Used to be an author cared about their work, and would get it in tip-top shape before sending it off to be published. Well, not anymore. Now everyone thinks that they are the best and only authority on book writing and they zip a story out and publish it on Amazon or Smashwords and never once think maybe it isn't perfect.
This lackadaisical (— adj:1.lacking vitality and purpose 2.lazy or idle, esp in a dreamy way) approach to books and the whole process of publishing is getting so wide-spread that I fear never finding a book that is properly edited.
You should have seen my rant on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/mkimsmith ) about a book that had 14 exclamation points on the first page of an unnecessary prologue. Sigh.
It is just a distraction when reading. That's the main thing, and if you, Murderer, turn off your reader, they may never pick up a book of yours again. Yes, even though writers have gotten lazy, readers haven't lost their finicky appetites for good books.
So, that's it-go find a good editor. Oh, and beware! Some of those editors out there are no more than lazy writers who decided no one wanted to read their poorly written books so they are now going to do for you what they were too lazy to do for themselves.
Do your homework!!
Amen, Kim. It never ceases to amaze me how many little errors can creep into a book. I have quite a few wonderful beta readers who go through my manuscripts, plus my official editor at the publisher's, plus my audio book narrator, and my own multiple reads-through the manuscripts. Still, I occasionally find an error and it galls me to no end! I wish it was easier for we writers to actually SEE what we wrote instead of seeing what our brains tell us we MEANT to write, LOL! Thanks for the good reminder to be vigilant and merciless in your search for typos and mistakes!
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