Do we really need editors? Do we really need proofreaders?

Do we really need editors? Do we really need proofreaderes?

Before anyone comes after me with hammers raised, I'll answer the questions.

Yes. We need both. But, life might be a tad easier for these experts if we had more a more effective education system. After all, look at the picture below. It's a sign that's been posted all over the complex where I live.

Almost makes you want to through (sic) up, doesn't it?

Now either someone was in a hurry to get that sign off the computer, off the printer and onto the local sign posting areas or they weren't paying attention in English class. I don't know who made the sign but if it's the person I think was responsible then I believe that person was just in a hurry and didn't proofread it before sending it to the printer.

Using proper grammar and spelling presents a problem for many people, even those of us who make a living in the writing trade. I recall writing an article I prepared about something I was very familiar with, and the final product was perfect -- almost.

When it came to the closing "For further information, call ...."

Being a creature of habit, I listed a toll free number starting with 1-800. Unfortunately, the number was supposed to start 1-888. I was embarrassed. The head of the company I was writing about was angry. And the company to whom the 800 number belonged tracked the magazine down to find out why he was getting so many calls for something that had nothing to do with his business.

Oh, my proofreader apologized, but nobody outside of the magazine staff cared. The magazine and the writer were to blame.

Unfortunately, I make mistakes, mainly because I write fast, and because I am often satisfied with my first draft. My grammar is better than average but I still goof up at times. My spelling is much better than average but I am grateful for spell check. I paid attention in all 12 years of high school English.

Still, I'd be overjoyed to have a full-time proofreader as a roommate.

Some random thoughts about John Locke

Just a couple of days before the media blitz revealing the news that John Locke had reached (actually exceeded) a million sales for his eBooks, I downloaded a sample chapter of his Vegas Moon (A Donovan Creed Novel). I did so because my sister purchased a copy -- she has an abiding interest in Las Vegas since it's my home -- and because it has a Vegas theme, much like my
Desert of Deceit.

After wading through the preliminary and obligatory pre-book verbiage, I was ready to rock and roll. But after reading just the first sentence, wasn't sure I wanted to read further.

Understand, I'm not a grammarian; I'm average, which I'm told isn't good enough for readers. I rely on a good editor to point out flaws in the structure of my sentences. One of my biggest problem areas is the use of commas. I guess I should say overuse.

And that's what stopped me in my tracks with the Locke book, a little phrase, offset by commas, that just didn't sound right in my ears. Maybe the comma belongs there; I'll ask my editor.

Okay, so I didn't let that stop me because sometimes even a book with misspellings and bad grammar has good plotting, interesting characters, and some kind of redemption ... I read the rest of the sample and decided not to buy the full version. I've read a lot of hard-boiled mysteries, police procedure novels, and suspense but I just couldn't get involved with this one.

What the heck was wrong?

To figure it out, I turned to Amazon where the first three pages of reviews talked about how hilarious the character (Donovan Creed) was and how the author keeps you laughing all the way through the book.

Okay. Just how funny is getting a colonoscopy without sedation? Just the prep for the procedure is enough to make you throw up!

Maybe I'm getting too sentimental as I age but I can't see myself falling in love with Donovan Creed; I can't even see myself having dinner with him!

Then there's the dialog. Three pages of single sentence conversation left me wondering who was talking to whom about what.

Finally, I take issue with stretching reality. I know how to suspend my disbelief but I live in Vegas. I know there's no casino that's going to take the kind of action this Lucky character throws out. I also know a lot of professional gamblers personally and they'll all admit that they've never been able to achieve a 68 percent win rate.

All in all, though, a million books! That's impressive. Just not my type, I guess.

Related articles

• Self-Published Author Joins 'Kindle Million Club' (blogworld.com)

The future of publishing -- from my view

Just because I published my first novel as an eBook doesn’t mean I’m thinking or hoping that the print book will disappear from the face of the known universe. I love print books, have a lovely little library of my favorites, mostly hardbound, and I read them--often. I’m also privileged to have good friends who loan me books to read.

I’m also not thinking or hoping that the publishing industry fades into the sunset. The inherent value of this media is obvious. Publishers have editors who find typos, grammatical errors, inconsistencies, talented cover artists, typesetters who know the difference between an inch mark and a curly quote, all of which, the independents probably can’t afford to hire. This leaves the self-publisher working within the boundaries of their own knowledge and education--and sometimes (probably most of the time) that isn’t enough to get the job done right.

I know, for example, I can’t proofread my own words. In fact, two people read the finished product before The Mine went live and while making their edits they presented to me I found two additional mistakes in the manuscript. (And we all know, most word processors fall short when it comes to recognizing grammatical errors and even certain typos.)

