BOOK CLUB THURSDAY: OOPS, I MEANT TO DO THAT?

Welcome back readers!


So what are we talking about today?

It's a subject that I think can and does generate quite a bit of conversation among readers.

We're talking about mistakes in fiction books.  And it's something I've encountered from authors in e-book and paper format from self-pub, small press, and big name publishers.

For the purpose of my blog post today, I'm not talking about spelling or grammar (although that can be extremely annoying if there are more than a few mistakes) - no, I  talking about factual mistakes or continuity(the heroine is 30 on page one and 26 on page forty or has blonde hair on page 10 and is suddenly red headed on page 15).

I know that some historical romance readers out there get very hot under the collar with factual mistakes. For me, since history was never my strong suit, I'd never know if that zipper in her boots(s) was proper was not. And personally I don't mind if historical characters use modern words in the dialogue.

When books are fiction, I pretty much don't care... most of the time.   IT'S FICTION- so I expect a certain amount of artistic license.  I guess I sound a bit wishy-washy on the subject. 

So that leaves me on occasion to wonder, when an author makes a multitude of mistakes WHY? Did they get missed during editing, did the author forget, did the author just not know???  

My guess is mistakes in ages, names, hair color etc. are just editing mistakes- again- not to big a deal if it happens once or twice.

Factual mistakes... with the Internet there's no reason not to try to be accurate - for example I read a book (years ago) where the heroine was using a semi-auto gun but the author had written the mechanics of it all wrong. 

Told you I was wishy-washy. And again a few mistakes, maybe not such a big deal. But when I'm paying for that hardcover (some of which, before any discounts, have almost a THIRTY dollar price tag)  or that first time paperback author - it can be maddening to have something riddled with mistakes.

On a side note, I'm one of those readers that will actually read (and enjoy) the author letters, dedications, acknowledgments, introduction, etc.. I feel if the author has taken the time to write one, the least I can do read them. Besides, when the author writes a "Dear Reader" letter I always feel like I'm being let in on a secret.  Plus lots of authors will sometimes thank people/websites etc stating any mistakes are their own. 

AH HA! So that explains it! :) 

Also, I think if the book is compelling, great plot, fab characters etc, I'm more willing to forget about or probably don't even notice mistakes. I don't red pen or highlight mistakes in books and I've never written an author to complain to them about any mistakes. In fact, there's a reason I haven't mentioned any authors in this blog-I read and don't write (and I'm deeply aware that no matter how hard I try to take care when I write my blogs...um yeah. Again- there's a reason I read rather than write.)  So I'm tipping my hat to those that do write- good, bad, or ugly. 

What did my friends have to say on the subject?

Find out now by visiting: 

Ann@Romancing the Readers

Karen@The Many Faces of Romance

And don't forget to return on 24Apr14 for our reviews of: 



Comments

  1. Nice post. I have to admit most mistakes I miss because I'm in the story. If they are big enough to draw me out of the story then I know they are bad.

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  2. Most of the time the little things don't bother me. But I hate sloppiness or if the author doesn't care, why should I? Unfortunately, I paid cash to for a book the author phoned in.

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  3. Like I said, being into the book makes it less likely you'll catch something. And yes, who wants to pay for book that is heavily flawed.

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