Fixing the gobbly-guck

kayleamay · Nov 13, 2009

So, my book is out and I finally got the nerve to re-read it. I found 19 typos that need to be fixed, all in a particularly small section of the book. The fee to change this is nominal, but it means the book would go dormant for 4-6 weeks. To me, this is worth it. I don't like having my novel floating out there with glaring errors in it. However, a friend told me that I should not do this right now because I just started gaining some momentum and I would be killing all of my pre-Christmas sales.

Since the book was just released, I don't see this as being a huge drawback. In reality, it will probably be this time next year before I could gain enough recognition to generate bigger sales numbers so fixing it immediately would be the best course to take. I'm thinking the fewer flawed copies sold, the better.

Friend thinks I'm being irrational. Am I? I just don't feel comfortable leaving it out there as it is. I haven't gone to any great lengths to market it thus far, so it makes more sense to me to fix it before I really hit the pavement with it.

Please excuse me if I'm slightly incoherent. I just worked a twelve hour shift, I'm groggy, my eyes are burning and my thoughts are a bit muddled.

Just looking for input. Thanks.

Barbarique · Nov 13, 2009

I absolutely relate to your concerns, and share them 100%. It's why I invested five months and nine revisions in an effort to cleanse my novel of typos, punctuation errors and inconsistencies, etc. I think I succeeded, although I'll hardly be surprised if it turns out that I missed a few. (I can always fix those later.)

Meantime, only you can decide if the errors in your book are so bothersome that you'd rather miss the holiday sales season than leave them unfixed. Do readers care? Hard to say. I do know that even the biggest mainstream books contain hideous grammatical and typographical mistakes. As an OCD author I notice them all, but if the story is gripping enough it carries me along and I forget about the glitch almost instantly.

MickRooney · Nov 13, 2009

Kay,

My instincts and two cents.

The book is already out there with some momentum. If you really believe that your book will drum up some reasonable sales over the holiday season, then, put the 19 typos down to experience - suck it and see what happens.

kayleamay · Nov 13, 2009

Thanks for the input. I think I'm having a little OCD issue of my own with this one. I seemed to be the only one that noticed all off the errors. Everyone else I talked to noticed only a couple. I guess I need to stop biting my nails and sleep on it.

The urge to fix it is pretty strong though. It's like staring at a skewed picture. I think I'm going to have to develop some will power.

mikehippo · Nov 15, 2009

I feel your pain, I have just sent off revisions to my first book, it is so painful seeing them staring back at you.

Being with Lightning Source it seems to be fairly painless for me, pay over a bit of cash and the changes seem to be made without causing supply disruptions.

Stijn Hommes · Nov 16, 2009

Your friend is right. You're probably better off waiting. Not only will the holiday season possible bring more sales, it also gives you the chance to find more errors to fix. Let's face it, if you missed these, there's no knowing what else you missed. Make sure you catch as much as you can before you lay down the fee. You don't want to have to pay it twice.

Fixing the gobbly-guck

kayleamay

I'm on the phone.

Barbarique

Elle est arrivée!

MickRooney

kayleamay

I'm on the phone.

mikehippo

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...