"Where's Heidi? One Sister's Journey" The Proof Arrives and my parents are wondering "Should we wait?"

Yippee! It is so exciting....the manuscript 
has finally transformed into a book!

Six years, countless edits and revisions, too many trees used to make the paper necessary to print and make notes, and hours upon hours of remembering and reliving the loss and grief experienced after losing my only sister, Heidi M. Allen to kidnapping...
I hold the book in my hands. 

Of course,
this is the first round
of "proof books",
yet it is still in book format. It is hard
to believe
and at times
it truly takes
my breath away.

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What is a proof book you ask? Great question. This is the rough draft, if you will, for the publisher. My job is to read through the "proof book" as a review.

Someone said, "I thought this is why you paid an editor and have shared it countless times with your writer's group and other people, to check for these things." This is a truth, yet it seems that with each edit, a new error is somehow created and/or overlooked. The idea behind the "proof" is it not only shows the publisher where margins, fonts, and layout might need revision but it's also a time for the author to make last minute changes before clicking "accept" and move the book into the printing process. 

Things to look at:
1) PUGS (Ahhh!!!) Again - Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, & Sentence Structures 
2) Spacing, margins, headers, footers, & other layout specs
3) Reread for content and flow
4) Is it pleasing to the eye?
5) Last minute additions and or cuts

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"Do we really have to wait until April?" Mom asked

My response: My answer...I don't know!?