musicianmom Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 I have been reading a lot of fiction lately by authors who self-publish on Kindle and offer their books free or for 99 cents or so. I've been pleased with the quality of writing except for one thing. No matter how careful the authors are with grammar, they always end up with misplaced apostrophes. It makes me want to offer editing services just for the purpose of saving kittens. How are the rules for apostrophes so easily forgotten or misunderstood by people who obviously have a good grasp of the language otherwise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennifersLost Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 In their defense, try reading your own manuscript 500 times - there will STILL be mistakes. I know when I publish, I edit a bunch of times, get at least 2 critique partners to edit the ms, edit it again 2 - 3 times, print it out and read it again, then do the audio book (in other words, I read the whole thing out loud and catch more typos) and then try to read through each version as I format it (Kindle, epub, pdf, print, etc.) The truth is, when you charge 99 cents (or give your books away) there is no profit margin to pay editors with. Just like with everything else, we get what we pay for. It's my huge fear as an author that I will have some awful typo in one of my books. So far none of my reviews have mentioned typos, so I have my fingers crossed.... For those interested, my pen name is Cora Seton. You can find my self-pubbed cowboy romance series on Amazon. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Agreeing with Jennifer's Lost. One time recently, I realized I had used the wrong "there." I never do that!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. There it sat, just as wrong as snow in summer, but I didn't realize it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicianmom Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 Well, I don't have half the creativity they do, or else I would be writing my own novels and self-publishing! I think I was just surprised that this specific error kept coming through when the authors had obviously done a good job on everything else. On the plus side, I enjoyed one author enough that I even bought several of her higher-priced books. I think I spent about $50! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 It's so true! I can look at drafts so much that eventually, I don't see typos, etc. I think that by that time, when my eyes see it, my brain corrects it for me and I just go on. That said, I am amazed at how often I find lots of typos and wrong words in mainline, NYC published books. It happens a lot and not long ago I bought a book that was missing 40 pages in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 I have a book that is missing 30 or so pages too. I have also read articles in quite flash magazines where rough draft note have been left in such as "in 19xx check that the" or "mrs so and so said ..". I have also been guilty of not noticing a mistake simply because I was reading what I knew was supposed to be there rather than what was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.