I have been sneaking a little something into the back of my last few books, and Rebels and Queens will carry on the tradition as well. You see, it doesn’t matter if you take on every ounce of editing yourself, or if you have a highly professional team of the best editors around–the odds of a typo sneaking through unnoticed are incredibly high. It happens to the best of us, indie or traditionally published. Amazon has a feature where readers can report errors, and a well-meaning reader would think they are helping authors out by reporting said boo-boos. However, this feature isn’t as innocent as it seems, and often times, authors have found their books pulled from Amazon’s virtual shelves. It’s especially frustrating when it would have taken the author all of five minutes, to fix their manuscript and reupload it.
So what’s an author to do? Well, as I have often said, I am not a role model, but recently an author friend reached out and asked if they could use my little typo notice. That’s right, I have a typo notice at the end of my books. (Black Rose will get one the next time I go update it. Once that happens this notice will be found at the back of all my boos.)
When my friend asked if they could use it my answer was “Heck yes!” You see, the thing is, the more we spread the word that authors would appreciate direct reporting of a pesky little typo or a few grammar fixes, the better it is for all authors. The more authors get a chance to fix what needs to be fixed, the less books get taken down.
What do I say in my little typo notice? Well, in true Kate Prada form, I play on not being a role model. It keeps things on brand while keeping things lighthearted. I also provide my author email address, as well a let readers know that if they are the first to report a particular error, I’ll send them a sticker or bookmark. It’s not much, but I wouldn’t be above naming a character after them if they catch something bigger than a spelling error.
So here’s my typo notice:
Uh-oh, found a typo?
Help an Indie out.
Kate never claimed to be perfect guys (seriously, check my author bio). While she took every measure to edit and proofread this book, a typo could still jump up and surprise us. If you spot a boo-boo, email a screenshot to katepradaauthor@gmail.com and if you are the first to report it Kate will send you a free bookmark or sticker!
Like I said, I tailored it to fit my brand and had some fun with it. So feel free to take this and make it your own. Think of it as how would you say this if you were sitting around shooting the shit with your friends?
While I haven’t added this next statement to the back of my books, I have been slipping it into my newsletter as well as posting it as a graphic on my social media, but feel free to also used this, either as back matter or on social media. And this is a call for reviews.
I am terrible about talking about how reviews, and even star ratings are super beneficial for authors (even the occasional 1 star), as it boosts traffic and visibility for your listing. But by at least posting a graphic every now and then on Instagram, this has seemed to increase the rate in which my books are reviewed.
This one has my logo on it, but feel free to copy the text or make it your own!
I have found that I am getting more reviews these days, and while I have not yet had anyone email me about a typo or an error, I have found that the line of communication between my readers and myself feels more open. (Seriously, I love social media messages and comments.)
So if you are an author and you feel like you could use one or both of these, please use these ideas!
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Kate Prada 