If you’ve spent months (or maybe years) working on your romance novel, the last thing you want is for pesky typos or missing commas to distract readers from your characters’ journey to happily ever after. Maybe you’re wondering if you should tackle proofreading yourself, or you’re curious about what working with a professional proofreader actually looks like. Let me introduce you to someone who could be exactly what your manuscript needs: Sarah Mackin of Final Pass Proofreading.
Sarah isn’t just any proofreader—she’s known in the indie author community as the “Typo Knight” (complete with armor on her website logo), and she brings a unique combination of eagle-eyed precision and genuine care for authors’ stories. Plus, she’s a fiction writer herself, so she truly understands what it feels like to pour your heart into a manuscript.
From “that annoying kid” to professional typo hunter
Sarah’s journey to becoming a proofreader started early—she was always the kid in elementary school pointing out misspelled words on the board or catching wrong dates on quizzes. While her teachers probably appreciated it, her classmates… not so much. But that natural eye for detail would eventually become her superpower.
After college, Sarah became a registered nurse and worked at a large teaching hospital in New York, graduating right into the intensity of 2019 and the pandemic years that followed. In nursing, there’s no room for error—you double- and triple-check medications, charts, and patient details, because mistakes have real consequences. That pressure-cooker environment of absolute accuracy made Sarah even sharper at spotting small errors.
What this tells you about working with Sarah: Her background means she approaches your manuscript with the same meticulous attention to detail that kept her patients safe. She’s not just casually glancing over your work—she’s bringing years of training in precision and accuracy to every page of your story.
When friends in the indie author community started asking for her help with their manuscripts, and one friend finally urged her to turn her skills into a business, Final Pass Proofreading was born. It offered Sarah a way to use her detail-oriented superpowers in a less stressful environment while helping authors make their books shine.
Understanding what proofreading actually is (and isn’t)
One of the most valuable things Sarah offers is clarity about what proofreading actually involves, because many authors get confused about the different types of editing. Here’s how she breaks it down:
| Service Type | Focus | When to Use |
| Developmental Edit | Big-picture work: plot, pacing, characters | Early, before line edits, to fix story structure |
| Copyedit/Line Edit | Sentence flow, clarity, word choice | After big-picture edits, before final proofreading |
| Proofreading | Typos, grammar, missing or duplicate words | Last step, right before formatting/publishing |
Proofreading is the final polish. The prose itself doesn’t change—Sarah just catches small corrections for spelling, punctuation, or repeated words. If you want feedback on scenes, dialogue, or pacing, you’d need a copyeditor or developmental editor earlier in the process.
What this means for you: Sarah won’t try to rewrite your voice or change your story. Her job is to make sure nothing gets between your readers and the love story you’ve written.
The common mistakes that trip up romance writers
Sarah sees the same proofreading pitfalls with nearly every author, and understanding these can help you decide whether to tackle it yourself or hire help:
Rushing between drafts: When your brain knows the story inside out, it skips over rough patches, missing double words or dropped letters. Your mind thinks, “I know what’s here,” and moves on without actually seeing what’s on the page.
Proofreading too early: In early drafts, don’t worry about every typo—focus on story. But when you’re close to sharing with beta readers or moving to your next major revision, Sarah recommends giving each section a quick read the day after writing.
Missing the “optical illusions” in text: Things like repeated words at the end of one line and start of the next, or words that look right but are actually wrong (like “lightning” vs. “lightening”).
Skipping the physical proof: When your proof copy arrives, the different font, margins, and layout will reveal typos and formatting issues you never noticed on screen.
Her transparent, author-friendly approach
What sets Sarah apart is how she works with authors. She doesn’t just dive in and start making changes—her process is designed to respect your voice while catching every error:
She uses Track Changes for everything: You see every single suggestion, and you can accept or reject each one. If you want a purposeful grammar “mistake” in your dialogue to stay, you can keep it.
She explains her corrections: Instead of just fixing something, Sarah often includes notes like “This should be ‘homing in,’ like a homing pigeon, not ‘honing in.’ Reference: Merriam-Webster.” You’re not just getting corrections—you’re learning.
She reads for pleasure first: Sarah actually reads your book as if for enjoyment, but forces herself to slow down and catch errors. She’ll even add quick notes of encouragement when your story hooks her.
She offers flat-rate pricing: No confusing per-word math. You see exactly what your word count will cost up front, making it easy to budget.
Practical self-proofreading tips (even if you hire a pro)
Sarah believes in empowering authors, so she freely shares techniques to improve your own proofreading:
Wait before proofreading: Store your finished draft for at least a week to “reset” your eyes and brain.
Change how your book looks: Try a new font, increase the size, switch to single spacing, or export to Google Docs. The different appearance makes it easier for your mind to spot mistakes.
Use your ears: Microsoft Word’s Read Aloud feature or reading chapters out loud yourself will highlight awkward sentences, missing words, or typo-prone passages.
Proofread in stages: Catch early errors in chunk-sized segments (every four scenes or so), then do a full pass once the story feels “cold” to you.
Always proof the physical copy: No digital tool replaces holding your book in your hands. Print shows every formatting issue that might have been invisible on screen.
The heart behind the business
What makes Sarah special isn’t just her technical skills—it’s her approach. As she puts it: “A rising tide lifts all boats. The indie author community, we have to look out for each other.”
She treats every manuscript with the care she’d want for her own work, understanding how personal each book is. Since she’s writing her own novels under a pen name, she knows exactly what it feels like to pour your heart into characters and worry about whether your story will reach readers the way you intended.
Even her workspace reflects this caring approach—there’s a big Winnie-the-Pooh plush watching over her desk. Years ago, she sold her first Pooh at a garage sale and cried all night. Her dad found her a new one, and the bear has had pride of place ever since. Sarah jokes that Pooh is a kind of vibe check for clients—if you love her stuffed bear, you’ll probably get along just fine.
Ready to connect with Sarah?
You can find Sarah at finalpassproofreading.com, where her pricing is clearly laid out by word count brackets—no surprise costs or complicated calculations. She works with indie and traditionally published authors, and anyone who needs that crucial “final pass” before publication.
Is Sarah right for you?
Sarah might be perfect for you if:
- You want the final polish on your manuscript before publication
- You’re strong with big-picture story elements but struggle with grammar, spelling, and punctuation details
- You’re on a tight release schedule and want to focus your energy on writing your next book
- You value transparency in pricing and process
- You want to work with someone who understands the author experience firsthand
- You appreciate clear explanations of corrections so you can learn for future projects
She might not be the right fit if:
- You’re looking for feedback on plot, character development, or story structure (that’s developmental editing)
- You want someone to rewrite sections or heavily change your voice
- You’re still in early draft stages and need big-picture story help first
Your story deserves to shine
After all the time you’ve invested in writing your romance—developing characters readers will fall in love with, building tension and chemistry, creating that perfect happily ever after—you want nothing to distract from the reading experience. Professional proofreading ensures that typos and errors don’t pull readers out of your carefully crafted world.
Whether you choose to work with Sarah or tackle proofreading yourself using her techniques, the goal is the same: making sure your love story reaches readers in its most polished form. Your characters’ journey to love deserves that final layer of care and attention.
Sarah Mackin and Final Pass Proofreading offer exactly that—the meticulous attention to detail that lets your story shine, backed by genuine understanding of what your manuscript means to you. Sometimes the best investment in your book isn’t just the writing—it’s making sure every word is exactly where it should be.