Quote:
Originally Posted by meeera
Just popping back in to say that I don't think that deciding not to read a book based on it being riddled with grammatical errors is a superficial criterion. Every time I strike one of those errors, I'm thrown out of the story. When there is >= 1 error per paragraph I have absolutely no chance of ever making a start on settling in to the story. None. One per page would still be way too many. The writing IS the story. It's not a tacked-on ignorable extra.
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I absolutely agree. Good spelling and grammar are basic expectations, and not superficial. I'm sorry if my wording implied otherwise.
I don't even think that cover and blurb can be considered entirely superficial, because they each demonstrate the care and professionalism of the publisher which reflects directly on what you might expect if you look deeper.
When I spoke of superficial, I was really thinking of other less tangible things that we all use as we scan the books. From the impression the cover makes when it's just a few pixels on either side, to what books it's sitting next to on the list, to whether something about the title or even the author's name resonates with something in our mind. We make such calls automatically, instinctively, because how else can we manage to filter the legion down to something worth looking at more closely.