by Patricia Bradley
For the past ten days, I’ve been doing the final edits on Fatal Witness, and I want to talk about typos, missed words, and using their instead of they’re, etc. I sometimes get an email from a reader, pointing out those things. I always reply and apologize for whatever they’ve found, pass it on to my publisher who corrects the digital version of the story. The print correction will be made if there’s a second printing.
But I know you wonder how those mistakes get past the editors and proofreaders…well, so do I, and I’m one of the proofreaders. My books have at least ten pairs of eyes on them, including mine. My only explanation is “it happens.” I read each book at least ten times before it goes to the printer, and I’m sure my eyes automatically supply what I thought I wrote.
Fatal Witness is no exception. Someone, somewhere will probably find at least one error. At least with this one it won’t be the wrong airplane. :-) That happened with Silence in the Dark. All through the book, I referred to the plane in the story as one where Danny and Bailey climbed up on the wing to get into the cockpit. Then, in the very last chapter, I name the plane…and it’s one that has a top wing…no way could they use the wing to enter the cockpit.
That was very kindly pointed out to me by a very nice gentleman. Somehow I’d typed in the wrong plane…All through the book the plane was a Bonanza in my mind, but at the end, I typed Cessna…
That was the fourth book in the Logan Point series. The very first book, Shadows of the Past, I had a thirty-year nurse write me and tell me I’d written respiratory nurse for respiratory therapist. No way! I was certain I had not done that. I know better than that, but she’d given me the page number and there it was. That one had a silver lining—my next book, A Promise to Protect, was about a doctor…so I asked the nurse if she’d read it for me and catch any errors I might have made. She agreed and did she ever catch a few mistakes. I profusely thanked her!
So, I better get back to proofing Fatal Witness. I loved writing this story and watching Dani grow! And Mark as well…he’s in the first book in the series, Counter Attack as a K9 officer.
In case you’re wondering what it’s about, here’s the cover and back copy:
As a child, artist and potter Dani Bennett witnessed the brutal murder of her parents. With no memory of the incident or her true identity, she was forced to take on a new name and a new life, hidden away in Montana for the past 25 years.
Mae Richmond has spent the same stretch of time searching for her granddaughter, who went missing the night her daughter and son-in-law were murdered. Convinced the woman she saw in a pottery magazine feature is the woman she's been searching for, she enlists the help of K-9 officer Mark Lassiter of Pearl Springs, Tennessee, who tracks Dani down.
Skeptical but curious, Dani sets out on a journey to uncover the secrets of her past and reclaim her true identity. But someone close to her is determined to keep the truth of what happened all those years ago hidden.
I loved writing this story and watching Dani grow! And Mark as well…he’s in the first book in the series, Counter Attack as a K9 officer.
What's your take on errors in books? Do you just skip over them or do they take you out of the story? Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a drawing for Fatal Witness when it comes out February 6th, 2024!
You can find preorder links for Fatal Witness here!
AND of you'd like to listen to my interview with Karla Lewis you can click here! You'll learn a lot about me. :-d
Unless there are a huge amount of errors it shouldn't take me out of the story. An occasional error is no big deal. I just skip over it. cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU, Cherie!
DeleteIntriguing set up for your new book baby, especially as a recent fall from my horse left a blank spot. I do know who I am, though 😉. As for errors in books, many I don’t notice if I’m caught in the story. The error that does take me out is when the wrong word is used or a word is used incorrectly. I then ID the word that should have been and go on. Becca12901(at) yahoo
ReplyDeleteEvery author thanks you, Becca!
DeleteI do see them but I just try to skip over them and keep reading
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jeannie!
Deletestop reading if it's a lot
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
Me, too BN. Hopefully I don't have more than three or four for the entire book!
DeleteI worked in editing for a newspaper, so I usually catch errors in books.
ReplyDeletesmincer10 (at) gmail (dot) com
I bet you see every error, Susanne! I do in other books because they just pop out at me...it doesn't take me out of a story...
DeleteIf it’s digital, I make a note of the error. One more reason I like digital, lol. Some errors bug me. One book I read, well I guess it was more lack of research, it was a town I knew and it was depicted in a totally wrong way. Then one the writer used to wrong relationship. It should have been adopted and they used step all the way through. Now that irritated me as my husband adopted my sons from a previous marriage. I also have blended families in my family and don’t really like the word step.
