What to Do When You Make a Boo-Boo

[Mary]

I recently experienced the author's nightmare...no, it's not food in my teeth at a book signing. :) A MISTAKE was published in my novel. Not a little mistake, either, but a research blunder that was totally my fault. Ack!! So far, I've fallen on the sword each time a kind reader alerts me to my bungle. Is this the right tack? Or should I hide behind the "It's fiction" screen? What would you do?

[Effie]

What's the mistake? If you self published you could always revise and submit a new file. If it changes your story somehow, then it's a bigger issue.

[Mary]

Not self-published. Though I can't blame my publisher (William Morrow). My novel is historical fiction, and the mistake is geographical. People who live in the area could see it right away. Please forgive my coyness at not stating the boo-boo outright. If I pretend it isn't there, it isn't. Right? hahaha

[Effie]

No, it's not. Borders are changing all the time!

[T.L.]

Hmm...if it were me I'd see if I could change it, but only because it would annoy the crap out of me, knowing it was there.

You could brave it out though.

Do what your heart tells you xx

[Marie Silk]

Hmm, not sure how bad it is in this context, especially if it is only apparent to those who live there. I write historical fiction set in a state I have never been to before. I used artistic license to make up a town name for the bulk of the setting (in the hopes of avoiding geographical blunders), but I also mention actual cities in their historical context.

There was a real town originally called Pottsgrove that had it's name changed to Pottstown not long after it was founded. I liked the name Pottsgrove a lot more, so that is the name I used in my story, even though the characters in that time period would have most likely used the new name. I suppose a historian might correct me someday, but I am fine with making a few stretches if I think it will make for a better story. For another book, I used a London neighborhood that my research said was the most affluent area in its time. A British reviewer later commented that it didn't make sense for the character to live there. I intend on keeping it the way it is.

In my opinion, the story is everything. It comes first while the details come second. Since you are writing fiction, you get a certain amount of leeway. Even "true stories" contain embellished and changed facts. It's really up to you whether to express regret over the blunder or use it to your advantage to claim freedoms as a fiction writer :).

[Tamara]

Maybe ask the publisher to insert a page at the beginning of the novel in which you acknowledge the mistake, apologize for it, and assure the reader the mistake will be corrected in future editions.

[Mary]

Marie Silk wrote: "Hmm, not sure how bad it is in this context, especially if it is only apparent to those who live there. I write historical fiction set in a state I have never been to before. I used artistic licens..."

LOVE your take, Marie. I agree that the story is everything. The truth is, my historical novel, The Woman in the Photo, is about the tragic Johnstown Flood in PA, 1889. In the research phase, when I rode the train from NYC to Johnstown, I went around the extraordinary Horseshoe Curve. It was so special, I inserted it in the novel without realizing that the train from PITTSBURGH to Johnstown doesn't go around the curve. Oops. It adds to the story, sort of, but I hate that I made a stupid mistake. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know, you know? Now, everybody on Goodreads knows! Eek. haha