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Grammar Rehab Please......
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Hi, Madison. I unearthed a copy of my non-fiction book (written in 1995) and was *mortified* to discover a typographical error some 14 years later. There were six of us involved in copy-editing this book, and two authors -- you would think *someone* would have caught it. My co-author, who has gone on to write *numerous* non-fiction tomes about the Ottoman Army, tells me that he finds some error in every single book that comes out, regardless of how carefully he and his professional editor red-pencil the ARC. I think it's par for the course.
Hi Madison,It takes many edits to clean a book up to perfect. If it was perfect there would be no need for God or Grace, .... does that help?
Actually I have found editorial mistakes in every book I've read. I forgive and go on. Many people will never notice them, and if someone gets stopped or haulted by a mistake, well, maybe God just wants to slow down their brain to ponder that sentence more. So, my dear friend, be at peace, for our God has all this under control in His bigger picture.
You are amazing, M. (he he he about the M.) and just as perfect as the Lord will allow without having you take over being God for Him.
:) smiley face and BIG HUG of therapy!!
love you bunches and bunches you favored child of God!
Sharon
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Having read your book, Madison, I can say that any grammar errors that were there did not turn me off at all. And like Sharon said, I think most books have a couple of mistakes and most of the time no one is bothered. After printing my first 1000 copies, I found that I have two errors in my book. It's been fun though to tell the students this when I do author visits to schools. It's a great example of the importance of editing for them - plus I don't tell them what the mistakes are and they love to try to find them!
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My fan Mary says...
Hello,
I wanted to write to you directly, and not offer feedback in this sort of post.
I absolutely love the story and believe it can be a powerful tool to make people think more deeply.
That said, I am wondering (and I want to say this gently) if you had proofreaders go over your manuscript before publication... I am not generally one to let a couple of typos or usage errors get in the way of my reading. But even on the intro page-- "pass" instead of "past." Lord knows I make my share of errors, even in important documents. Are you self-published? I urge you, before your next printing, please have several friends and editors review the text before it goes to print. This story is much too important to turn off readers/reviewers and be cast aside for any reason! I debated long and hard about telling you this. I hope you will accept my observations in the spirit in which they are intended.
Mary,
I just wanted you to know I looked more carefully into your concern about the use of "pass" instead of "past" on the first page of the Acknowledgements. We deliberated over the use of that and decided to go with pass based on our research.
pass/pæs, pɑs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [pas, pahs:] Show IPA
Use pass in a Sentence
–verb (used with object) 1. to move past; go by: to pass another car on the road.
past/pæst, pɑst/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [past, pahst:] Show IPA
Use past in a Sentence
–adjective 1. gone by or elapsed in time: It was a bad time, but it's all past now.
2. of, having existed in, or having occurred during a time previous to the present; bygone: the past glories of the Incas.
3. gone by just before the present time; just passed: during the past year.
4. ago: six days past.
5. having formerly been or served as; previous; earlier: three past presidents of the club.
6. Grammar. designating a tense, or other verb formation or construction, that refers to events or states in time gone by.
Regardless, I appreciate your careful review and again send me an email with anything else that stands out in your mind as a stumbling block. First books often contain these and I take every recommendation to heart.
--Madison
Madison,
If you intended "pass" to be a verb, then you need to remove the other verb "walk" right next to it.
"whenever you walk PASS this book"
becomes
"whenever you pass this book"
Two verbs next to each other don't work.
Hey Mary,
So would you recommend it say, "whenever you pass this book"? The "walk pass" seems to be the problem...very interesting. Let me know and I will pass your feedback on to the publishers. Are you an English Teacher or just super smart. lol
Thanks again,
Madison
It should be "whenever you pass this book" or "whenever you walk past this book." Sorry to say, but if your publisher/editor can't see this, it might be time to scout around for a new one? I just think your story is too much of a gem to have a significant error in the very first paragraph... As I said, I talked with friends agonizing on whether or not to write you about problems I noted when reading. My friend Nancy (an English professor in Ohio) strongly encouraged me to do it as an act of caring and an extension of friendship.
