If the style these days are to violate basic sentence structure then I’d have to give it a pass.

I counted at least 10 places where a quotation mark was missing. But the most egregious error was in the sentence structure. I dont know if it was intentional or not. I am going to review the book this weekend and will post a couple of examples. Maybe NR is going for something stylistically. It was avery good book, though.

Except for the latest In Death hardcover, as soon as that series went to hardback (and to Putnam), the copy editing took an enormous nosedive. There have always been some consistency problems across the books in other ways, but everything just got compounded once those hardcovers started rolling out (plus from book to book the paragraph and sentence structure seemed to change, too, which was really weird and jarring). I’ve also noticed some decent copy editing mistakes in Berkley paperbacks, but not nearly as bad as the Putnam hardbacks (although maybe they were there and I didn’t notice until the series hit hardback).

Jane, you’ve got to be kidding me. Nora had these problems? Maybe no one edits her stuff anymore? Ann Rice got it like that. No one edits her stuff and what a shame, too.

I haven’t ventured into e-books (be gentle) for too many reasons to count but editing has come up too often for it not to be a real issue.

CindyS

What is UP with that word? I have literally come to despise it because I see it so many times in Romance, and often used incorrectly, to boot. It’s so bad that I will not use it in anything I write, for any purpose.

As for the general editing issue, I have a rather notorious position on this one, but since you brought the topic up again, Keishon, I’ll slip this in: the media of Romance is language, as in words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. No writer or editor is perfect and mistakes will be made. I love that there are writers who openly thank their editors, because I think that getting the best book possible to publication IS a collaborative process. And I agree with the people who say that the less engaged you are with a book, the more you will notice editorial problems. Because for me, all roads lead back to the fact that writing is an art and a skill and its techniques and rules exist primarily to help the writer make his or her point in the clearest, most engaging, and most effective way, so that there is as little distance as possible between the words and the reader.

Errors JUMP OUT at me, and even more so when I’m not into the book.

And repetitive words annoy me. I notice it especially when I’m glomming an author.

I have read the word “inexorable” too many times when it comes to the sword sliding home, IYKWM.

When I buy a product, be it a book or a toilet bowl cleaner, I’m entitled to say, “If it doesn’t work for me, I’m not buying more.” And, of course, I’m allowed to explain why. (As a writer though, I must add how it’s easier to swallow if a person can actually explain why or what they didn’t like.) Proctor & Gamble do not get to sue me for not liking their cleaning products and stating why as long as I’m not lying. Every penny I spend on something other than feeding and housing my son is precious and I’d rather know I’m spending it on something worthy of the sacrifice.

So, to answer the lesser question, if you feel there is a poor editing job going on, sure, that’s a more than valid reason to be disenchanted with a book. And if you notice the trend coming from a specific publisher, there shouldn’t be anyone out there stopping you from saying so.

Though, lol, it’s not likely the pub will thank you.

As a writer, I admit, grammar is not my strength. I rely on my editor (lol, possibly a bit too heavily) to help me see where I missed something. She’s only human, of course, and she’s going to allow me to misuse the English language a bit if it’s the best for the story. BUT–big but there–she’s not going to let me ignore the basic requirements. Such as periods. And quotations. And you know, linear references. That’s what makes her an excellent editor.

I think the fluff up is really because authors like to fancy themselves as “artists”, never realizing there’s two types of art out there–Fine Art and Graphic Design. One is to please the artist, the second is to please the audience. You must still have a level of talent to do either, but the latter means you write FOR someone else and you earn from it. You put it out for public consumption and grant Reader Rights by doing so. A fine artist has the right to thumb his nose at detractors because they have not paid for the privilege. (He also enjoys the right to starve to death or earn his living elsewhere and enjoy his inner peace, owing nothing to no one. But that’s neither here nor there.)

Any graphic artist–or editor–worth their salt is going to tell you that in order for a product to be complete, it must pass muster, be those artisitic guidelines or basic grammatical tests, and that they do their best to keep these errors from happening. But if you see a gross number of errors, something needs to be said. Otherwise, how is something going to get done? Anything excessive is a failure somewhere and readers–and writers–have a right to know.

Hope that wasn’t too much of an opinion,
Dee