The Knight raises his arm into the air, flashing his shimmering steel sword as it soars arcing towards the beast and sices the dragon’s hair off …
Sices? What is sices? Oh you mean slices! Hair? That doesn’t make sense. Perhaps head was what the author meant.
Many of us can understand the frustration at witnessing grammatical errors and poor transitions that can flood our reading journeys with distracting annoyances. As a rapid reader, I find that poor editing is a growing epidemic in storybooks, and grammatical errors and typos aren’t getting fixed any time soon.
While tromping through a wild forest, suddenly the mystery has vanished as you become focused on the poor use of language or misspellings. From my personal experience, I will admit that this tends to be more prevalent with self-published authors, which are an increasing population. I hesitate to pick a self-published story up, afraid of the grammatical horrors that often lay in wait for me. However, I am also seeing an increase coming from small and large publishing houses. It is almost as though the need for speed to get books on the market has become more important than the actual quality of what it being printed and provided to the public.
Speaking as a reader who loves the stories that authors create, I ask humbly that you take editing seriously. A story can be ruined by the lack of refinement. Stop rushing. Your book will be more successful and enjoyable if you give it a proofread or three proofreads. A well edited book shows the reader that you take your craft seriously and that you want only the best of you to be presented to your eager audience.
There are many fee-based editing resources out there. Even the most amazing and famous author needs to be edited. No matter how awesome you are at proofreading, you cannot be the only eyes on your own work. When we are too close to the content, we make mistakes. Take the time to research for editors and invest in quality rather than quantity.
Of course, editing resources can be found right here at Turn The Page Editing. Here are a few others to check out:
http://www.upgradeyourstory.com
-Sheilah Randall
K.M. Randall 