UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
Agony Aunt
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Sharing feedback with authors
Interesting! My notes are a bit like yours though. They usually all say 'a' because that's the easiest character to type. I tend to highlight my favourite bits as well as typos.
I do try to use 't' for typo, 'g' for grammar, 's' for spelling, 'f' for formatting.I find it much less a faff to use my KK than my baby kindle.
Anyone with a touch out there, are they easier to take notes with?
I was lucky when I sent feedback as the author was a member of our forum so I just PM'd him. He was very nice about it although I admit to being more than a little nervous.I strongly felt I couldn't recommend the book as it stood and apart from the errors it was an excellent read.I tend to use the highlight facility on my KK but I do written notes as well.
I always send a private message asking if my feedback is welcome before sending it on, Sarah.Sorry, I should have mentioned that straight off.
I'd hate to make anyone feel hurt.
I've always received a 'yes, please do'.
So far anyway...
I never even thought of doing that Patti,I wish I had as I worried about it all day.
I never knew you could do this. It would be very easy!Thanks Patti
I am not sure how I would react if someone sent me a list of typos and stuff that they had spotted in one of my books. It would be quite weird.One thing I have found is that when someone makes a 'negative' point about my work, no matter how constructively or polite and courteous they are about it, in my head I will always have a kind of mini-tantrum.
Ultimately I go and make a cup of tea, calm down, and then re-read whatever it is the person has written.
I don't think that initial mini-tantrum will ever go away, but retrospectively I am grateful for any constructive criticism I have received.
Which would you prefer though Michael,a private message from the reader or have them say in a review that the book had several typos and format issues?They may even request their money back from Amazon.
I love getting lists of typos in my inbox. It's free proofreading and helps me improve my work at no cost.
Ha, funny question! I would actually prefer a glowing, 5-star review...!I would just advise reviewers to go about it however they want to. If the typos and formatting got in the way of their enjoyment of the book then they have every right to say so in a review.
If the reviewer wants to send a list of mistakes to the author, then again they should feel free to do so. If the author has left an email address or accepts private messages on Goodreads then they should be prepared to have people contacting them about their work.
Providing the reviewer isn't being rude or camping outside the author's house I don't see a problem with either of these things.
As for readers getting a refund because of excessive typos I say more power to the reader for doing that and don't have a problem with it. As an avid fan of computer games I only wish I could have got a refund on some of the horrendous nonsense that has been sold to me over the years.
Rosen wrote: "I love getting lists of typos in my inbox. It's free proofreading and helps me improve my work at no cost."I'm hoping that's exactly how most authors would view it Rosen.
I certainly don't think of it as anything other than being helpful.
Professional proof-reading is very expensive. If I can help an author with getting another book out for me to enjoy, I certainly don't begrudge the few seconds it takes me to take a note.
I hope you could get past the mini-tantrum and accept the helpfulness in the spirit it's meant, Michael.
I make notes the old fashioned way in a note pad and after a reading session I PM the author. I'm a fast touch typist so it doesn't take too long. I've always have positive responses. In my experience people are grateful for the assistance.
I have sometimes read books so awful and full of mistakes that I haven't done this though. There is work out there that even if I corrected it till the cows came home it would still be a weak story with unbelievable characters. I mention it in the review though. If you don't know book work needs work you will never grow as a writer.
Oh I would definitely accept the helpfulness as it was intended; I wouldn't dream of replying nastily or anything like that.The whole mini-tantrum thing sounds childish and irrational and I fully accept that but it doesn't last very long.
One author has since told me that his first thought on receiving my comments was 'Shit!' - he had of course assumed it was fine! He didn't say that to me though. We were very polite to one another at first!
Actually, I can quite understand the feelings Mike. No one wants to hear they have an ugly baby.But this is more of a 'your beautiful baby has a bit of spit up on it, let me help clean it up'.
I I have found a couple that i would have loved to be able to tell the author, as they were good stories but unless they are a GR author it is really hard to find them!
Many have websites Desley. I found one by googling. Contacted her that way and we've exchanged a few friendly emails since.
Speaking of typos, here's one that made me chuckle at myself. I'm reading a mainstream published book at the moment. At one point the words last and minute were run together into one word.
Lastminute.
I read it as lastminute.com.
Goes to show advertising works, eh?
Sorry, off topic. ;)
Michael wrote: "Oh I would definitely accept the helpfulness as it was intended; I wouldn't dream of replying nastily or anything like that.The whole mini-tantrum thing sounds childish and irrational and I fully..."
Are they like the mini-tantrums you have when I play 'QI' In scrabble?
Michael wrote: "Never, ever speak of QI ever again."Teehee
Michael wrote: "Never, ever speak of QI ever again."Pmsl!
I'm always grateful for comments that point out errors. We all make them and it is sometimes hard to spot them while editing. It only takes a little while to correct and re-load onto Kindle or Smashwords and I would far rather have a correct version for readers than something with even a small error in it. When it comes to taking that step into paperback, I'm even more grateful. It's a lot harder putting things right once something is actually printed!
