Irritated Readers
Books published by established houses also have major editing errors like self published books.
It is assumed that self published books are sloppy because authors wear many hats, and have a cash flow problem that make them approve publishing prematurely.
Not necessarily. Errors also slip through the cracks in books from established publishing houses. Here’s one example.
“Sixteen years ago, after his wife and unborn son had been killed in that car crash ……” Page 109.
Nikki looked at him . “What about the baby?”
“She died too.” Page 132.
Dilemma. Was the unborn child a boy or a girl? I think girl was the author’s initial preference because later on, the father says he wished they had given ‘her’ a name when she was still in the womb.
A characters’ storyboard will enable authors to make characters believable, and that is important although it’s fiction. Characters can change their hair, clothes or cars, but it irritates readers if they change from boy to girl in the womb.
Authors should remember that they are working on borrowed time, readers’ time that can be withdrawn in a second.
A character’s storyboard also helps with the writing process, which is not flat, like a prairie town highway. It is temperamental like the sea in all its glory. The writer might have introduced the unborn child as a boy but something changed the gender. The author missed the error. The editor did not pick it up.
I pick up editing errors in my favourite books that I read over and over again.
Nonqaba waka Msimang is the author of Sweetness, a South African novel.
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