I woke up (begrudgingly) to an interesting e-mail from Amazon. Somebody reported that there were typos in Beginning of a Hero, so I was being notified about this. This struck me as a great idea, especially when I saw a typo listed and I was directed to where it was. This would be such a helpful tool for self-published writers.
Unfortunately, it was only one example and a message that basically said ‘you have typos in your 312 page book, so you must read through it again’. Look here, perfectionists. I’ve been writing and editing this book since 1999. There are going to be some typos that even my years of beta readers won’t catch. It’s inevitable even with professionally edited manuscripts. Things slip through the cracks. In this example it was ‘he was in dagger’ instead of ‘he was in danger’. The line was in the middle of a long paragraph that I must have read at least 10 times in my life.
This isn’t saying this is a bad idea, but I think this goes under a ‘no kidding’ category. Maybe list a few more examples or make that spell checking during the upload process actually useful. What is that thing checking? I’ve had words misspelled and it doesn’t catch them. Hell, I did it on purpose once to see what would happen and nothing. At the very least, some of the creatures and names in my world should be pinged.
The new version of Beginning of a Hero is being uploaded with the one line fixed. Thank you to whoever pointed this out. Maybe this is the start of a new system by Amazon, but I don’t see many readers wanting to play the role of proofreader. Still, an interesting system that they could make.
Legends of Windemere 
Phew! That makes me feel better – having read The Beginning goodness knows how many times I have still found some typos now that I am editing for the paperback version. I thought it was just me – and it’s been through me, editing and proofreading…! Hopefully it is a new service as it would be useful, but if you have to page through 138,000 words to find one typo then maybe not so much. Love the photo! 🙂
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That’s what I wondered too. It’s a tough system to make. It would help the author, but I don’t see many readers jumping on it. That feels like work. Funny part here is that I’ve been given 3 lists of typos since my book debuted. This one was missed by everyone.
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And when you see it, it’s a real clanger and you wonder how the hell everyone missed it! Sooo frustrating. 🙂
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I know. Dagger instead of danger? I’m kicking myself for that one.
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I had several people proof mine with a fine toothed comb. I know I did everything I could. Perfect? Nope. It never will be either. Sigh…. (I couldn’t find any typos in Beginning of a Hero. Actually, I thought it was really clean and neat.)
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Thanks. There are a few scattered about. I’m sure of it even though I did the same as you. Human error will always happen and the best we can do is minimize it to a point where most people don’t notice.
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Spell check wouldn’t have caught this because dagger is an actual word. I can’t imagine having so much time on my hands that I’d report a single error, especially when the actual meaning was obvious. Sadly, rather then being helpful this person was probably enjoying their newfound power. Oh glorious day, we shall be led into the land of typos where spell check dare not go and we shall fear not because the grammarians walk before us!
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I wonder if they report several and Amazon only told me about the one. They said there were other typos and this was an example. So, it could be Amazon that is being a little lazy on this or they haven’t figured out a better system.
With their spellchecker during start up, I have had some misspelled words. ‘Teh’ instead of ‘the’ is a good one. It doesn’t catch them. I have yet to see anything pop up on there. Maybe it needs to be pure gibberish.
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I don’t think I have ever read a book that didn’t have at least one typo and/or grammatical error. I’m pretty anal about things like that – but I just keep reading. Some of the indie books I read I have thought “oh, I should let them know” but I’m usually too engrossed in the book to make a note where it was.
Life goes on
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It does help to find out about them since we can upload new versions with ease. Yet, I think a should focus more on enjoying the book than being an editor. That’s the real point of reading, isn’t it?
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Pretty much this. I need to say no more.
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I know there are typos in each of my self-published books. One of my sisters sent me a message via Facebook along the lines of “I found some typos.” OK. Thanks. I asked her to send me a list. She did. If I ever do a second edition of Bridgeport, I’m fixing the typos. I haven’t got a message from Amazon though.
But you’re right, there is a level of typos that seems inevitable and, as I’ve written before, that just bugs the hell out of me with my work. If I’ve read it several times and a handful of other people have read it, certainly seems like we could catch all of them. Doesn’t ever work out that way.
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This seems to be new from Amazon. I didn’t even know you could report those. At the beginning, I changed typos and uploaded new versions every day like an idiot. I think it’s better to gather them and do it once a week or month if need be. Depends on the amount.
I always believe that human error is a factor. Slips happen. I could be reading to make sure a scene flows or continuity is retained, but miss a spelling error. It happens and I’ll catch as many of them as I can before I publish.
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Am I hearing you correctly? This was from Amazon and not a fan?
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It sounds like a fan sent an email or did something to notify them about typos in my book. I didn’t even know this was a thing. Amazon contacted me that these ‘issues’ were found. I was rattled because I saw something about issues with my book, so I was scared that something went wrong again.
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Glad it was something minor, more of a nuisance if you ask me. I could reupload my RCAR to KDP, but on smashwords, and other platforms I have to go through my publisher and he starts charging by the hour when it is something involved.
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I’m self-published, so I my publisher doesn’t charge me. He’s still a jackass to work with.
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Typos seem to jump out at me but that is when I am reading for pleasure. Those nasty critters hide when I’m editing.
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They’re crafty little buggers.
