An Interesting Sentence!

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  Instant Quiz

Can you correct the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

Jack Benny was infamous for his impeccable comedy timing.

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A friend just sent me a link to a wonderful article about self-publishing: “The Authors Who Love Amazon” by Alana Semuel in The Atlantic, July 20, 2018. (You can read it at this link: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/07/amazon-kindle-unlimited-self-publishing/565664/.)

I love self-publishing. It’s wonderful if you do it right! I always tell writers to use a free platform – Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords, or both. Do not pay anyone to publish your book! You can find lots of resources for self-publishing at this link.

But what I really wanted to talk about today was this sentence in the Atlantic article:

Omer is one of a growing number of authors who have found self-publishing on Amazon’s platform to be very lucrative.  CORRECT

I’m reeling. Hardly anyone gets one of these sentences right – but there it is! Most people would have written it like this: 

Omer is one of a growing number of authors who has found self-publishing on Amazon’s platform to be very lucrative.

I insist that it should be have found. How do I know I’m right? Compare these sentences:

Omer is an author who has found self-publishing on Amazon’s platform to be very lucrative.  (one author)

Omer is one of a growing number of authors who have found self-publishing on Amazon’s platform to be very lucrative.  (a group of authors)

The first sentence is about an author who has found Amazon to his liking.

The second sentence is about a group of authors who have found Amazon to their liking:

Omer is one of a growing number of authors who have found self-publishing on Amazon’s platform to be very lucrative.  CORRECT

Three cheers for the Atlantic and its editorial team!

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

The word you need is famous. Don’t use infamous: it means “famous for evil deeds.”

Jack Benny was famous for his impeccable comedy timing.  CORRECT

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