That’s just wrong
Over the past few months I’ve been consistently reading digital books—be it through my local library, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Books-a-Million—I’ve noticed a heck of a lot more typos in books than there used to be.
For example
The fear in Robert’s gaze made his heart clenched.
Not bad but still interrupts the flow when you’re in a groove.
And here we have
he man was stiff, and his eyes dry.
Is the author talking about the legendary hero of the Castle of Grayskull?
When I see a typo in what is suppose to be a professional manuscript, I tend to second guess the writer’s or publisher’s abilities—unless the book has a serious wow factor. Typos can be a distraction from a story line. Imagine typos as that cellphone going off in a darkened movie theater. You wouldn’t want to be distracted from your little slice of escapism. Don’t expect your audience to want to be either.
Getting what you pay for
We pick up books for a reason: temporary escapism and literary intellectualism (ok, so maybe some of the books I read wouldn’t exactly be classified as “literary intellectualism”, still … they should be held to the same standard, darn it). If you’re laying down your hard earned dollars, the product should at least be typo-free.
I can only boil this trend down to quality control. In the race for publishers (including self-publishing authors) to get a book out as quickly as possible, it’s evident that some parts of the digital book process are being sacrificed. In turn, authors and publishers are sacrificing legitimacy and professionalism.
But shouldn’t a digital book make for easier changes?
You’d think. Since these are in digital format, writers and publishers should have the ability to make timely updates to a manuscript once a problem is discovered. Amazon has a policy of not updating purchased books unless the buyer specifically requests a new copy—or if Amazon receives a court order (remember the Kindle Orwell fiasco?).
And even if you do give notice of mistakes needing to be corrected, there is no guarantee that any would actually be corrected. Amazon says it makes corrections on future editions; however, many have found that the same mistakes often go untouched. And in the case of the author who became belligerant when errors were pointed out in her novel, even some authors are not keen on guaranteeing quality control or displaying professionalism.
So whose fault is it, anyway?
Personally, I don’t believe a bookseller should be responsible for making corrections. Fault lies with the writers/editors and publishers. They are the most familiar with the text.
I understand that a novel is a huge undertaking, but if there are significant typos in a manuscript and the mistakes are called out, the book should probably go back to an author’s/publisher’s drawing board. Or if a book has only a few typos, authors and publishers can make a policy to update and provide a new manuscript to booksellers once or twice a month—at least until a manuscript is given a clean bill of health (i.e. no more correction notices are received).
What do you guys think? Have you noticed this trend?
And if you noticed any typos in this post (or any other, for that matter), please let me know. I’m not above admitting to and fixing my mistakes 
Cheers!
April
