I was chatting with a reader the other day who told me about an advertisement she’d received about a new book.

She said, “I read the sample, but then the author said that Black-eyed Susans bloomed in May, but they don’t bloom until August. I didn’t buy the book.”

“Did you like the story otherwise?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“But you’re not going to buy the book?” I’m sure my tone registered surprise.

“No. I just couldn’t get over the Black-eyed Susans being wrong.”

I just entered the phrase, “When do black-eyed Susans bloom” in my search engine. In response I was greeted with a box saying “From June to October” in huge letters.

That’s all the author needed to do to keep from making this error.

My point? You never know what might keep a reader from either finishing your book or simply not buying it to start with. But let’s at least do our best to make our books as error-free as possible.

Your turn:

Have you stopped reading a book because of what might be considered a minor error?

If you found an error in a book, would you notify the author or publisher? Why or why not?

If your book had an error after printing, would you want a reader to tell you?