I sent out a story to Strange Horizons 3 days ago, and I realised today that it had this BIG typing mistake in it that either looks like a real typo or like I don't speak proper English at all. Is there anything I can do apart from biting my nails and wishing I'd reread the story a zillion and one times instead of a zillion times?
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
This is a tough one. I figure that no matter how many times I've read something there's still a typo in it, but when I KNOW there is...
3 days ago? Strange Horizons? Well, they seem to be pretty nice people over there. I once resent a story on the same day w hen I realized there were formatting mistakes in the original. I know they don't get back to you for at least a month, recently closer to two months, so I'm going to go out on a limb and recomment a politely worded resubmittal. Don't give them specifics about why you're resubmitting it, just say you found an error in the original version and would they please delete it and consider this one instead?
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
I concur with Christine. Although I haven't yet submitted to Strange Horizons, a polite request along the lines Christine mentioned would probably be acceptable.
Good luck and try not to worry about it too much.
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
I'm not worrying (honest...grin). Finally, after calming down and looking at the typo, I decided to leave it as it is. The problem that I didn't mention is that I already bothered them with the story once (because it was a rewrite of something they had already turned down), and I don't want to make a nuisance of myself more than I already did. But thanks for the advice and the comfort, I really needed that.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
My last article in "Workshop" had a typo in the last line. Much like stories written in "not-English," it suffered in translation.
Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :
I can't speak for any other editor, yet as someone who receives numerous submissions with typos and other nagging troubles, I would not take any offense to an author resubmitting a story with errors fixed. It proves that the author DOES care about his or her work, despite the initial oversight -- we're only human. But to be fair, the occasional typo won't necessarily kill a story. It's when there are dozens of them along with other easily fixed issues that scream "First draft-itis." Yes, I have rejected several stories because of excessive typos and other formatting woes.
The things to really look out for are homonymic errors, like "their" instead of "they're" or others (which is why I would generally advise avoiding certain contractions). Sometimes, though, I see errors that make me giggle. I recently saw "he aimed center-mast" when the author must have meant "he aimed center-mass." Obviously, the author misheard the term and probably knows next-to-nothing about shooting guns.
Best advice I can give: Have someone reasonably intelligent help proof your manuscript -- preferably, someone who isn't a close friend or family member.
[This message has been edited by HSO (edited October 02, 2005).]
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
As far as I know, this is far from being a first draft . And there was only the one typo. Ah, well. So be it.
. And there was only the one typo.