This morning I was reading my latest issue of Indie Reader and came across this item: Trad Pubbed Book F**k-Up.Now that's a headline that will make you click a link!
The Indie Reader item was a lead-in to GoodEreader who published the full article: Lack of Editing Is Only for Self-Published Authors? Think Again.
If you're an indie author/publisher who has been scourged because maybe you omitted a period at the end of 1 sentence in the entire manuscript, the article will do your poor writer's wounded pride a world of good.
In the last 5 books I've read from major NY publishers, there have been typos. I'm asked frequently to review ARCs or published books by publishers' representatives. A few months ago, I declined to review a book after having read it because it was so poorly written.
Moral of this lesson? There are wonderful books with good production values from indie authors/publishers and also from major traditional publishers. There are inferior books from major traditional publishers as well as from indie publishers.
I always say in my books, "I want my book to be as polished as a book from a major NY publisher." Perhaps I should re-think that statement.
Takeaway Truth
One cannot, and should not, judge the value of a book by how it was published. Nor should a review use the manner in which it was published as justification for its inferiority or superiority.
Yes. I'm reading one at the moment and there was no full stop at the end of a sentence. A few years ago I read one that was set in 1982 and it refered to the British Prime Minister as HE.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm swept away by a story, I am forgiving of the occasional typo because I know the big publishers put out books with those problems and more. But some things drive me crazy like no space breaks when viewpoint or setting has changed.
ReplyDeleteI see this a lot in big publishers' ebooks because I think, with older books, they have some low-on-the-totem pole employee doing mass scanning that never gets checked for accuracy.
I'll be reading along and I'm in the heroine's "head" then suddenly I'm in some secondary character's viewpoint with no warning. It stops me dead. I think, "Did I miss something?" Then I go back, re-reading to see. Beyond irritating.