My Biggest Complaint: Insufficient Editing

Discuss the August 2016 Book of the Month, The Lost Identity Casualties by Kim Ekemar.

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Genaaa
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Re: My Biggest Complaint: Insufficient Editing

Post by Genaaa »

I notice errors in quite a lot of the books. I mean, it would be different if they were because of different ways of speaking due to being in another country but they're almost always not. It really does stink when I'm reading a book and notice multiple spelling issues or errors because in all honesty it does change how I see the book. After all, if you're going to publish something, please try a little harder to be careful with errors; like people even get paid to edit and still miss so many problems with books.
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Post by Carsh_Lohal »

One of the things that matters the most to me when reading is how immersed I can become in the story. Whenever there are errors like this I end up jumping back to reality to re-read and try to understand what was intended, and it really detracts from the experience of reading the book. Its a shame because I've read a number of books that could have been excellent, but I was so distracted from the odd tenses and grammatical issues that I couldn't really enjoy it. I have so much respect for editors, they are such an important part of the publishing process and its too bad that so many authors seem to miss this step.
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Post by Elaine5 »

These types of errors drive me around the bend. A handful of errors scattered throughout a book doesn't bother me too much, but repeated errors, or errors on every other page, are very distracting. I agree with the previous poster who said that it's too bad so many authors seem to miss this step. It's critical! Grammatical errors most definitely affect my ratings.
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Post by Meagan Ashley »

This is seriously one of my largest pet peeves. It is the only reason I will put a book down. Bad character development, weird story line? I'll keep going. Run on's, consistent typos, etc. and you lose me. I cannot stand it. This was a negative for this book in my opinion but a lot of these not as popular books, unfortunately, has this issue. I try not to be as harsh with them whereas a published book has it's own standards.
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Post by Thimble »

I definitely noticed a lot of errors. It was a little distracting and it seemed like many of them were not intentional. However, the errors didn't diminish my reading enjoyment.
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Post by MarisaRose »

I noticed many errors as well and found them distracting at times. Nothing ruins a story more than when you are reading through a very fast paced scene and you have to stop because you are distracted by errors! I always reread the sentence multiple times to see if I'm crazy, or if there really are errors. Definitely takes away from the flow of the story. A little disappointing, but I was still able to enjoy the book.
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Post by bookerang »

I must have bought a later, revised edition of the book, because I couldn’t find any of the errors specified by this forum’s previous participants. It’s kind of logical though, if you think about it, that should an author be criticized for the errors listed, he or she would immediately address the issue since that’s what today’s digital world allows us to do. Also, after recently reading the first book in the series myself, I think it’s a bit unfair to underline perhaps a dozen or so errors in what is a 70,000+ word book. I’m not defending lazy editing, but as someone here pointed out earlier, there are errors in the Harry Potter books too, and they probably go through multiple edits. No need to point fingers over some minor details in what is a really original and well-written story.
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Post by katiesquilts »

Carsh_Lohal wrote:One of the things that matters the most to me when reading is how immersed I can become in the story. Whenever there are errors like this I end up jumping back to reality to re-read and try to understand what was intended, and it really detracts from the experience of reading the book.
This is exactly the way I feel as well! It doesn't matter if the sentence is grammatically correct or not. If it's unnatural or oddly-worded, it's going to catch my attention and break my concentration.
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Post by CataclysmicKnight »

It's been a long time since I read this book, but I remember reviewing it and I remember taking an entire star off basically for just the editing. I'm far from a professional editor myself, but I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one who had this issue with the book. Bad editing takes me out of the book I'm reading, it forces me to re-read things or question what I've read. Bad editing may be in a different league than bad plots or bad storytelling, but it can still really bring enjoyment down....
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Post by lane_vespertine »

When I was in college, I had a few friends who were constantly writing books and eager to have anyone willing read them. A few of us would, and try as we might to act as good editors we never caught all of them. Or even most of them. Usually, I would focus on larger problems, characters appearing or disappearing at random (shockingly common), or inconsistencies in dialogue or whatnot. These bigger issues blinded us to typos and the occasional wrong word. Sort of like an editorial triage.
Or, and this is a bit tangental, maybe it is something like the uncanny valley in regards to depictions of people. You know how we can watch a disney cartoon and not have any issues imbuing the characters with realistic human emotion (this includes anthropomorphic ones as well), but the moment these cartoons start looking more and more like a human (think Beowulf with Angelina Jolie) we can only focus on how they are wrong? The closer to perfect something becomes, the more obvious the problems are. This is true with editing as well. In a well edited book, the small problems are much more glaring than a book that has massive holes in the plot.
I imagine that is exactly what a truly professional editor doesn't allow to happen, these problems that take away from the perfection. It is a rare skill, and something to be admired (and probably costs quite a bit!) I know I am not this level of perfectionist!
It makes sense to me when a low budget book, such as The Lost Identity Casualties, has some basic typos. I find them in almost every book I read, but everyone is right that they are much more prolific here. Anyway, I never seem to have any problems just glossing over them.
Perhaps this is only me being overly romantic, but I like to think of typos as me being closer to the author. The closer I am to the source, the more likely they are, and the more honest I feel the voice of the author is.
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Post by ScarlettEscola »

I would have to agree, quality editing is a must for any new book. If it hasn't been properly edited I am too busy correcting mistakes to enjoy the work!
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Post by Lustrious-Librarian »

Errors can be extremely distracting when trying to read for enjoyment or when reviewing. A few times I have found myself so distracted by spelling and grammar errors that I had to put the book down.
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Post by MerryLove »

Honestly, editing and grammar issues are one of the first things that make or break a book for me. There are one of the few things that will keep from finishing a book altogether.

Making sure a book is properly edited is JUST AS IMPORTANT as having a good story, and I think it's sad how many books I read (particularly books published solely as ebooks) that have many editing issues. I wish more people would appreciate how important this aspect is to the reading experience.
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Post by t-michelle »

Ugh, that many errors would have this professional editor cringing and considering my choice to continue reading the book. While I do not review solely based on if a book is edited, I absolutely include if it is too tedious and it will result in my rating to drop.
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Post by Michelle92 »

Sadly yes, the book was riddled with grammatical errors, some of them too obvious. It was mandatory to put it under better inspection before the release date.
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