The Horror Of Typos

When someone calls to your attention a typographical error in a printed document, how do you respond? Do you shrug it off to someone else's responsibility or leap into action? And what if an even worse situation happens--the person points out the typos in a very public forum--yet doesn't bother to send the information directly to you? It may sound far-fetched but it does happen as you will see in this true story. One of the truths that I've learned about publishing and writing is that the devil is in the details.

At a rare moment, I look at the customer reviews of some of my current books which are listed on Amazon. I have the active books organized in my Amazon profile so it's pretty simple to check them. In past entries, I've written about the Amazon Short program and in particular, my Amazon Short, Straight Talk From The Editor, 18 Keys To A Rejection-Proof Submission. For the first six months of their contract, Amazon had an exclusive on this project but then it switched to a non-exclusive relationship. It continues to sell on Amazon yet you can get the same material free at this location. Because I have the source document for my version, I can easily update it and keep it current. Also the links inside this version are "clickable" something that Amazon doesn't allow with their Amazon Shorts. While the text is the same, the format and appearance is different to make the two products distinct.

Imagine my horror when I read the four star review from Desert Gal dated February 17, 2008 which had the headline, "Good Tips...Poor Spelling." I appreciated the kind words then I read the details of the second paragraph. When I opened my version and searched for the specifics from Desert Gal, yes, I located these misspelled words in the Amazon Short. It has been well over a year since I've read this material. I put it through several checks--and Amazon has an editor who reviewed it then mostly worked to format the document. The homophone (tender vs tinder) was completely missed. I corrected these errors and they are not present in my version. Now I need to write Amazon and see how these issues are resolved in their version.

If I had not read the reviews, these errors would still be present in the version. Instead of copying me or contacting me directly, this former editor chose to write her review on Amazon which is not the best way to reach me. If you find some typo in a book or published document, it is much better (and direct) to contact the author or the publisher and get it resolved--instead of airing it in such a public forum then hoping the author will read it.

This morning I was looking at a bonus offering for a new book which has 101 bonus gifts. One of the gifts from an author named Tim had his name spelled "Time." I pulled up my Snag-It program, copied the screen and sent a little note directly to this author. Then he is informed and can go through whatever steps to fix this matter.

Despite the best efforts and check systems from publishers, mistakes do creep into printed materials. The good news is that they can often be fixed. Last year in my daily Bible reading, I found a small section which made no sense. I pulled up my Bible program and discovered about 50% of a verse was missing in this printed book. I took a few minutes to contact my friend, the editorial director of this publishing house. He wrote back and expressed appreciation. About a week or so later to my complete surprise, the publisher sent a leather-bound version of this Bible with a handwritten note of appreciation. With that type of reaction, if I find something else in this book, I'm inclined to pass the information to them. From my experience, the direct approach to the author or publisher is often the best approach for resolution.

Updated Straight Talk

Last October, I wrote about the Amazon Short program as a way for authors to gain additional exposure with a short original article. Some people will recall that I created Straight Talk From The Editor, 18 Keys To A Rejection-Proof Submission as a part of this program. A number of people have purchased this Short and especially when it released it was the number one ranked Short at Amazon. Part of the arrangement with this Amazon program is that they receive an exclusive arrangement on the material for the first six months then they switch into a non-exclusive arrangement. I suspect many of the authors have pressed on to other things and don’t think about this arrangement.

Over the last few weeks, I've been working toward using Straight Talk From The Editor for some other purposes. It's part of the suggestions I've made to repurpose content. I took the edited version of this manuscript and updated it for my own purposes. I added links into the PDF file which will be a greater benefit for the reader. Plus I've switched from working for a publisher to being a literary agent since Straight Talk From the Editor released. I wanted the updated version to appear as professional as the Amazon version. With a brief Google search, I learned about Ebooks Graphics.com which sells templates for Ebooks along with simple instructions for using it. I created this version of Straight Talk From the Editor as you can see from this different graphic.

How do I get the maximum use for this updated version? I'm still working out the details but I have a partial answer with this entry about The Writing Life. I used Marketing Makeover Generator to create a squeeze page. If you don't know the term "squeeze page" it's a place where you send people to give their first name and email address. When they give this information, you give them the item or in this case they get Straight Talk From The Editor as a free download. Marketing Makeover Generator is simple to use and I've arranged for you to have a trial subscription if you click this link.

I created the form and made it easy to locate and download with this new link: http://www.straighttalkeditor.com/.

Why go to such effort? It is another means to collect first name and email addresses so I can continue to increase the number of subscribers to my free Right-Writing News.

OK, here's my question for you: can you follow my steps and do the same thing? Absolutely. Literary agents, acquisitions editors and publishing executives are looking for people with visibility in the marketplace or some people call it platform. I see it all the time with some good writers who have good ideas--yet they are stuck marketing and remarketing their single book manuscript. It doesn't matter if they have written nonfiction or fiction because I see it in both cases. Maybe they have written for a few magazines (which I recommend) but they have never started a newsletter or have not done the work to continually increase the size of their newsletter list (get this free resource, download it and read it). They do not understand why their good material is consistently rejected. The reason is simple: it takes a tremendous effort for a publisher to push and promote a new author into the marketplace. It's not impossible and it is done but infrequently.

As a book author, you need to do everything you can do to increase your attractiveness and value to the publisher. Last week I was listening to Mark Victor Hansen from the Mega Book Marketing University last March and he said that to get into the bestselling area of the book market, you needed to have at least 100,000 people on your newsletter list. Doesn't that sound like an impossible dream? It's not everyone has to begin some place. Make a plan and get started today.

And if you can, spread the news about my free resource, Straight Talk From the Editor.