Are Simple Mistakes Costing YOU Money?
As a writing instructor and writing coach, every week I critique a variety of manuscripts – both fiction and nonfiction – for other writers.
I’m often very surprised to see many, many simple mistakes in these manuscripts.
Yikes! There is NO excuse for glaring errors in punctuation, spelling, and grammar if you’re a writer hoping for publication.
Quite simply, if an editor sees glaring errors within the first sentence or two of your manuscript, he or she will stop reading and automatically reject your submission.
Yep. Mistakes are often the reason behind a pile of rejection slips. Mistakes that mean editors simply pass over your work, marking you as unprofessional.
Test yourself…
Should you use “between you and me” or “between you and I”?
Is it – “boys room” – “boy’s room” – or – “boys’ room”?
“Neither Ruth nor I are able to come” or “Neither Ruth nor I am able to come”?
If you’re not 100% sure of the correct answer in each case, then you SERIOUSLY need to look at your written English and discover whether you’re making even MORE mistakes.
Download your copy of Essential English for Authors NOW so you can STOP making simple mistakes that are costing YOU money!
Thanks for this great reminder. I think a lot of writers believe that the brilliant quality of their prose outshines their mistakes. They either don’t see the errors or think a reader will overlook them because their thoughts are so compelling. Actually, they just look careless, ignorant, or worse. I wish writers on the Web would learn this lesson. — Laura (at http://terriblywrite.wordpress.com)