Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Proofing, Proofing & More Proofing

I know I'm going to get hate mail for this entry, but it's something that has to be said.

I read a lot of books, not only for reviewing on this blog, but for my own enjoyment and growth. Okay - mostly for enjoyment, since I don't read a lot of books geared toward self-improvement. Alright, I don't read any books on self-improvement; not that I don't need improving, but this isn't about me, right? Maybe just a little about me, but only as it pertains to all of us as authors, and certainly I fall into that category as well.

When any reader selects a book to read, be it a print novel off the shelves of a bookstore or an eBook off the virtual shelves of any one of various eBookstores, that reader has the expectation of reading a story that has been carefully crafted by the author not only to grab the readers' imagination, but that someone along the line from the author's mind to fingers to any number of other individuals (or none at all, if this is one of a growing number of indie authors, once more, of which I myself am counted among) responsible for getting that story into (virtual) print will proof the story and ensure it is free (relatively so at least) of grammatical errors, misspelled words, improper word usage, improper tense of words or phrases and the continuity of the voice with which the story is told. Certainly there are more aspects to proofing a story than what have been detailed here, but this should suffice as a beginning for any other authors reading this diatribe.

Of late the books and eBooks read by this author for any purpose have often been fraught with many instances of those errors described above and more. Some errors can be computer-induced and/or problems in the process of printing the book, yet most are quite naturally the fault of the author. Yet again, this author has discovered upon completing any one of many novels written by these self-same fingers that some of these errors have plagued those works. That is not a good thing. Yet much time is always taken to correct those errors in an attempt to make any one of the books published with this author's name attached as error-free as possible. Even after publishing has been completed, there have been moments when errors have yet been discovered. Currently all books written by these fingers are in the process of being proofed once more to ensure the fans of these stories get the highest quality of story expected. Unfortunately too many authors (indie and non-indie alike - I do so detest the word "traditional" when referring to those who place their stories in print upon paper as though they are somehow better than those stories published solely online) do not take the same care and time to detail their stories before charging those within the public their hard-earned currency in order to read said stories.

A case in point is the extremely short story read by me (Let's forego that "this author" crap, shall we? It does sound a tad too pretentious, even if it is proper grammar) only tonight - well, last night, since it's now past midnight. The entirety of the eBook purchased was only 10,211 words, which makes it simply a short story in any opinion or view. Once the cover was (virtually) turned, however, it was discovered there were two short stories within the pages of this eBook. Alright - one short and a preview of another book written by the same author. The second story (the preview) had little wrong with it grammatically speaking, though there were a few mistakes, so that will not be discussed here; the first story, however, though interesting and certainly of high enough quality to be worthy of a full-length novel of its own, had so many errors of almost every type mentioned above and more that the enjoyment, at least for me, and my enjoyment is the only one I can be concerned with, was completely ruined. Why the author of that story (which could not have been more than 4,000 words at most) failed to take the teeniest bit of time in order to proof the outgrowth of his own creation is beyond my understanding. It took me little enough time to read that story; certainly it wouldn't have taken much more time than that for the author to make certain this imaginative piece was of the highest standard. Did he not believe his fans were worthy of his time spent in proofing what he charged them for? Let's hope that is not the case.

When I began this review I had every intention of mentioning both the author and title of this story, yet upon reaching this point - at least for now - it seems better to forego naming names and simply keeping this piece generic. After all, with the amount of poorly-proofed or non-proofed stories I have read over the past year alone, this lone author hardly bares being scrutinized as the sole person to be blamed for such despicably poor authorship. It is a pet peeve that has been building within me for quite a bit of time, and this particular author and title simply happened to draw the short straw in being the proverbial last straw for me in this area.

I therefore send out this challenge to any and all indie authors (I know the non-indies are not reading this blog and have no care within them for the words of which I hurl out that mostly should be heard by their ears) that we each individually and perhaps even collectively begin to proof our own works and make certain to give our readership the highest quality writings possible. Yes, it is not always the easiest matter to proof one's own work after spending many kazillions of hours pecking out the words of such upon a keyboard. None of us truly enjoys reading our own stories again and again in order to catch every minute error that may exist. Truthfully, most of us are not able to catch our own errors, simply because we are too familiar to the story already and tend to gloss over some of these errors due to the closeness we have to the story. Perhaps then we should each volunteer to proof one another's stories free-of-charge in order to ensure we all meet the standards our readers should rightfully expect. I for one am game for that idea. It's what I already do on a constant basis while reading anyway.

