Nitty

Hi guys! Welcome back to Too Many Books to Count! I’m glad you stopped by.

All month long, we’ve been talking about ways you can be supportive of the authors in your life. And honestly, I think this extends to authors you don’t know all that well, too. Maybe just your favorite authors. Because, when I think about it, authors aren’t always treated well, even by the people who claim to be their biggest fans.

At this point, we’ve bought and read the book, we’ve reviewed it, and we’ve even started telling everyone we know that they should read the book too. But, there’s something too many of us do, which we shouldn’t do at all.

#5: Don’t Nitpick

I’m looking at you, grammar nazi. I don’t care if you find an error in the book. I really don’t. I don’t need to know that you found errors and inconsistencies, and I don’t know why you think that’s helpful to tell me, especially after the book is already on the shelf.

It would be like you learning to dance and having a recital, and me, having never really danced before in my life, then picking out all the things I think you need to work on and giving you a short presentation about it.

Please, whatever you do, don’t point out all the errors in the book.

I know you think you’re being helpful, I know you’re trying to be a good friend by pointing out the errors so we can get them fixed, but for many of us, getting them fixed isn’t possible. If we’ve traditionally published, or we’ve gone through the process of getting books actually printed (not just eBooks), then it’s not always feasible for us to fix those typos.

Your pointing them out to us only shows us that our work wasn’t as perfect as we’d hoped. And in fact, it’s nearly a slap in the face. It’s like telling us that our work was good, that you liked it, but that it wasn’t as good as it should’ve been, and then telling us why. It's a form of arrogance, in writer's eyes, that someone who isn't a writer would come up to us and tell us what we did wrong. And I think you'd see it the same way if you were in our shoes. I really do. 

We already know there are errors in the book. We do. Trust me. They're in every single published book on the face of the planet. I've even found them in the Bible. We don’t need to hear about those errors from someone else, especially someone who is our friend. We need you to support us, tell us we did a good job.

You don’t read Stephen King’s books and email him all the errors you’ve found, do you? (and trust me, there are errors in his book). No, you don’t. That would be ridiculous. And when I found a typo in the Bible? I laughed it off and kept reading.

So why do you do it to us, the people you know and love?

Just a little food for thought.

[love]

{Rani Divine}