03-14-2011, 08:14 AM | #1 |
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E-book's you want to see being made?
Hi there everyone, I hope life is treating you all well.
I'm curious to see your opinions on this question. If you could ask for an ebook to be made that you would want to read, what would it be about? |
03-14-2011, 09:08 AM | #2 |
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I wouldn't buy any ebook from someone who doesn't know how to use apostrophes.
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03-14-2011, 09:35 AM | #3 |
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I'd like to read an ebook about ebooks, that turns into an ebook.
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03-14-2011, 09:37 AM | #4 |
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Agreed. Learn the rules of grammar before you even think about starting to create ebooks, especially if you want other people to read them.
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03-14-2011, 09:49 AM | #5 |
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Ok chill out. I didn't know the grammar police was in town. I will check in future to keep you happy, bless you
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03-14-2011, 11:02 AM | #6 |
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Well, now I know I won't be buying any of your books.
Yes, the Grammar Police are indeed in town. They're also called "ebook buyers," and they're the ones who expect their pbooks without torn pages and their ebooks without torn grammar. They don't believe any number of smilies can make up for bad punctuation. I really don't understand people like the OP. They dont' seem to think that ebook readers have the same expectations of quality that, say, movie viewers do. They wouldn't want to see the wires when Superman flies, so why do they think there's something unreasonable about ebook readers wanting the technical aspects of writing to be done correctly? |
03-14-2011, 11:17 AM | #7 |
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yh i no wot u mean. dont u just h8 it when ppl can't use the english language correctly. so annoying. i luv the analogies u used as well, it really getz yur point across - thumbs up for you
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03-14-2011, 11:25 AM | #8 | |
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Quote:
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03-14-2011, 11:38 AM | #9 |
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The problem is, very few indie authors hire (or, in many cases, can afford to hire) an editor. Since the big publishing companies don't visit MobileRead and ask what we want to read, it's a fair guess that the OP is (or wants to be) such an indie. That would leave the burden of quality resting squarely on his back, and from that first post, it looks like he dropped it.
Also, we're not talking an entire book here. We're talking a seven-word headline. One would think that someone who wanted to look good to readers would be able to manage to get seven words and their punctuation correct. Finally, there's the fact that this particular error shows a lack of reading. People who read don't make that error because it just looks wrong. They know what "right" looks like because they read it on an daily basis, so when they get something wrong, they can see right away that it doesn't match what they're used to reading. They might not know how to fix it, but they know something needs to be fixed, and they'll check it where and as necessary to find out what. I trust the writing of a person who doesn't read about as well as I trust driving of a person who only rides buses. And I have no trust at all in someone whose response to being informed of a flaw in their product is not "oops, I'll fix that right now" but defensiveness and snark. |
03-14-2011, 11:44 AM | #10 |
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Unconnected with the OP, but connected with grammar: my books (paper and electronic) need to be of a certain standard, or it jars me out of the story. One example that sticks in my mind, to the point that I almost set the book on fire, was a book written by an American author. His inability to insert the word "of" after the word "couple" ruined my enjoyment of the book (such as "a couple minutes", "a couple days", etc). I had no problem with it being part of character dialogue, but the laziness of it in-text irked me every time I saw it.
Phew, I've bottled that up for years. |
03-14-2011, 11:51 AM | #11 |
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@WW from what I've read around here, it seems that hiring editors seem to be quite costly (and for good reason. My sister teaches IELTS and I pity her for all those essays and conversations she has to correct. I can only imagine what a real editor goes through) but they could always ask for a beta to look over their work. It's better than nothing. I do admit that grammar makes me hesitate to purchase some indie authors I've been eyeing (sp) for some time now.
And while we're on the subject of grammar, I wasn't aware that the phrase "waiting on" was correct. English isn't my first language (though I'm better at it than my mother tongue). I've been seeing this phrase used a lot more often recently and I wonder why people won't just use "waiting for". An explanation would be great |
03-14-2011, 12:03 PM | #12 |
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03-14-2011, 12:13 PM | #13 |
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03-14-2011, 12:16 PM | #14 |
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Why are so may people picking on the OP when the OP hasn't even said he's going to be writing these eBooks? Maybe someone else will and he'll just format them as eBooks. I don't know what the story is. But why not pick on him? This just sounds like a tar & feather type situation. Give it a rest. And I have to say, I'm very disappointing in HarryT. He's a moderator and yet he also is jumping in with the tar.
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03-14-2011, 12:18 PM | #15 |
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Not at all, Jon. I'm simply saying that somebody who wants to create eBooks really needs to get the elementary stuff, such as using apostrophes correctly, right. That's a perfectly reasonable comment to make. No tar and feathers - just stating my views as to what the essential pre-requisites are for the job.
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ebook, ebook creation, help please, question, read |
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