ReplyDeleteLaura, I love that we can correct the digital copies of our books, and I don't blame you for taking issue with that! I've never liked either step nor half relations! The are our children, and brothers and sisters. Period.
ReplyDeleteA typo here and there doesn’t bother me at all. Now if you’re constantly writing books FULL of typos, then I will probably move on because that’s a completely different story altogether. Fatal Witness sounds incredible?
ReplyDeletePerrianne Askew
perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com
I agree, Perrianne! A few, no problem, but more than a few is!
DeleteI love it when the story is that good, Betti!
ReplyDeleteHey, I don’t read books to find mistakes! They find me! I know it happens, but ….. I have done editing for an author and I pick up things she’s missed many times. Sometimes I send a mistake to an author and sometimes I just let it slide. It just depends on the author but I do know mistakes happen. It can even happen during the printing process.
ReplyDeleteduellonlysis at aol dot com
Great answer, Beverly!
DeleteEveryone makes mistakes and a few doesn't bother me. I found letters that I had written to my mom when I was in my 20's, and oh boy, did I misspell words. Lol! It happens.
ReplyDeletelesncyn@att.net
I thank God for spell check every time I send a book off, Cyndi! It is so easy to write too for two and vice-versa!
DeleteWould love to win a d review. jrs,,0350 @ yahoo dot com
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!
DeleteUnfortunately, I can’t just skip over errors because I was a grammar teacher and red ink runs in my veins. That being said, the errors don’t generally bother me. I only send a note to the author if I’m a Beta reader. I didn’t know the publisher could still make corrections on a final copy so I may have to rethink not contacting the author. The new book sounds wonderfully suspenseful! Vickie W. watts.vickie@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vickie! I would let the author know--I know I always forward them to my publisher and they make the corrections.
DeleteTypos don’t take me out of the story, but I usually do notice them. Unless it’s a big faux pas that the author needs to know, why bring it up? I’m sure they groan to themselves when they see the error in print.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the one thing that will jerk me right out of a story is the use of a pet phrase or inference to a body movement that is repeated enough times to start counting. Drives me crazy! Don’t worry, you don’t do this. :-) Barbara Diggs Englishathome01@gmail.com
I totally get the body movements! I have to be careful of shrugs...and I only allow one--if that--per book of eyes rolling. lol Thanks, Barbara!
DeleteNo matter how many eyes sign off, some errors still sneak through. I don't mind them because I know from my own experience. Richard Mabry (whose web site is apparently invalid).
ReplyDeleteRichard! It is so good to see you here! I miss you.
DeleteI skip over errors. It does not bother me.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Antoinette! That is a blessing. :-)
DeleteErrors detracts from the story. I read a book bit long ago that had so many errors and typos that it was hard for me to get through and really made me not want to read anything else by this author.
ReplyDeleteIf I were that author, I would like for you to let me know about the errors, Stella.
DeleteA free typos and mistakes don’t bother me. Like many others, I skip over them. I’m unable to overlook repeated poor grammar, and that will cause me to give up on the author.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I truly understand. I'm the same way.
DeleteMinor errors don't bother me.
ReplyDeleteMe, either, Diana. I tend to overlook a few...
DeleteSo exciting to hear you have a new book coming out in February, not too far away! Typos don't bother me unless there are several per page. Then it gets to be kinda ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vera! I agree about the typos.
DeleteTypos, minor errors don't bother me. (I do our church bullletin& both my husband & I proof before printing but things still get by us
ReplyDelete😞.) What trips me up is when names get mixed up then I have to backtrack. Keep on writing. I love a good Christian-based suspense story.
Thanks, you! Names are why I don't work on more than one book at a time. Last week I had edits on Fatal Witness, and I knew better than to try and work on them while writing Deadly Vengeance!
DeleteMost of the time an error will not bother me. In cases where I can’t forget it I have sent an email or private message to the author once or twice. Most of the time I am so engaged in the story that I don’t remember any errors!! Don’t sweat the small stuf! I am in awe of what an author can do with their imagination!
