Here's something I don't get:
My third book, Baby City, was professionally edited for typos and grammar issues. However, more than any other book, I have gotten nonstop comments about how many typos there are in this book.
One reader commented that he lowered his rating of the book from 5 to 4 because of how many typos there where. He was kind enough to send me those typos. There were five. Out of 80,000 words.
So I fixed all of those typos, yet I still get complaints. See this review I recently received:
"just could not get past the lack of editing. If I could print this out, I would take a red Sharpie to it."
I don't get it. Even the person who read the book for audiobook said she didn't see many typos. Where are these typos that are upsetting people so much???? I'm sure there are a couple that got missed, but no more than in my other books, which nobody has complained about.
Furthermore, I have seen other books that were littered with typos. There were literally typos on every single page. Yet they had dozens of reviews without one mention of the copious typos. I really just don't get it.
Maybe because people are using texting/just general crappy grammar nowadays. I'm in grad school and have to do team projects. The way some of these people write make me wonder how they have gotten so far in the program.
ReplyDeleteI only look for typos if I am a beta reader or proof reader. Even then a few get past me, but I'm human, too. I notice them in most printed works unless they have been edited dozens of times, but I don't let it interfere with my enjoyment of a story.
ReplyDeleteI'm used to seeing 1 to 3 typos per book. Not sure where you're finding books littered with typos.
ReplyDeleteI think this book compared to the other one of yours I read (Brain Damaged), was very negative. Perhaps that's why people are reacting more critically to this one.
I prefer a tone more similar to the All Creatures Great and Small series. There's humor there without being cruel. Plus the craft of the story teller is really excellent.
Most of the reviews you got were 4 and 5 star. I don't know why you're worried about the ones that mention typos.
Self published books not infrequently have lots of typos.
DeleteI'm sorry if my early review helped cause a cascade of negativity in the review section. The internet is awful like that. A side note on what caused a less-than-excellent impression on me is suddenly scathing criticism, and that's certainly not what I intended.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, given that you did only find 5 typos in a 400 page book, how was 1 typo per 80 pages enough to lower your review? For something self-published, that seems extremely clean.
DeleteThat was just what I noted as I was reading. The Kindle is kind of annoying in that you can't just circle a typo, you have to add a note, and sometimes I just want to keep reading and not bother. I'm certain if I went back and re-read like a beta I could find more.
DeleteBut even if those we assume for the moment that those were the only five typos in the entire book, if I'm paying money for a book that's written by someone in business for profit, it's still a problem because the bar is 0 typos, whether it's self-published or coming from a huge publishing house. The exact threshold is different for everyone, but for me you could get away with about 1 noticeable typo (i.e. one that stuck out to me while I was trying to just read your book) per 200 pages before I start to wonder if it should affect the number of stars.
Maybe it's unfair, but that's my thought process.
I completely disagree. Would you really expect the same thorough editing job for a self published manuscript that is being sold for $2.99 as you would from a book from a major publishing house that is $10 or more? I don't even close to have the resources to provide that.
DeleteIt's very hard to catch all the errors in a long manuscript, and that's why so many editors read through the book for a major publishing house. Just to give you an example, after you and my other editor thoroughly combed through Brain Damage, I read it myself and located TEN typos that both of you missed. I was actually surprised there were so many, given two people looked it over, but that is human error.
Can I ask what is wrong with a 4 star review?
DeleteGiven the quality of the story construction I think 4 stars is generous.
I don't think we can start adding stars for books that are self published when they're competing in the same space and the same rating system is applied.
Now if they had balloons for novice writers instead of stars, then you could expect to be rated differently from professional authors' works.
It seems to me Hamish was kind enough to let you know where the typos are and said he enjoyed the book. What exactly is the outcome you're looking for here in regards to this review and future reviews?
I haven't reviewed either of the 2 books I read but if I were to review them I'd hope you would be appreciative of the effort rather than nitpicking about one star or trying to control how people review your books. Reviews are opinions.
First of all, the purpose of my post wasn't to complain about stars. It was more that I am baffled that people keep saying that the book is "littered" with typos when it's hard to believe that there are more than two or three typos left in the entire 80,000 word manuscript. obviously, an opinion is entirely subjective, but saying that a book has lots of typos is really not. Either the book has typos or it doesn't!
DeleteAs for Hammish, it wasn't my purpose to attack him. I'm actually very grateful of the effort he made, not just in reviewing the book, but also in helping me find typos on multiple occasions. I've thanked him for that, and I hope he knows I appreciated it. When I disagree with someone's opinion, that shouldn't be taken as an attack. I'm allowed to disagree. That's an expression of *my* opinion.
Likely, your audience is on the linguistically refined side. Typos in poor quality literature won't be picked simply because the readers won't know any better- think 50 shades....
ReplyDeleteI have to say... as someone who regularly reviews and beta-tests books, this post comes across as very unprofessional and immature. You need to learn to take criticism and feedback graciously.
ReplyDeleteI think people missed the point of this post. The point being:
DeleteI swept this book for typos. I paid a professional editor to sweep it for typos. Another person who claimed to have noticed several typos pointed out all five of them out to me and I corrected them all. Yet I keep having people comment that there are tons of typos. If you were me, wouldn't you be baffled by this???
I am genuinely bewildered. Where are these typos???