Why is editing a book so important?

I have been a reader for a long time and one of my pet peeves when reading used to be the editing, or should I say lack of editing. After dinosaurs ruled the world but before the internet and eBooks came to being, there used to be only paper copies of books and magazines and newspapers. I know some of you out there are shaking your heads in disbelief but its true. Reading a book that was not edited properly was a fairly uncommon thing. Spelling, punctuation, nouns, verbs and other assorted grammatical rules mattered. Not to everyone (teens back then didn’t like English classes either) but to most people who read a lot of material, it mattered. The first book I remember reading that I was totally disgusted with the complete lack of editing was the first edition of

And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer

The editing was so bad, that it made it really difficult to read the story, so difficult for me that I couldn’t finish reading the book. (Well that and I really thought the book went on for several hundred pages longer than there was a story). And yes, I have tried to read the book a couple more times, different editions, but I still couldn’t finish it. But I think part of the problem for me is that I just can’t get past how badly unedited (is that even a word) the first edition is.

Happily, due in part to the internet and eBooks, I have been able to get past bad editing to see the story and what message the author is trying to convey. There are still books out there that I don’t care for but its not because of the editing or lack there of, its the whole story.

I’ve noticed that a lot of people put down indie authors and publishers citing poor editing. But I read a lot, both indie and mainstream and I’ve noticed that even the big publishing companies aren’t doing much better.

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins

I’ve heard, though I’m the first to say that I have not personally read the Hunger Games, that the books in the series need some serious editing and of course the flip side to that is I’ve also heard that the bad grammar and punctuation is deliberate. (When I write heard, I mean read…hmmm…maybe I need to do some editing) So my question is why is editing a book so important?

For me I find that there are times that due to bad or improper editing it really effects the flow of the story. I have at times gotten so caught up in the grammatical and punctuation mistakes that I stop actually reading the story because I just can’t concentrate anymore and I just lose interest and I really think that’s sad. And I do have to admit that there are times when I am writing a review that the editing of a story directly affects how I write my review. I have gotten a little less hard core about the editing but that’s only because so many written works are so badly edited. I think part of why I try not to let it bother me so much is having my blog. After I post an article or a review, a day later I’ll be looking over something and realize that the sentence structure is wrong or that I’ve used the wrong word (I always get messed up with effect and affect).

I guess what I’ve been trying to say is that I think editing is important for the flow of a story not necessarily the story itself. I can overlook a lot of editing mistakes if the story is good and the characters are well fleshed out and the plot makes sense but if some of those are not quite there, then editing can really become an issue. I hope that authors and publishers (indie and the big ones) will start to look a little more carefully at the editing of a book and not just rush it out to publication.

Are Bad Reveiws always necessary?

It seems every day there is a new story about authors becoming upset with getting a bad review and they don’t think its warranted. I read a news item where an author claimed it was a personal attack against him. The reviewer replied that she had never met the author, had read several of his books and this one was the only one she didn’t like. She explained why she didn’t like it (and quite frankly I had read the book and thought her comments were spot on) and it was all in the review.  Just because you get one bad review doesn’t mean your whole volume of work is being attacked, it just means one person did not care for one story. Easy Peasy.

 

 

 

Now, I’ve been lucky in that most books that I have read for review, I have really enjoyed. One of my recent favorites, from a debut author is

 

 

 

The Trouble With Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante

 

 

 

 

I loved this book. I choose to review it because it was in one of my favorite genre, Young Adult, and was by a debut author. I love reading work by a new author. And I did love this book. I’m a big fan of YA fiction so I review quite a lot of it.  Now if I wasn’t a fan of YA, I wouldn’t agree to read and review a YA novel. I believe that is where some of the bad reviews by people come from. They pick out a book that they wouldn’t normally read, and they don’t like it. I still haven’t figured out why you would pick a book in a genre you don’t care for to review, but lots of people do it.

 

 

 

 

Of course, that is certainly not the only reason a bad review is written. I have been a big fan of Tom Clancy‘s work for years. I usually love his novels. They are well researched, the story picks up pace as it moves to the big bang ending, the characters are always a colorful lot, with a good amount of bad guys in them. When I picked up

 

 

 

Against All Enemies (Max Moore #1)  by Tom Clancy, Peter Telep

 

 

 

I thought I would love it. And boy was I wrong! I was so disappointed with this book. I wrote my review and it was bad, but the next time Tom Clancy has a new novel out, I’ll be one of the first in line to get it. I didn’t like one of his books, but I’ve loved all the rest of them like Clear and Present Danger, Executive Orders, The Sum of All Fears and more. Now if there is an author whose work I don’t care for, I would never offer to review it. I don’t care for Suzanne Collins work, I haven’t read any of the Hunger Games trilogy and can’t picture reading any of them in the foreseeable future. I have read 4 or 5 of her novels before, and have not cared for any of them. Now that doesn’t mean that I think she’s a bad author, far from it, I just don’t care for her work. And because of that I would never offer to review one of her books.

 

 

 

 

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins

 

 

 

 

And one last thing, I don’t think bad reviews are bad. They help people as much as good reviews do. If you are looking for a book to read, I always check out a range of reviews, from 5 stars down to 1, just to see what the reviewer has to say. And I’ve got to admit, I have picked out books to read because of a bad review, I wanted to see if it was as bad as people said (some were).

 

 

 

 

Bad reviews aren’t, or shouldn’t be, a bad reflection on the author. Everyone is different and we all have different likes and dislikes. I think its best to always keep an open mind.