Publishers also handle all the accounting, the royalties, even (although not so much anymore), the publicity for their authors.

The biggest problem I see regarding publishers is their reluctance to take on new authors. They prefer the big name (celebrity, politician, guru) and established (published and successful) names. Emerging writers stand a miniscule chance of ever getting their work to a publishing house.

Then, that no-name writer has to try to enter the hallowed realm of the agent with a spot-on query letter and breathless hopes that the letter, the genre, and the sample chapters hit home enough to whet the agent’s appetite.

Now agents apparently have very little time to commit to unsolicited requests.

How is it, I wonder, that I can read a book in a day but agents can’t read a query letter for months or more?

When I was polishing up another novel, I sent one query letter by email to an agent. After months without a response I fired off a second letter to another agent who took three months to proffer a rejection message. A third attempt brought an almost instant “No thanks, not for me.”

If an agent does take on an unknown author, there could be a year or more lapse of time between a sale and the actual appearance of the work.

These observations (some could call them complaints) are so old they might even be considered tradition by now, but they make up the hurdles a novelist or non-fiction author has to scale in hopes of seeing his or her work in print.

Of course I’d like to see my books on the shelves of bookstores that still exist but I prefer not to go to my grave while waiting.

However, I love the look and feel of a hefty novel. I like sitting on the porch enjoying a glass of iced tea and a good story. I appreciate the way the words look on paper. So I will continue to support the authors who have been fortunate enough to make it in this tough field.

I will buy the hard covers I want to keep. I will buy the paperbacks I want to read. I will download whatever suits my fancy.

I’m sure there are a lot of other folks who, like me, will buy tangible books for their own personal tastes and reasons, for a long time to come – if publishers do a little trip into the present and realize they must make some changes, I figure they can last a long time as well.

Related articles

• The Dilemmas of a Struggling Writer Part 2 (bruceblake.wordpress.com)

Five items or less?

Ah the perils of the nitpicking editor and the careless writer whose fingers trip across the keyboard faster than his brain can correct.
Kudos to Stephen Fry’s Kinetic Typography - Language video.

When did a pronoun become a noun?

Super Bowl weekend wasn’t about football for me. It was about getting away from the laptop, the plots and characters in my head, and the chilly high desert weather.

Southern California beckoned.

I answered.

I won’t go into the details of the trip except where it concerns the writer side of me … and that side was totally confused.

I was staying with friends, a lovely couple raising three grandchildren. Grandma volunteers at the elementary school once a week. On an uncharacteristically rainy day, she sat with the teacher to discuss an in-class assignment.

Students had been given a paragraph and asked to find ten nouns. Grandma read the paragraph but could find a mere seven … and she’s well-versed in the English language. So she asked the teacher what she was missing.

To her surprise, the teacher pointed to two words – we and I.

“Those are pronouns!” she exclaimed.

The reply? “Yes, but we teach them as nouns.”

A heated discussion produced no results. As far as the teacher was concerned, we and I are nouns!


With no little frustration, Grandma relinquished that part of the argument and asked about the tenth noun.

“Bike,” the teacher pointed out in a sentence that read, “We bike to the park.”

“But in this sentence bike is a verb.”

“Yes,” came the explanation, “but the children recognize bike as a noun.”

This is an accurate account of the event that makes me wonder … a lot.

My grammar ain't perfect

I’m not the greatest grammarian. Far from it. I am a decent grammarian. However, I make a lot of mistakes, (Don't like to admit it!) inadvertently and usually small, but mistakes nonetheless. (Just ask my friend Lynne, who ranks up near the top of the list of great grammarians and who lets me know when I goof.)

Even so, I have some pet peeves that emerged as a result of grammar lessons learned the hard way. And, because I appreciate constructive criticism – the kind that will make me a better writer – I don’t mind airing my opinions.

The one grammatical error I find most difficult to correct is the misplaced only. We see this one every day, many times. “I only like mashed potatoes.” Unless you’re telling people you are the single person who likes mashed potatoes, or that you like mashed potatoes (don’t eat them, don’t serve them, don’t anything-else them) the correct phrase should be “I like mashed potatoes only” or I like only mashed potatoes.”


Sounds awkward, doesn’t it? That’s because we’ve all misplaced the word only for so long, the correct usage doesn’t ring true. Probably a better choice would be to say “I like mashed potatoes,” or be more descriptive by writing, “I prefer my potatoes mashed, not fried.”

When we talk, we often ignore correct grammar, which is why the errors creep into our writing.

There comes a point in life, however, where we just keep forging ahead. We get by with our current knowledge and don’t look for improvement. We think we know what we’re doing so why bother. Our mistakes go into our writing like bread into a toaster.

But then, if we have excellent characters, interesting plots, outstanding flow, we can always hope we get a good editor.