My Lunara series is an Indie book series. I am marketing it by myself with the help of some loyal readers. I have one frustration with my marketing that I think everyone must be having too. I can accept that it is little known and the confidence level in a new writer isn't high. It is human nature to see a rookie and pass them off as mediocre. My real frustration is the lack of confidence in the works of Indie writers in terms of editing. If you have read a poorly edited novel, you understand the frustration. It is unreadable.
Ideally, I would love to be able to put a stamp on my covers that indicates that my book is 100% professionally edited and contains no errors. When you purchase my novels, you are getting a quality product. It just seems that readers are skeptical of any Indie novels if they have read a few editing nightmares and I would love for that to change.
I would propose a governing body that can authenticate a novel is professionally edited by reading several random excerpts from a manuscript and certifying it. Then I could confidently display it on my web pages and even have the big sellers like amazon, bn.com, and apple acknowledge it as well. If this exists, someone please show me. If it is just fantasy, it would be great for a strong core of Indie writers to start this venture up. You could charge $25 to $75 for an unbiased reading. The only trick is to make it industry approved and acknowledged. Because who would pay if it didn't help the writer and the reader out.
Any editing errors in this blog post should be treated as irony and not incompetence.
As an avid reader, especially science fiction, I can attest to spelling/grammar errors really taking away from the enjoyment of a book, whether from an indie author or a well established author. Of course the odds of an established author having more than a few minor grammar errors is pretty slim. I just finished a book from an indie author that was good but it would have been even better if an editor had gone thru the manuscript and cleaned up the grammar errors and some other issues.
ReplyDeleteI actually proofread/edited a book from an online friend of mine a few years ago and he really appreciated it. Unfortunately, as far as I know he hasn't been able to publish it yet. Too bad there isn't a way for avid readers to help out indie authors with editing help. I'm by no means an editor by trade but I like to think I know my grammar/spelling rules.
Good idea!
ReplyDeleteAs you said, the trick is to make it an industry approved standard.
Editing failures are definitely a problem in any book. This seems like a good idea; I can't help but think that "industry-approved" and "indie" are in some ways antithetical, however. Perhaps a Twitter hashtag or a Facebook page would encourage a community of indie authors/readers who could help out with this. I've seen some powerful effects created this way.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should start an "Indie Book Editing Consortium". Get a number of writers whose editing skill you respect and create a system by which their books go through a peer-revision process. Sort of a BBB or Underwriters Laboratory model. Charge for certification either by cash or by service as a peer-reviewer. Keep it cheap to promote participation, and have the people who use its services be its members.
ReplyDeleteWhat if your editor's name was on the cover? The easiest way to start any indie book editing consortium is by starting to brand specific editors as purveyors of tallent. Just throwing it out there.
ReplyDeleteI did exactly that. My editor is on the first copyright page, together with the source for the cover page picture.
DeleteMoreover, a good editing and proofreading does not come cheap. Unfortunately many indie-writers don't do that. I would support a "Professionally Edited" stamp.
Wyatt, Couldn't agree more. Since getting my kindle I have downloaded a huge number of Indie author books, including yours, and Lunara: Seth and Chloe wasn't entirely error free either, so everyone finds it a little difficult, for whatever reason, to be 100% perfect, all of the time!
ReplyDeleteEven mainstream authors have errors in books today and with them I put it down to lazy editing by the 'editors', although I understand from reading a number of authors blogs,that even publishing houses do not always offer an editing service these days.
It is frustrating, as a reader, even if having spent less than a £1 or $1 to then find a book that is riddled with spelling and or grammatical errors, that with a little more care, could have been avoided.
The errors I have come across, while deeply annoying and frustrating (especially when some of them were so glaringly obvious) however, have not made me give up on Indie authors, yet.
Entirely error free is an achievement. Thanks for the comments. Great stuff.
DeleteTweet me any errors at @lunaraseries. I will correct them as quickly as possible. Thanks.
I already did and you were kind enough to reply, way back in February
DeleteCould it be we depend too much on the computer for spelling, grammar, sentence structure? I've come to count on my writing group and my editor/coach for such issues. Still end up with errors/mistakes, even after reading it backwards and forwards. Probably because I've read it so much I see what I expect to see!;-)
ReplyDeletehave a look at this post
ReplyDeletehttp://jwmanus.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/since-when-do-readers-care-about-editing/
Good idea. Some people would still turn their noses up at it but it would help us indie writers out in the long run.
ReplyDeleteYou know, maybe we can talk to the guys at Sciencefiction.com to see if they'd be open to being "The Standard" here. At the very least, for the science fiction industry. If not them, someone like Sci Fi Crow's Nest might be interested. Or, my friend, perhaps we could just start our own organization, with a handful of indies banding together, create an org, hire a pro editor, and work up that stamp. You know where to reach me if you want to try any of these.
ReplyDeleteGBloom
I share your frustration about finding errors in books I've downloaded. Missing quotation marks and incorrect word usage are my biggest frustration. I don't question every grammar choice that the writer makes, but if the lack of quotes has me searching for who is speaking it detracts from the story.
ReplyDeleteI've thought about this, too...maybe there should be an Indie Author Guild of writers who adhere to certain standards...
ReplyDeleteReaders don't realize how hard it is to get every error out of a book. There are errors in traditionally published books too. Some readers anticipate them more when a book is known to be "Indie" I've even heard one reader considering it a game to find them in Indie books. Traditionally published books have an advantage in not just one editor, but a team of editors and even then they miss things. How can an indie compete with that? Your idea is interesting, but I don't think it will help with sales.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to look closer at the comment by Tom Stronach as he said your book was also NOT free of errors. So perhaps your book would not be authenticated?
Hi Anonymous,
DeleteI'd be willing to gift a book in Amazon with the same price range as mine to a reader who spots a typo/error and msg me. That would make for the readers to have TWO books for free.