If we as indie authors don't proof one another's stories we can never attain to the pinnacle each of us seeks. Alright, perhaps some authors will, since some already have - certainly I could name at least one author who has reached a certain point of popularity based mostly (In my opinion) upon his ability to market his product extremely well. Having read some of his stories I personally am appalled that anyone would continue to "shell out sheckles" in order to read a novel that is the worst of the grammatical atrocities I have ever come across. And yet most of us will never attain to the same level as that one individual unless we scrutinize our stories and those of one another in order to maintain high quality.

Therefore, before you click on  that button that uploads your story and cover to your online publisher, please take the time to eliminate as many of the errors existent within your work as possible. If you cannot do it properly - enlist the help of another author. There are many of us out there. No story should ever go un-proofed. No reader should ever have to pay for a story that has been un-proofed. From now on whenever I come across such a product I will ask for a refund from the publisher. Perhaps that will make some authors take more pride in their work.


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New eBooks You May Enjoy Reading

Amnar: The Expulsion by I J Black. $4.99 from Smashwords.com
The sequel to The Execution is here. Arist might have been thwarted, but Arandes and the other Amnari face a bigger problem. The leader of Amin Duum is threatening harm to his own people and even Amnar itself, and nobody seems to know what to do about it. A storm is brewing in the city, and the Amnari's fragile hold on the city is about to be severely tested.


The Blue Fairy by Jason Loeffler. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
He's a killer, the Blue Fairy - a hitman, some say. But Dave doesn't know for sure. All he knows is that he sort of helped to torture Bobby Mason. And then he sees it: the Fairy's calling card, and above his daughter's bed, no less. But...where is Amy? What follows is a graphic tale of justice, where victims will turn killers, killers will turn saints, and one man will learn the price of hate.


A Day in the Park, With Old Men by Steven Mohan, Jr.. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
In this charming story filled with gentle humor, a young woman meets a group of old men on a spring day. Saul flirts shamelessly with Emma, only to have his rival Rajiv try to steal the pretty girl away. Except there's more at stake then a quarrel between two senior citizens. Because these old men are not old men, the park is not a park, and what they decide will save or destroy us all.


Pure Mad - The Author's Cut by Gary J Byrnes. $4.99 from Smashwords.com
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From Jacob M. Drake

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5 comments:

  1. Great idea. I might suggest also that for those who feel they do not have the time to proof entire novels, they can do it "Bit Torrent" style. That is, offer to proof the first 40-50 pages or so and others can proof 50-100, 100-150 and so on. Mind you, they cannot copy-edit that way, but they can proofread. Just a thought.

    So, where do I sign up?

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  2. Yes, great idea. It might even be best if authors will proof each other's work since seeing one's own errors is more difficult than spotting errors in someone else's work. Then, after several people have done some proof-reading, perhaps the original author of the work can give the manuscript one last reading and check for errors others might have missed, along with copy-editing. Consistency - for example, character names should always be spelled the same way - is a big factor in whether or not a story is perceived as being well written... and even big name authors have muffed this one from time to time.

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  3. Great idea. I know I miss errors in my own work.

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  4. Oh sure, I had the idea to "bell the cat". Now I guess it's up to me to actually put the bell on, eh? DOH!

    My only problem is trusting others to do this on my work. I know how well I spot errors and know how to correct them; what I don't know is how well others can do this. Makes it difficult to let others give me advice. Now, if I knew for certain someone wrote well, I would have an easier time trusting that person's opinions on my stories.

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  5. The most creative people are often not strict rule-following people. Creative writers might put in a comma every time they hear a pause, but rule followers will replace a comma splice with a semi-colon and will use the serial comma either every time or not at all. I would recommend hiring a trained editor who has learned the rules of grammar and punctuation instead of giving your work to someone who is just as creative as you are.

    ReplyDelete