From my friend Kathy Ide, the Editor of Editors. She has instructed and inspired thousands of aspiring writers over the course of her long career. The following is an excerpt from her recently released Proofreading Secrets of
Best-Selling Authors.
Have you
seen the plaques and T-shirts that say this?:
Let’s
Eat Grandma.
Let’s Eat, Grandma. Commas Save Lives.
I love
that! It shows how one tiny bit of punctuation can change the entire meaning
and tone of a sentence.
You may
think that as long as you’ve got life-changing content in your nonfiction
manuscript, or an intriguing story with lots of conflict and interesting
characters in your fiction manuscript, that should be enough. And yes, content
and story are extremely important. But no matter how good those things are,
you’ll be running some pretty big risks if you don’t bother proofreading your
manuscript carefully for typos, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies . . . and
learning the industry-standard rules regarding punctuation, usage, grammar, and
spelling.
.
OK, you
won’t be putting your grandmother’s life on the line or joining a tribe of
cannibals. But tiny mistakes in your writing can have disastrous consequences.
Here are my top ten:
1. Mechanical errors can decrease
your chance of acceptance by a traditional publisher.
Most
people who work in the publishing industry know a lot about proper punctuation,
usage, grammar, and spelling. And they can spot typos and inconsistencies
without half trying. If you have too many mistakes in your manuscript, it may
not go any farther than an acquisitions editor’s desk.
2. Mechanical errors can cause
miscommunication.
A colleague
of mine recently sent me an e-mail about a local writers’ conference, asking if
I’d be on board for it. I responded that I would definitely be on board,
especially since it was close to my home. When I reread her e-mail later, I
realized she had asked if I was interested in being on the board! I gulped. I
was certainly “on board” with the idea. But serving on “the board” would
require a significant investment of my time.
Now, I
have thoroughly enjoyed being on the board for this exciting conference. And
this is an example of reader error, not author mistake. But it does point out
how one little missed word can change the entire meaning of a sentence.
3. Mechanical errors can cause
confusion.
My older
son, Tom, is a very busy professional, and even before he moved out of my home,
a lot of our communication took place via e-mail. One Sunday, I asked him what
he wanted me to make for dinner that evening. His response was: “When you
decide what you can say I decided this and if it’s not OK that’s OK.” It took
me a while to decipher it. And when I asked my son for permission to quote
that, his response was, “Did I write that? What on earth does it mean?” Even he
didn’t know! Well, after reading that line several times, I came up with this:
“When you decide what, you can say, ‘I decided this,’ and if it’s not OK,
that’s OK.” Pretty confusing without the punctuation, isn’t it?
4. Mechanical errors can give an
unprofessional appearance to publishers and readers.
Even if
your manuscript has already been accepted by a traditional publishing house, if
their in-house editor has to spend all her time fixing your mistakes, she won’t
be able to catch the deeper, more subtle nuances of your text. Besides, you
won’t be presenting a very polished, professional image to your publisher.
5. Mechanical errors can be
embarrassing.
A friend
of mine once picked up a book at a bookstore and noticed a typo on the back
cover. When she reported it to our critique group, she didn’t say she’d found a
mistake on a book published by “XYZ Publishers.” She said she found the mistake
on a “Jane Doe” novel. She didn’t connect the error to the publishing house but
to the author.
6. Mechanical errors may cause
readers to take you and your message less seriously.
I once
saw a published article with this title: “Crowe Turns Hero to Help Snake Bite
Boy.” The story was about actor Russell Crowe helping a boy who’d been bitten
by a snake. But by spelling snakebite as two words, this sentence implies that
Mr. Crowe helped a snake bite a boy! Now, I got a good laugh out of that. But I
sure don’t want those kinds of mistakes showing up in my own writing.
7. Mechanical errors can affect
the sales of your book.
Readers
who find a lot of mistakes in your book will not be as likely to recommend that
book to their friends. And who knows? You may have a high school English
teacher reading your book, and she just might recommend it to her students . .
. unless there are a lot of mistakes in it.
8. Mechanical errors could cost
you money.
If you decide
to hire someone to edit or proofread your manuscript, and you haven’t corrected
your punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling, you will be paying extra for
someone else to do that for you. And how will you know if that editor is right?
9. Mechanical errors can be
distracting.
If I’m
reading a book or article, no matter how good the content or story might be, if
there are too many typos or mistakes in punctuation, usage, grammar, or
spelling, it’s difficult for me to get past those enough to concentrate on the
book. I have been known to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf if
I find too many errors. And there are other readers like me out there.
10. Mechanical errors can give
you a poor reputation.
If you
self-publish, or work with a small, independent publisher that doesn’t
proofread carefully, your book may go out to the public with several typos,
inconsistencies, or PUGS (punctuation, usage, or grammar) errors. Readers who
catch those mistakes may consider you an amateur.
For a
lot of avid readers, typos practically jump off the page. And many are familiar
with the rules of punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling. If your reader
knows the rules and you don’t, that’s not going to make you look very good.
Professionalism Is Key
If
you’re writing just for family and friends, it may not matter so much whether
every comma is in exactly the right place or if you have a few typos here and
there. But if you want to get your book published in today’s highly competitive
commercial market, you need every edge you can get. If you expect people to buy
what you write, you need to take the time to do it right.
If you
have a hard time finding typos, inconsistencies, and “PUGS” errors in your
writing, consider hiring a professional proofreader. A comma may not save
Grandma’s life. But a careful proofread might make a life-or-death difference
for your manuscript.
__________
Kathy
Ide, author of Proofreading Secrets ofBest-Selling Authors, is a full-time freelance editor/mentor for new
writers, established authors, and book publishers. She speaks at writers’
conferences across the country. She is the founder and director of The
Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network and the Christian Editor Connection. For more about Kathy, visit her website at www.KathyIde.com. Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors is available at Amazon
and Barnes & Noble.
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