Typos: Who Cares?

[stumped]

I prefer that book reviews do mention an abundance of typos or other annoyances. I prefer not to read books by authors who confuse principles with principals, of by self publishing authors who cannot spell or type accurately. Its not write to have to put up with such (sic)

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by stumped

I prefer that book reviews do mention an abundance of typos or other annoyances. I prefer not to read books by authors who confuse principles with principals, of by self publishing authors who cannot spell or type accurately. Its not write to have to put up with such (sic)

I agree with you; if they can't be bothered to proofread their stuff why should I be bothered to buy their books and read them?

Before the internet I worked at a place that had a mailing list for employees and one of the people on the list had atrocious spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Someone asked him why he didn't proofread his emails before sending them and his response was that he didn't have time; he felt that it was more important to get his idea out there rather than checking for errors. Apparently it was the reader's responsibility to decode his stuff.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by stumped

I prefer that book reviews do mention an abundance of typos or other annoyances. I prefer not to read books by authors who confuse principles with principals, of by self publishing authors who cannot spell or type accurately. Its not write to have to put up with such (sic)

So you read a review that says the eBook has a number of typos. So you decide to pass on the eBook. But are you passing on a version with typos or a version that's been fixed?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So you read a review that says the eBook has a number of typos. So you decide to pass on the eBook. But are you passing on a version with typos or a version that's been fixed?

That’s where dates are handy. Were the reviews mentioning typos five years ago and there have been none since? Assume it’s been fixed. Were the reviews mentioning typos five days ago? Hit the back button.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

That’s where dates are handy. Were the reviews mentioning typos five years ago and there have been none since? Assume it’s been fixed. Were the reviews mentioning typos five days ago? Hit the back button.

But what if in those five days the eBook was updated? That review will loses sales when the eBook has already been fixed. Would you make 100% sure you'd go back and put in another review or edit the review (if you can) to deal with the fact that the eBook has been updated?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But what if in those five days the eBook was updated? That review will loses sales when the eBook has already been fixed. Would you make 100% sure you'd go back and put in another review or edit the review (if you can) to deal with the fact that the eBook has been updated?

There’s no injustice there. The lost sales are down to whoever provided the faulty product in the first place. It’s not the buyer’s responsibility to monitor the situation and alter his response. The seller had one chance to get it right with the buyer and blew it.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But what if in those five days the eBook was updated? That review will loses sales when the eBook has already been fixed. Would you make 100% sure you'd go back and put in another review or edit the review (if you can) to deal with the fact that the eBook has been updated?

You seriously expect the reader to worry about an author's sales? When did that become the reader's responsibility?

It's the author's responsibility to offer a decent product. An author who can't do that should find another line of work.

[HLS]

Typos don't bother me. I have a lot myself given i have a hard time seeing on my pc. Its no sentence or paragraph breaks that drive me nuts

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by HLS

Typos don't bother me. I have a lot myself given i have a hard time seeing on my pc. Its no sentence or paragraph breaks that drive me nuts

Or the opposite where the author uses a line space between paragraphs and indents the paragraphs. I can live with either one but not both at the same time.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Plumadona

I’m curious: has anyone here who finds typos annoying brought those typos to the attention of Amazon by means of “Report Content Error” while reading?

I do this routinely when I read on Kindle but that's only about 5% of my reading these days. The iOS app does not have the feature, and I don't encounter a lot of typos in the first place for newer books (e.g., which never went through OCR scan).

I do think some publishers take note of these reports and fix things; at least I see 'Update Available' regularly in my Content listings for some of the books I've reported, and not just for cover updates for movie/TV tie-ins.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Flagging them as content errors is potentially more damaging to sales than any mention of typos in reviews might be. If 50 people flagged the same content error and it turned out to be the only one in the whole book, the book could still potentially be pulled for too many content error reports. Meaning no one could buy it. That's what we were talking about earlier in the thread. Single-error books don't deserve to be pulled for content problems because people enter each content error as they encounter them without taking the whole book into consideration first. The ability to report each error "on the fly" as it's encountered is probably one of the worst "features" Amazon has ever implemented within their readers/apps.

Isn't that Amazon's fault? Modify the "feature".

And if it is a single error, the publisher corrects the error and re-submits the book.

Have there been cases of books being pulled for a single error?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by John F

Isn't that Amazon's fault? Modify the "feature".

And if it is a single error, the publisher corrects the error and re-submits the book.

Have there been cases of books being pulled for a single error?

There's been cases of books being pulled for NO actual error. Just enough incorrect reports of "errors" from readers who don't know any better.

And yes, of course, adding the feature is Amazon's fault. Never suggested otherwise. But I see nothing wrong with suggesting that readers might want to think about using it responsibly, instead of like their own personal, cathartic game of whack-a-mole.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by John F

Isn't that Amazon's fault? Modify the "feature".

And if it is a single error, the publisher corrects the error and re-submits the book.

Have there been cases of books being pulled for a single error?

Amazon can be stupid also.

IMHO UK English (Books sold at Amazon US) is not an error. Nor are the regionally used references. eg. Ground floor vs First Floor

The only time a regional language should come under consideration, is when it becomes offensive in the culture in which it is SOLD (and the description does not have an advisory)

[4691mls]

I've been thinking about some long-ago topic here on MobileRead where we discussed how we experience reading. Some people reported that for them it's almost like watching a movie in their head.

I am not one of those - no matter how engrossing the story may be, I am always aware that I'm reading and seeing words on a page. I find words interesting and when I am reading on an electronic device I often look up words - even if I know them - to get a more complete definition. I am also one of those people who find too many typos or other errors very annoying.

I am curious whether the people who experience a book like a watching a movie in their head are less bothered by typos?

[ElspethB]

If I'm reading well-written fiction, then I do kind of experience it as a movie. Actually, it's more of an immersive 3D experience where I feel like I'm actually in the world I'm reading about. My own kind of virtual reality, you might say. However, I still notice typos and enough of them can throw me out of the world of the book.