ReplyDeleteThank you! And I thank God for my imagination. :-)
DeleteI can ignore a few typos, but missed grammar or spelling can hurt the reading experience. It's so important to have a good editor that see these things and corrects them! Thanks for the opportunity to enter a giveaway! Would love to win a print copy!
ReplyDeleteA good editor is so important and I have two great editors, Lual!
DeleteGeneral grammatical stuff catches my eye, but I know it's easy to miss as our brains supply the correct thing when you know what it's supposed to be, so as long as there aren't many, it's not a big deal to me. The only things that really bug me are when there are factual errors. One historical my daughter read claimed that Patrick Henry was a silversmith. As volunteers for his final home-historic site, that really bothered us - he wasn't! One book set in my hometown had the geography and distances all wrong, so nothing was logical. Those seem to be pretty rare, again, though, so it's not usually a big deal.
ReplyDeleteResearch is so important, Amy. If I've never been there, (LIke Natchez) I visit my settings before I start writing. After the Memphis Cold Case novels and the Natchez Trace Books, I decided to make up my towns. It's much easier. :-)
DeleteDepends on the type of mistake and how many. Sometimes I just translate to the correct word, spelling, etc; other times, especially if there have been several, it irritates me enough that it takes the pleasure out of reading the book. Of course THAT never happens with your Patricia!
ReplyDeleteCathy cpicha@earthlink.net
Aww, thank you, Cathy! One of my editors--I call her the plausibility police--usually catches my mistakes, and I am thankful!
DeletePat, I enjoyed your blog post. I also enjoyed your interview. I spot errors in almost everything I read. I see a much higher number in indie published books. I have contacted a few of those authors and suggested they needed to hire a proofreader. Traditionally published books are typically much better, but I still catch some errors in those. The worst situation is when I have proofread a book and later discover an error that I missed.
ReplyDeleteEdward, that's the way I feel when I see an error in one of my books. I've read the manuscript at least 8-10 times and I'll still miss something. Just found on in the final read-thru of Fatal Witness yesterday...
DeleteI actually think it’s kind of fun to find typos in books but I rarely tell the author because I feel like, “I’m sure someone else already found it and pointed it out.” They don’t usually bother me unless they are major (like the wrong name for a character) or there are lots of them. Thanks for this informative article!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you turn it into a game, Laura!
DeleteCindy Merrill: Yes, that happens to me all the time! We only have one computer so I stay up late in order to get access, when I'm tired, I misspell a lot.
ReplyDeleteCindy, I make so many typos! I try to write my blog ahead of time so I can go back and proof it one more time, but lately I haven't had time...
DeleteI skip over them and keep reading Thank you for this amazing giveaway! Sarahbaby601973(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteLove your attitude, Sarah!
DeleteI was a writer-editor for the government for a long time (now retired) and most of these errors jump off the page and hit me! But it is so hard to catch them all....chendryx (at) nctv (dot) com
ReplyDeleteIt would be hard to read for pleasure after being in the "business" for so long. So glad you do, though!
DeleteI love the cover! I'm A red head myself so I love it when I see a red head on covers! Red heads are slowly disappearing from our world, sadly! Can't wait to read your book!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cindi! I'm a redhead too...or I was when I was younger...
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing your book! It sounds fabulous! I can usually just skip over errors that are typos (we all make mistakes!) or minor incorrect technical info (no one can know everything!), but continuity errors drive me crazy! Characters' names changing, a backstory detail changing, characters suddenly become alive again...it all jerks me out of the story way more than a typo.
ReplyDeleteHi Texas Momma! The one thing that will jerk me out of a story is an author using I when they should use me. Like she gave the gift to her and I. That's like nails on a chalkboard.. lol
ReplyDeleteI understand typos, since it is so easily done with my texts! So a few minor things will not bother me, but because of my occupation (speech-language pathologist) I do notice things like affect vs. effect.
ReplyDeleteI notice those things, too, Janice! But I try to ignore them in others writing.
DeleteI can't wait to read this new book! It sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteGrammatical errors and typos tend to disrupt my concentration on the storyline. To me, they are like fingernails on chalkboard. :D
ReplyDeleteI know, Elizabeth...that's why I try to catch them all... :-)
Delete