ANNOYING message from Amazon.

[MikeAngel]

I do. It's easy to get in touch with me through my website.

Yes. Susanne is easy. But if you do get in touch, she will likely forget your email address. 

[Decon]

In my latest work set in the US, I have two version of the same novelette story in the one eBook with links for the customer to make the choice. (UK or US)

Funnily enough I use "careened" in the US version and "Careered" in the UK version. I can imagine if I put "Careened in the UK version, it would be seen as a typo/spelling error.

I think I changed it to "raced" in one section for both versions.

I wouldn't change it seeing as how it is set in Europe and go with careered.

[Strayer]

I read Swedish for Beginners and had it on my shelf. The writing was great and there weren't errors that I could see. I hope it sells on Kindle.
This sounds dumb, but I can attest that Susanne writes well.

[UnicornEmily]

I'd actually be grateful if somebody told me they had found a typo (and they were correct about it).  I HATE making mistakes!  My hope is that nobody's going to notice any because there won't be any, however.   

Still, to be told something's a typo when it isn't -- is galling.  I'm sorry you had to deal with this!

[Dallas Haley]

I received this query from Amazon today (quoted below), regarding my book Fresh Powder.

"During a quality assurance review of your title, we have found the following issue(s):
 
Typos have been found in your book.
Example:
*loc; 1571; "I did not ‘career’ into you." The word "career". Incorrect spelling according to customer.  Unable to confirm.
*loc; "when you careered into me". Incorrect spelling. Assume it should be "careened". Unable to confirm.
Kindly, check and fix the issue.

Please look for the same kind of errors throughout and make the necessary corrections to the title before republishing it."

My reply:

OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY:

"Career": "Quick or violent forward movement. Verb "move swiftly or violently".

"Careen" 1) "tilt or keel over to one side" 2) "swerve about".

The customer complaint is unjustified as he or she is mistaken as to the meaning of the words in question. It is made clear that British spelling is used throughout the book.

I am surprised that Amazon would pass on such a complaint.

I have recently uploaded and published a meticulously re-edited version of the book.

With thanks,
Susanne O'Leary


Are readers now editing our books? In that case, shouldn't they have some knowledge of the English language?

Another reason why I've heard you should write to a 5th grade reading level, or is it 8th grade?? 

[Jena H]

I wonder if that same reader would take a book back to Barnes & Noble if she had it in paperback.  The logic (ha!) seems to be:  don't go directly to the author/editor who not only wrote the book, but knows what it's supposed to say, go to the bookseller.

Makes perfect sense, right?      

[scslawin]

Another reason why I've heard you should write to a 5th grade reading level, or is it 8th grade?

You can use the Flesch Reading Ease, Fog Scale, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level analyzers to check the reading level of your writing.

[Susanne OLeary]

I read Swedish for Beginners and had it on my shelf. The writing was great and there weren't errors that I could see. I hope it sells on Kindle.
This sounds dumb, but I can attest that Susanne writes well.

Thank you!