Typos or Gremlins
No matter how carefully I go over the final pages of a book after they've been edited and are now set up for printing, when the book is published, guess what--some glitches have managed to slip through. It's usually a reader who points them out to me.
I don't know how it happens. I never just correct the pages on the computer--it's far too easy to miss typos that way. I always print out the galley and go over it carefully. Yes, I find mistakes, mark them and send them back to the publisher.
Lately I've been working on my first book that was published, Trail to Glory, long out of print and I got my rights back years ago. My intention is to have it become an e-book with a new title, Indian Paintbrush, the title the publisher didn't like. Remember this books was published by a New York publisher and I am finding oodles of mistakes. (The manuscript was no longer on my computer so I had to send the book to a company that scans a printed book and turns it into a Word document.)
When I redid The Devils Foothold (formerly called The Choice) I did have that manuscript on my computer still. Knowing that typos are always there, I went through it carefully before I sent it off to the angel who prepared it for the Kindle. The angel's wife read the book and found several glitches.
(This one is a bit different than my usual--I've called it a supernatural mystery--and it's only available on Kindle.)
One of my fans, an avid reader of my Deputy Tempe Crabtree books, went through the two latest, Bears With Us and Raging Water and found some mistakes. The publisher of this series has wonderful editors--I have no idea what happened. Gremlins, has to be gremlins.
Aren't these great covers? The whole Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series is available in paper and for all the e-book readers.
And of course there's my other series--Rocky Bluff P.D, crime series. I've had a copy editor go over a couple of those galleys--and still the mistakes creep in.
Remember, if you want to find No Bells to be sure and look for it under the name F. M. Meredith.
So, what is my real message to authors here?
Go over your manuscript carefully before sending it to a publisher. When you get the galleys back, print it out and go over it once again.
However, don't be surprised if the gremlins have snuck into it once it's a published book.
Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith
I don't know how it happens. I never just correct the pages on the computer--it's far too easy to miss typos that way. I always print out the galley and go over it carefully. Yes, I find mistakes, mark them and send them back to the publisher.
Lately I've been working on my first book that was published, Trail to Glory, long out of print and I got my rights back years ago. My intention is to have it become an e-book with a new title, Indian Paintbrush, the title the publisher didn't like. Remember this books was published by a New York publisher and I am finding oodles of mistakes. (The manuscript was no longer on my computer so I had to send the book to a company that scans a printed book and turns it into a Word document.)
When I redid The Devils Foothold (formerly called The Choice) I did have that manuscript on my computer still. Knowing that typos are always there, I went through it carefully before I sent it off to the angel who prepared it for the Kindle. The angel's wife read the book and found several glitches.
Aren't these great covers? The whole Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series is available in paper and for all the e-book readers.
And of course there's my other series--Rocky Bluff P.D, crime series. I've had a copy editor go over a couple of those galleys--and still the mistakes creep in.
So, what is my real message to authors here?
Go over your manuscript carefully before sending it to a publisher. When you get the galleys back, print it out and go over it once again.
However, don't be surprised if the gremlins have snuck into it once it's a published book.
Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith
Comments
Terry
Terry's Thoughts and Threads