Mary, I hope I have not come across as someone who is not appreciative. I do consider your gesture an act of friendship and highly value you. I was just chatting with some new author friends and unfortunately this is par for the course, especially for the novice writer. My subject area is history for a reason. lol My publishing company puts the editing process completely on the writer, so if you see any mistakes ultimately it my responsibility alone. They have worked how for me and kept every promise made. Please do not allow my shortcomings to reflect negatively on the work of others.
You seem to be familiar with the publishing industry. As you know, it is not an easy process and I do not pretend to know everything. I am learning as I go and I am very grateful the book has been well received despite its imperfections. That in no way means I am going to be complacent and rest on my laurels. If it caused you the least bit of agony then it is worth an edit. Ultimately I wrote the book for you and others so it my pleasure to make any needed changes. I hope you will take me up on the offer to speak personally. By all means use that number. Also if you know of any excellent editors, please forward them along.
You are definitely a person worth getting to know!
Have a wonderful day,
Madison
Madison, if it makes you feel any better, I have four books in front of me right now, published by a university press, that make me cringe when I read them due to the lack of punctuation. Even the most basic rules of comma usage haven't been followed. I have been using a museum catalogue all day long that has words missing left, right and centre.I think that, for the most part, readers skip over errors (their brains compute what you're trying to say) and they don't dwell on slight imperfections. Too many and the book will become annoying, but a few and nobody cares all that much... aside from spelling/grammar/punctuation obsessives. I fall into the latter category today, on account of having been deprived of commas all day long.
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Where I should have typed: "Keep a civil tongue in your head" I said: "Keep a civil head in your tongue" The mental picture that evoked almost killed me. :oD LOL
There will ALWAYS be typos. All we can do is make sure they are at a minimum. And don't forget the commas, right, Gina? I recently read a Harlequin romance that had so many typos they actually managed to slow my reading. And we all know Harlequin has an entire room full of talented monkeys who are specifically paid to catch the typos...
I love monkeys.
:o)
Madison, as an ex-copy editor and someone with two degrees in English, your fan is right about the use of pass. You walk PAST something, or you PASS something by (up).I like the idea of a civil head in the tongue, Jaimey!
Angela James, the head editor of Samhain Press, comes out in public and says that a book SHOULD have errors. I don't know that I agree with that, per se. But like others have said, errors are what make us human.
I wouldn't say that books should have errors, but I think that writers/editors should be forgiven for missing them, as long as those errors don't detract to any great extent and aren't misleading (I'm thinking errors in information here though). How many people do their jobs absolutely to perfection? And yet writing professionals are expected to buck that trend?
I don't mind having a head in my tongue as long as it doesn't talk back :o)
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I, just like all of you, strive to have mistake free material. It's just so damn, hard.
Jj wrote: "Not a big deal, as I read earlier, just about every book out there has some. But when it YOURS!!! OMG!!! It can't be true!"I found a stray asterisk in the index of my book and my husband thought, from the commotion I caused, that I must have been given advance notice that the world was about to end. I wasn't even the person who put it there, but that didn't matter... it was my book and I was the worst writer who'd ever breathed air. It passed. I'm friends with the asterisks again now, but it was touch and go for a while.
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I try so hard to put myself in the shoes of the reader and remember that I don't freak out every time I come across a comma in the wrong place in someone else's book... but I fail miserably. Finding a mistake in your own book is like finding you have your skirt tucked in your knickers as you exit a bathroom into an arena full of people.
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I just had a fan share she thinks my book could use better editing. To see her comments, go to my fan page The Poisoned Apple. Ouuuch. I of course have learned to take the path of humility in this situation, but it still smacked my pride and left me grammatically paranoid. Is this normal? I hired an editor and still found mistakes after she was done. I then had a panel read and did several edits after that! I would not be surprised if there are still some problems though.
The mistake she used as an example actually was not an error according to our research, but still it grits my nerves that I have a book floating around the world that might make English teachers cringe. I need group therapy....