Wrong!
At the galley stage, you can't alter the timeline or make excessive changes. According to the instructions from my publisher, we can only make changes to typos or very glaring punctuation errors.
Right now, with five chapters left to read, I've found six errors that fit the parameters given by the publisher. Of course, if I could make more severe changes, I would, since we all know a work is never finished.
"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile."--Robert Cormier
Food for thought.
What stories can you give about proofing your work?
Hi Becky,
ReplyDeleteI just got mine, too. I understand what you're saying. I could tweak this book to death. But we must move on no matter how tempting :) good luck on your release.
And on yours, Bonnie! I hope you don't have too many corrections to make.
ReplyDeleteIt's never perfect. I've even pulled all of my books off the market as much as a year later to fix errors that slipped by. So frustrating. How can you read something a hundred times and still have the stupidest errors. Done that, been there.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Best,
Tema Merback
Writing as Belle Ami
You're right. It's never perfect. All we can do is our best.
ReplyDeleteMy first book - and I thought it must be perfect - had my editor and I going through it many times until she was satisfied. then I did a final read through before it went to a line or copy editor to go through it making certain that words were spelled correctly. Then back to me for another read through. By this time, I thought I would be able to recite the whole story as it felt like I had learned lines for a play I was starring in. After the book had gone to Amazon, a friend bought it and read it. She knew how I had bemoaned how much going over and over it seemed to take. Then she burst my bubble of 'there are no mistakes' by telling me I had used the wrong word. I used 'chalk' instead of 'chock.' I was devastated and still wonder how at least three of us - the editor, the copy/line editor and myself - could have missed it. It still haunts me to this day. lol
ReplyDeleteIt's because we've read it so much and know what word is supposed to be there. Appreciate you stopping by today, Michaele.
DeleteEvery time I read through my MS I find errors, or the need to rephrase. I don't ever think that it will be finished. I just need to tell myself that enough is enough.
ReplyDeleteYep, you do get to a point where you just have to let it go.
ReplyDeleteThe galley stage (at least in my case) is where my BETA reader helps immensely. She's an author of cozy mysteries (my go to read when I'm not writing), and we trade beta reads. As writers we've all found those tiny mistakes after the fact. Probably my most glaring (fortunately in the galley stage) was when I'd referred to her "descendants" as pirates, when it obviously should have been "ancestors". Again, thank heaven for my BETA reader b/c neither myself or my editor caught it.
ReplyDeleteAmazing, isn't it? You know what you meant to say, as did everyone else who read it. Thankfully, you new set of eyes did the trick.
DeleteI find the formatting causes a lot of those last minute errors in the galleys. But it's amazing how many word shadows or other niggly things show up. Spacing often looks off to me in the galleys--drives me (and the editor) crazy.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain, Carole. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI hate finding word choices that could have been a little stronger. Which is not something my publisher will let me change.
ReplyDeleteAs I am fond of saying, a work is never really finished. Even someone like Jude Deveraux, when given the opportunity to revise her best-selling A Knight In Shining Armor, jumped at the chance to improve it. We are not alone.
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