your book army, or your pitches to your media to help save yourself from embarrassing typos. But ultimately, for your book, there's no replacing the actual humans that will do the work. Are you still baffled by all the types of editing your book will need? Here is a video all about the different editors and what they do. Or maybe you're worried that you're over-editing your book. Learn how to rein it in and stop editing with this video right here. You're really rather fun, so please do click on over to one of these. I'll be waiting for you there.