Tuesday

New book proves it - I know the proper English.

My book proofs were delivered this morning!
I was so excited.
I was holding a real, live, shiny, paperback copy of my own book that I wrote all by myself.

Then I read it.
I have read it at least three times right through on my computer, and I thought there might be a slim chance I had missed one or two errors.
There were about a hundred. I was so deflated.
About ninety of the errors were missing, or misplaced, commas. I thought I spoke, and wrote, the really, very, excellent, English. I found out I need, to use, more, commas, and, other punctuation; although, maybe, not all, in the same sentence.
Another fifty errors, were poor tense use; things like, “soon, I saw a huge, hairy, wallaby-like rabbit.” (But I got plenty of comma’s in there, didn’t I?)
Then there were awkward or unclear sentences. For example, what was the “it” in the sentence, “I ran 'it' down the back of the pony from a safe distance?” I need to clear that up.
A few were more serious.
On page ten, I wrote that after my manager received a complaint from my internet stalker, “I interviewed me several times.” No I didn’t. Why did I say that?
I also stayed in a house on a “hill will exotic views.” That is just gibberish.
Then there is the paragraph I caught and corrected. The problem was that I left the wrong version in with the new one. Both are still in the book. Aaaargh.
Luckily, there is time to change it before the paperback goes on sale. Unluckily, some people have already bought the e-book version. If you are one of those people, please contact me and I will be very happy to send you the corrected book.
And, ..... thanks everyone for your support. It means a lot that you have purchased my work. I did work hard on it and I continue to do so.
For those of you waiting for the paperback version, my apologies. I should be ready to unleash it on the world in the next two or three weeks. Woohoo.

15 comments:

  1. Congratulations Nikki. You look so proud and happy and so you should be. I'm getting it now as I know it will be helpful to me. I also saw Annabel Candy is getting a copy and listed you on her blog. I'm so happy. Winner announced tomorrow on my blog.

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  2. Thanks Sonia. I hope you enjoy it. It was such a fun year.
    That was a fun competition too. Thanks for inviting me. I am very happy with the outcome. Heading off alone is easy. Taking the kids is a huge and wonderful challenge. Jill Fale is one gutsy lady.

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  3. “I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.”
    ― Mark Twain

    Seems appropriate. Enjoy the accomplishment and don't suffer the details!

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  4. Haha, thanks I am definitely enjoying my book, but I might agonise over the details a tiny bit longer. That is one of the beauties of print on demand. Anything can be changed for the next copy that is sold.
    It should be finalised in the next few days though.
    I am so glad I found your blog. It looks intriguing. I look forward to getting to know you better through it.

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  5. Congratulations! No matter the errors, you did it!

    A good editing trick is to read your writing out loud rather than just reading it silently. This catches errors easier.

    Also, have another person read it. Your own brain knows what you "intended" to write and will sometimes just trick you into seeing it that way.

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  6. And I should have followed my own advice and edited "easier" into "more easily."

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  7. Congratulations on your accomplishment! There is such satisfaction in seeing your name in print and saying to yourself, "I did that!" Don't sweat the small stuff. It's . . . small stuff!
    Remember, the stamps that are printed with mistakes are the stamps that are worth the most money in a few years!

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  8. Thanks Miss Footloose, that is really good advice. I expect the next lot of proofs soon.
    I will read it out loud when I check it.

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  9. Thanks Diane. I love the reference to stamps. I never thought of it that way. My mum and dad have copies of the flawed versions because they were the only ones ready for Christmas. Perhaps they will value them even more for being unique versions of a work in progress.

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  10. First, congratulations. You look so happy holding your book. What a shock to find so many mistakes though something similar happened to me a few months ago when I proofread my book and was surprised to find sentences like "he was wheeling himself uphill". A couple of friends helped me out with proofreading, but I think I'm going to get it proofread one last time. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

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  11. I know only too well the feeling of going to press to discover an obvious error but... after the fact!
    In fact, I discarded our entire 1st edition due to oversights, putting it down as a 'marketing exercise' LOL

    But I would recommend a professional editor for the final flip through as their distance from the project really can sharpen a piece of writing up!

    All the best for 2012 and success to your first publication ~
    Congratulations!

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  12. Thanks Penelope. I was very surprised at the kinds of mistakes I made too. I like the idea of wheeling yourself uphill. It sounds like a clever trick.

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  13. Hi Linda
    I can't believe you scrapped a whole edition. That is commitment to quality.
    Thanks for the suggestion. I did pay for an editor at CS to look through my book but it was too early in the process.
    There were so many errors, they did not mention them all, just outlined the types of errors.
    I will send my manuscript in much later next time, ( as you say for a final flip through), after it is as polished as I can make it alone. That way their comments might be more about the quality of the content instead of the grammar.
    I have learned so much. Thanks for your suggestions and interest.

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  14. Excellent written post. thanks for sharing with us.
    Gramlee

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Gramlee. I am sure more of us should use a service like yours.

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