Any author should be grateful for people pointing out technical errors in their work. When someone doesn't like the content it's much harder to deal with. That said, you read it and decide whether it's a valid point and then use it or discard it.
Exactly the point I was aiming toward(s) Darren. ;)
In fact, I'm surprised that nobody has set up a light-proofreading/free-ebook exchange.Readers could get free advance copies of ebooks before they're published, and in return they point out any mistakes they notice to the author.
Mind you, you can get so many books free, or in exchange for reviews, that it could be hard to get readers to sign up.
Rosen wrote: "In fact, I'm surprised that nobody has set up a light-proofreading/free-ebook exchange.Readers could get free advance copies of ebooks before they're published, and in return they point out any m..."
I think you will find quite a lot of it is going on in this group. You might even get a PM offering help.....
It is INCREDIBLY helpful when readers point out any errors they have spotted and I really appreciate it. Often I will edit and think it's perfect only to find errors that I have missed because of my femiliarity with the story.
Simon, yes, people do exchange feedback for free books, many people have done that for me and it's greatly appreciated. What I meant it that there's no scheme set up as such, that pairs books that need proofreading, with suitable proofreaders.
I've often swopped beta reads with other writers - a very useful exercise indeed and, being writers, we can sometimes spot technical stuff a non-writer may not. Which is not to say readers cannot also appreciate the technical points of writing - a prolific reader will know by instinct what is right whereas an inexperienced writer may not.
If it's an author I can easily contact (eg KUF or GR) I will mark it as I go along. When I finish, I'll go back over my highlights and if I still have a problem with it, I'll pm or email the author. Now I have found how to get my highlights from Amazon, it's even easier.One of my questions in my author interrogations is "How do you feel when a reader points out the spelling mistake(s) you have made?" http://joobook.blogspot.co.uk/search/...
I now get advanced copies off a few KUF authors, just to do a last minute read of their book to spot anything.
Although the last book I had was as a Word file and an "el" was converted to a capital "eye", so I did a spell check on it in word and spotted a few more typos I'd missed.
I really appreciate my report cards from Joo.
If anyone is willing to read sections of a WIP and point out errors, I would be extremely grateful.
I'm more inclined to do it with books I've chosen to read (paid or freebies) rather than in return for a free copy.Having said that, I've offered to give feedback for a couple of authors because I know I like their stuff.
But I always buy the finished product after it's published. I wouldn't feel comfortable otherwise.
Just the way I am, I suppose.
I don't want my reading to feel like a chore. Ever.
Rosen, you will find many prolific reviewers on GR get pm's near enough daily asking for them to proofread books.While not a scheme, I know many private groups where people say they are willing to proofread and then word gets around!
I also buy books I've read pre publication. I don't feel my review is unbiased if I don't.
Ignite wrote: "I also buy books I've read pre publication. I don't feel my review is unbiased if I don't."Exactly my feeling Ignite.
I prefer the Amazon way to the Kindle way :)Go to https://kindle.amazon.com/your_highli... and you will see all your highlights, then you can just cut 'n' paste.
eg
Roulette (Untold Tales from the Memoirs of a Relationship Assassin) by David Wailing
You have 1 highlighted passage
You have 0 notes
Last annotated on April 30, 2012
like her saw in a nob like him but he wasn’t goingRead more at location 379
• Delete this highlight
Add a note
i generally use that for going through my quotes and putting them into my notebook. I never clicked that I could use it to copy/paste haha.
I sent some errors to an author once. They gave a very rude reply!I'm always up for people kindly pointing out errors. I've had about 3 people give me some good feedback on one of my books, and feel it is all the better for it.
And, yes, Ignite was one of them ;)
Joo!Just a question actually - if you delete the clippings on your Kindle, will they stay on your Amazon account?
That's brill Joo! Thanks for that!
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads author) wrote: "I sent some errors to an author once. They gave a very rude reply!I'm always up for people kindly pointing out errors. I've had about 3 people give me some good feedback on one of my books, and f..."
Yeah, I'd hate to get back a rude reply. That would probably put me off ever offering help again.
My the way, how do you put bracketed things after a Goodreads username?
There is simply no excuse for an author to send back a rude reply. Any author doing that is an utter cretin.
Oh easy Rosen.Go to your profile, edit profile, add whatever you like to your name.
...I do hope it's rude... ;)
Oh click on your name anywhere to get to your profile.
you just add your own brackets, it's nothing fancy
Personally, I've done everything from stream of thought emails to skype.
I usually take a quick note on my kindle as I'm reading if I encounter a typo or such-like.
I find it doesn't detract from my enjoyment at all. I just Mark it with a 't' or something. I don't bother making copious notes or anything.
What I've found awkward is then sharing the information with the author.
Well, guess what I've just found!
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7393123_tra...
I've not tried it yet but it looks just thing!
Dead easy, just copy and paste into a private message!
I expect lots of you already knew about this...
Does anyone have any other methods of sharing feedback?