ERRORS IN PUBLISHED BOOKS!
As a writer, as well as blogger,
I do my best to present my posts with no errors if possible but since I’m only
human, sometimes after posting, I discover spelling errors, missing words, and
on occasion, words that don’t belong. If I can, I correct them so as not to
hinder your reading but many times, I miss them altogether. After all, I’m only
human. But what about books that you pay good money for, only to find errors
aplenty?
I read a lot of ARCs – Advanced
Reader Copies – and so have learned to ignore most errors, although they do
register in my brain. I can only hope that all or most have been caught before
the final copy is released to the public but I’ve seen them there after publishing. Some of these
errors are just annoying but some are so outrageous that they make me laugh
when I should be feeling what the characters are about in the story.
Examples of outrageous errors
are wrong names – for real, I’ve read a few books where a name pops up that doesn’t
even belong in the book but is, in fact, a character from another in the series. Another type of error
that throws me is when the wrong pronoun is used as in – he kissed her and in response, he eagerly pressed her aroused bosom against his hard body.
That’s an amazing bit of biology!
I realize in this age of
spelling and grammar check, it’s easy to utilize these tools to aid in editing,
but only blatantly incorrect items are going to be caught. I admit that as
readers we tend to skim, even if we’re not aware of it, and if you’ve read the
same thing over more than a few times, your brain really skips and skims, and
even fills in the blanks. Yes, missing words easily go unnoticed because
our brain actually fills in those missing words and letters for us.
There’s a message that is
posted across social medias quite often and they claim that only a certain
percentage of the population can read it - 55 out of 100 people or some such
thing. I don’t believe that. I think we all can read it, if we allow our brain
to do its job. Can you read it?
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod
aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid,
aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht
oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and
lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can
sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas
tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
If you could read it with little
or no trouble, it’s because your brain recognizes the words rather than the
letters. The same thing happens when you’re reading a book. So do you notice
typos and errors in the books you read? Does it bother you? I’ve actually
written to authors and given them the page number and quote when it’s a
really huge blunder – have you ever? Have you thought about it? I'll bet you have. *wink*
Like I said, I’m just curious.
I hope that someday I’ll be asking you to read a book I've written and when I do, that I
have very few, or better yet, no errors in mine. By the way, my current work-in-progress is
coming along nicely and I’m very excited about it. It’s a suspense romance. If
you haven’t had a chance already, please feel free to check out two chapters I
have posted at Avon Romance. It’s not finished yet, and no, it’s not been
published, but some day, some day! Click HERE to read two chapters from KEEPING
FAITH written by me! Also, while you’re there, if you like it, please click the heart at the top.
The higher my rating, the better chance I have of one of the editors taking
notice. Feel free to let me know what you think of it - good or bad! Thanks. I love my readers!
