Recently, an incoming query misspelled the first word in the first sentence of the query.
Of course I noticed. It was pretty hard to miss.
But, I quelled my first
flush of annoyance, my intemperate desire to just pass pass pass, and read on. I don't always do that. Spelling missteps make me tetchy.
I'm a total spelling snob (all evidence to the contrary of course; I can actually hear eagle-eyed blog readers Claudie Wilson and Dena Pawling howling with laughter as they read this.)
But, not all typos
generate intemperance and annoyance. There's a sliding scale.
1. Homonyms and homophones are tricky for everyone. I can look past most of those if there aren't a lot (as in fewer than two.) Or if they're hilarious (sheik/chic.)
The best way to avoid H&H quicksand is to read your work aloud. Your ear will hear what your eyeball didn't see.
2. So many people are confounded by it's and its that I don't even count that as an error anymore (but I notice!)
And do NOT get me started on lie/lay/lay which is wrong so often that I only notice when it's used correctly.
3. And if you type part when you mean port, or Aeschylus when you mean Achilles, well, even Otto my Czech speller won't catch those.
So, mostly those don't set my hair on fire (but I notice!)
Here's where things go south in a big way: sending a query with typos that Otto would catch (slacker that he often is!) Stuffing happens, but if you aren't running spell check a couple times on your queries and at least once before you hit send that's a HUGE ROUGE FLAG. Or as some might say a HUGE ROGUE FLAG.
The poor fellow who prompted this blog post used wel instead of well. Even the normally unflappable Otto had to harumph at that.
Savvy writers are careful but not crazy.
Read your work aloud.
Run spell check again.
Then hit send.
When you find the one small thing you missed, don't worry.
Stuph happens.
11 comments:
Hoooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwllllllllllllllllll
Lololololololololololololololol
Stuffing happens.
Carry on.
For querying, I am hopeless. However, for editing, and take this with a grain of salt or pepper or whatever flavor you got, I find the reading backwards, sentence by sentence, is a great way for finding homonyms and misspellings and grammatical errors. Because you are not reading for context so your brain isn't filling in the correct word for you like it will when you are reading through your manuscript for the 100th time.
Oh, and I did a thing, finally. Salvation Taverns Coming in January 2024. Pre-sales will start in November. I was going to wait until then to announce but my publicist became cross with me. And told me I had to tell people about my book. It's the first in a series of three.
It's a long story - 3.5 years in the making. And not sure the comments is where to tell it. Let's just say - not the traditional path. The short version is I had an agent. He quit the business before I could sign. Because, of course, he did. Had a publisher. The imprint went under before contract signed. Because, of course, it did. My cousin, Elizabeth, a author of over two dozen books, rescued the project. She basically gave me to her publicist. And now we are here. And I am both excited and terrified.
What wonderful news, E.M. Congratulations!
And how reassuring to know that a typo probably won't sink a query. Because I would obsess.
Congratulations, EM! That's wonderful!
I had a friend who insisted if someone used there/their or its/it's wrong, it meant they didn't know the difference. But when you type faster than your internal editor can read, your fingers type the spelling that sounds right.
And then you get autocorrect who likes to change its to it's for the heck of it.
For these reasons, I'm lenient with spelling mistakes in social media and other informal places, especially if you can't edit it (like comment sections!)
But I would be truly mortified if such a typo was sent in a query letter. It's nice to know it might not be fatal, but there would be gnashing of teeth.
Moot and mute make me crazy. And I once saw someone spell rhetoric as redderick. And I just can't.
Congrats, E.M.!
My favourite (yes, that's right; I'm Canadian) typo occurred when I was applying for a job as proofreader. I had a typo in my phone number on my resume. I wondered why I never had a reply.
Sheik/chic, that cracked me up. So does ciao/chow...and stuffing already had me thinking about Thanksgiving dinner. I have no problem with there/their/they're nor it's/its, but I hate to admit lie/lay/lay still makes me wonder if I'm using the right word correctly.
Oh yes, and congrats E.M.!
I'm late to the party, but better than never: CONGRATS, EM!!! How exciting!!!!
January 2024... be sure to remind us, particularly when preorders are available.
LOL!!!! Yes, my autocorrect is always changing "its" (correct) to "it's" (incorrect) or vice versa. Always a good idea to make sure autocorrect hasn't "uncorrected" any of your words before hitting send on anything.
Love this post. It's/its very witty.
The read aloud function in Word is a life-saver.
E.M. Congratulations! That's wonderful news.
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