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I am notorious for typos, these are one thing I do fix as they annoy me…but sometimes they are hard to catch when reading a text we already know (our own text…) sometimes it’s good to have someone who has never read your work look through it specifically for errors… If I were to ever publish I would have a friend who is a teacher and editor go over my material first with her objective eye…
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An outside eye is very important. I would even say essential because we’re biased when it comes to our own works.
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I have yet to read a traditional book by a bestselling author on Kindle that didn’t have a serious flaw – more typos than the paperback (didn’t they just scan it?), silly formatting mistake, etc. I’ve actually read a few indie books that were better in terms of editing and formatting. Since indies are scrutinized much more highly, a few authors go to extremes to perfect this.
I’ve heard speculation that KDP only notifies us of issues if the same issue is reported by multiple customers. I don’t know if it’s true or not (and they may have changed their practice recently). It sure would be nice if they could be more clear (e.g. customer estimates 1 typo per 20 pages, 3 types per page, or what; and what kinds of mistakes – spelling, punctuation, etc.). Then how do you know the qualifications of the customer. Maybe the customer has spelling or grammar issues, and they are finding mistakes that aren’t really there (because you didn’t write in their dialect).
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Multiple notifications would make sense. I do hope they only pay attention to spelling and basic grammar though. I can see some people going too far with a ‘fan editing’ system and try to get the author to rewrite the book entirely. I’d be bombarded by ‘stop writing in present tense’ notices. Then again, I’m paranoid about these things.
The formatting with eBooks is a big thing. I’m surprised traditionals have issues more often than indies.
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I don’t think this editing note is worth the worry. I know, if I get one, I would worry about it, but if I could think objectively (hard to do), I’d say once you resolve the issue, you shouldn’t worry about it.
Indie books have much more glaring problems than traditionally published books, in general.
What I’m saying is that if you select just the best-formatted and edited indie books (the cream of the crop), in my experience, a few of these are highly impressive, very professionally done, nice touches. Whereas I have yet to read a traditionally published ebook that doesn’t have one formatting issue or many typos (occasionally, they avoid one or the other) that I had to groan. I almost never see the same problems in traditionally published paperbacks by the big publishers/authors that I find in their ebooks.
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Thinking more about it, I’m hoping this is the sign of a typo-reporting system. I’m thankful when people tell me about typos and I can fix them within a day. I think that’s a strong advantage that indie authors have over traditional published. We can fix and adapt at a quicker rate. Heck, we can simply fix and adapt while they can’t.
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I’m thinking if I reported a problem for a traditionally published ebook, it’s not going to make a difference. The bad thing is that it gives readers an incentive to wait a few months after publication to buy an indie book (or maybe that’s good, as it helps spread the sales out; on the other hand, if there is promotional pricing in the beginning, it’s a fair trade-off).
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That would be a problem. Like watching for the patches of a program to come out before you buy it or waiting for the 2.0. For an author that could be a sales death.
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When I review books, I rarely ever mention typos because they will always be there.
I’m about 120 pages through Beginning of a Hero and have come across about 10 typos so far. I wished I took note of where they were exactly (so I can let you know)… but at the end of the day… it doesn’t really affect my enjoyment at all when it’s 1 typo every 5,000 words or so.
And plus, when I came across that ‘he was in dagger’ line, I laughed because it’s so obviously a typo, but it also works as a typo because the word is ‘dagger’ and he’s in danger. That typo actually raised the tension and increased my enjoyment. 🙂
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They could have also been fixed by now. I’ve been better at keeping the eBook updated than the paperback, so it depends which one you have and when you bought them.
I think I have a problem with similar words because my mind wanders to another place in the book.
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My suggestion would be to ask certain beta readers to edit for certain purposes. One or even three could edit for spelling. Some for character/plot development. Etc. I’d be more than happy to be a spelling beta reader. It’s important – each step – but I’d say spelling and grammar are most important. These imply that one has spent a good deal of time on their work.
Ellespeth
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I’ve actually done that, but people still miss things. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll have a few typos in the book. Thanks for the suggestion though.
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Well, let me know if I can help at all, Charles. I’m more than happy to. Now…I see your today posts…so I’ll browse through those:)
Ellespeth.
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Any time. I’m gathering people to read the third book of my fantasy series, which is aiming for a Halloween debut. Not sure if that’s up your alley or you have the time for that.
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Yes! With himself leaving for Copenhagen next week I’ll be at lose ends for almost a month!
Ellespeth
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That sounds rough. Since the book is third in the series, would you want me to send the first three? That way you’re not confused.
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I’ve bought Beginning of a Hero – when it first came out but…if you could send tham all in word then I can do as I did for Briana and highlight and send back to you. Do you have my gmail address, yes? No rush…he’s leaving next Wednesday 😦 to visit his daighter.
Ellespeth
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I have a yahoo address for you. The hard part is that I only know you as Ellespeth, so if I have your real name on here, I don’t know it.
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I just sent you a gmail with my info.
Ellespeth
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Got it and my guess was right. 🙂 I’ll send them as soon as I decide on if I should send the 4th book too as a special treat. Only 2 other people have read it.
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🙂 I’ll look for them. Right about my name? 😛
Ellespeth
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That was the name in my contacts when I saved your gmail address from earlier, but I wasn’t sure.
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