Hi everyone that knows me.
Tuesday 3rd September
I have heard it all now. While accepting that Dead Men Lie may still have editorial issues I have now been told it is too long. The expression was "its huge" PLeease. I have to assume that the print industry have set some kind of limit on the length of books determined how I wonder, cost size or length of readers attention span. Surely a story should take as long as it takes I have read books of 1000 pages and if the story is good then I will plough my way through. I have conceded on many issues since writing this story the length is one that is not however up for discussion.
Now I have to return to the thorny issues of punctuation and grammar, Abigail s story is something that should be enjoyed no matter how many words it takes.
I shall return later today to add more thoughts on the tribulations of a self publisher attempting to plot his way through the myriad problems we have to encounter without help or guidance and on a limited budget.
D
Once again this thorny issue emerges,How many times do we read of editors and their mistakes.? Too many is there actually anyone who can edit without prejudice or mistakes? From what i am discovering it doesn't appear so.
I have been told my book is fine by some, that there are errors by others while some just wish to tear it apart yet when i ask these so called editors either fail to reply or point out errors which others then say are perfectly acceptable. Who to believe? While some (mainly our American cousins) say the editing is pretty poor then cite that a comma has been inadvertently omitted, well shucks this from a person who leaves out U's in colour and parlour puts a Z in realise.
I am an aging fool of 60 plus who has forgotten nearly all he was taught in English lessons which is why like so many others i put my faith in an editor. In the main she was pretty good (That's telling them Aye Lisa) but neither of us are professional writers or editors we are learning as we go along after being shafted by a publishing house that promised much but put the first edition out so badly edited it was embarrassing.
Yes we may have some issues with comma's and capital letters after speech marks, while my daughter who has read the book three times suddenly states that we should place a comma after for example however when the sentence begins "however, he didn't like the colour of his shoes." If it was so striking why didn't she tell me long ago when we were in editing mode? In my defense i an but an elderly bloke remembering things he was taught fifty off years ago and not accepting that America has apparently hijacked the English language.
That is why I am withdrawing Dead Men lie for a couple of months and doing one last edit. after that if any mistakes are found then i fear the reader will,l simply have to live with them. I have said on numerous occasions even books by well known writers published by well known publishing houses make some appalling mistakes. Are they told about them? perhaps do they do anything about them Rarely nor do the daily newspapers who are just as appalling in the spelling and grammatical mistakes. Is it right of course not but no one appears to be able to give a decisive answer as to what is correct and what is wrong.
If anyone out there knows the answer tho these questions you could make a fortune by offering your services to us the Indie authors of the world.
I now await the fall out from this blog as no doubt i will have offended someone yet again.
But until our next foray into the great unknown see you all later D
29.08.13
Well that certainly put the cat among the pigeons. Seems i have stirred the pot once again with most agreeing with what i said while a few obviously thinking i am some sort of Anti-Christ the spawn of the devil for raising such issues.
We are as we speak in the process of adding the missing commas, re jigging the format and adjusting the layout. I have to say one suggestion has in fact made the manuscript appear far more professional. What truly annoys me what really gets my back up are those who deem it their lives work to spread the fact that we made a few errors across the internet. That is as far as i am concerned a cowards attack. If anyone has anything to say be brave, send me an e mail, my contact details are no secret and if i disagree the delete button is an easy tool to use. I have always said i will take on board any and all constructive criticism but be up front about it tell me not the world.
Now for some good news..... oh yes the website continues to attract viewers but i see a pattern emerging. The home page is viewed more than any other page me thinks a re-design is called for. Mean while i must say a huge thank you to all the Irish and Dutch viewers who continue to visit the web page. I do trust that you are finding it interesting and that you will be intrigued enough to purchase a copy of Dead Men Lie As someone pointed out there are but 118 days to Christmas, many a reader would like to see a copy of my book under their tree this year. remember the name Dead Men Lie by David T Procter available on Amazon Kindle Goodreads or via the author
31.08 13
Well here we go again. Another authors thoughts on the editing of Dead Men Lie. Bare in mind that a Canadian author told us we should set the book up in a certain way which we did now we are told that they are wrong and it should be set up differently by an English author. it is this inconsistency that drives my to distraction.
No doubt in their own differing ways they are both correct, personally both are published authors sharing their knowledge with us amateurs but if there was some sort of template to which all books were formatted it would be so much easier to understand. The issue of commas is a classic example one says a comma was omitted while another says there are too many. Both actually differ in the one comma that caused so much consternation, therefore I have come to the conclusion that everyone is right while being just a little wrong. You chose your poison and simply stick to what you think is best for your own taste.
I have taken on board certain aspects from everyone concerned where their views are similar hopefully this will,produce a book that is close enough for everyone concerned not least the readers of Dead Men Lie who so far haven't commented on the 'errors'
back to the manuscript to see what can be done to improve the book which i must say this particular author did say was 'Readable with a brilliant story line and was a real page turner.' praise indeed form someone as distinguished as she is. My passion is restored.
Until another day when no doubt someone else will tell me something totally different i return to Stormouth
D
Sunday 1st September
Right I have listened and looked. I have taken on board everything that has been said by people obviously far more intelligent then I apparently am and a decision has been reached.
Dead Men Lie is to be expunged removed eradicated for the listings....... No fooled you din't I. I am though going to reformat the story and go through another re write, edit. When your errors are pointed out it becomes obvious that both the book and you my loyal friends and readers deserve something far better than I have so far produced. I will remove the current edition from sale for a short while to allow for the corrections to be made then we will return with a book that is truly awe inspiring. Thanks Chris for what you said and to Helen for her time and dedication, It is heartening when a professional takes the time to assist us amateurs.
Now back to Stormouth watch this space my friends.
D
Excellent David. That's right - go pour your heart out to all of us who cherish your works, and force those who don't to sit up and listen. There is much to be said about the extreme changes that have taken place in the use of vocabulary, grammar and punctuation since our own school days, the days of English language correctness. (Oh yes, which i believe is now termed "English/American"!) Why should we, for instance, be so dictated to by the Americans as to how to use our language? And this is not just a recent change. Many years ago when I was working for the English counterparts of an American company, we suddenly, out of the blue, received an inter-office memo from the bosses at head office in America setting out the way we should lay out our letters, texts, etc. It was all way beyond the way that I had been taught. They even forbade us to use commas at the end of each line of an address, for goodness sake! "It's just lazy" I thought. Still, don't they say that America rules the world? I am just angry at the amount of expense that good teaching costs, only to be told at a later stage that the R&Rs have all changed! Just what is the point in learning in the first place? It only confuses us! I must confess, David my good friend, that I have indeed noticed the errors that occur in your writing, but though it may matter to some, it matters not to me. I strongly believe that if people understand your writing and what you are trying to say, the way that you come across, then it doesn't make an iota of difference how many errors you make. I would say, though, that in published works, obviously a lot of care and attention should be paid to grammar and punctuation, so as not to offend the readers / critiques. I hasten to add though that your little slip-ups come nowhere near today's illiterates David.
ReplyDelete"Wot school did you went to then?"
"Oh, I went to a good one, it was approved!"
Well, that's all that I have to say on the matter for the time being. No doubt it will raise a barrage of complaints from various sources, but at least it may draw even more attention to your blog David (which, by the way, I enjoyed reading immensely!) Thank you.
Your good and faithful friend - Chris
Chris I never saw you in assembly. For i guess your approved school was the same as mine. The head was a convicted gangster with a scar down one side of his face and he walked with a lisp
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