This is a simple little post I wrote back in August of 2016 after experiencing some negative reactions of my “honest” reviews of Indie author’s publications. I had begun contacting directly (and privately) the author to disclose problems I found with a newly published novel. I knew how they felt, having confronted numerous additional editing problems with my grandfather’s novels .
If you’ve been writing very long, you know how easy it is to overlook your own errors, whether they are typing errors or otherwise. I had other pairs of eyes looking over “Cocos Island Treasure,” and I’ve been through it so many times, I almost have it memorized, so I know how dismaying it can be for someone to glance at your pages and find mistakes. It’s a subject I wrestle with all the time:
When I’m reading Indie author’s hard-won newly published works, do they want to know if I find problems?
I finally settled on the compromise of contacting the author directly through a private message. Lacking English degrees, I don’t claim to check for grammar or punctuation. Lacking an editing contract, I only mark some obvious errors after numerous errors are noted. If we are to raise Indie standards of publication and elevate the reputation, I’m hoping the author will take a word to the wise in the spirit in which it is intended. If I see it; others must.
Perhaps I’m noticing more edit errors lately because of heightened awareness through the publication of my grandfather’s books. Maybe there is just a slip in the level of English education in the younger generation? (Or they don’t use a spell check?) As with the failure to activate a turn signal on a vehicle, is it possible using Spell Check is conceived as unnecessary?
However, even the professionals seem to be missing more mistakes lately. Or are the errors an attempt at humor? Some headlines (whether newspaper or internet feeds) would definitely seem so. While I’d prefer that everything we produced was “perfect,” it appears that mistakes do happen to everyone. ©2016 Virginia Williams (Credit Pics 1 and 2- SlipTalk. Credit #3 – PubGuys)
Rosepoint Publishing 