LitRPG notorious for bad editing

[Jodi]

Authors, I absolutely love LitRPG as a genre, and I see many authors posting here for reviews of game mechanics..... but then I read the books and OMG, the grammar, the wrong words, the mistakes are absolutely KILLING this genre. I know professional editing can be expensive especially for new authors. Ask for help from us readers. Give a mention at the beginning (or end) of the book, and most will be happy.

But, then again, don't just get one reader to edit. I just finished 3 books in the series Limitless Lands, (the 3rd in the series was my 18th LitRPG book read so far this year, so I speak on good authority) where the author gave credit to one woman for her excellent editing.....There were still so many bad grammatical errors that it was hard to read. I don't know what the perfect answer is, but a great adventure can be totally ruined by poor editing. And one "editor" may still miss many mistakes. Get 4 or 5 readers to assist with editing so you can cover most, if not all, mistakes.

In the end your books will read better, your work will be more professional, your stories more polished, and LitRPG as a whole genre will benefit greatly by the better quality stories.

Just my 2 cents as an avid reader, who wants to enjoy the best story you can tell me.

Thank you!

[Devan]

I agree. I have been reading this genre almost exclusively since the Russian precursors started getting translated. I have found soooo many books are released far too early or even worse (in my opinion) the books are crazy short. I don’t think it’s too much to expect that if I am paying for your product do the bare minimum expected of any book. Finish it all the way. Clean it up and don’t get lazy and call your short story a full length book. Whew ranting concluded.

[Travis]

I agree 100 percent with this post, and I've even said as much to various authors, both in private correspondence, and in my reviews. I don't know how many authors actually read reviews, but I know some do, and I certainly hope my mention of editing errors aren't taken to be a slam on the author, but no doubt some will take it that way no matter how nice it's phrased. (Once, I even sent an author a complete list of mistakes and corrections I found in a book). Interestingly enough, the next book was very well edited. :) I also got thanked for the effort, so I'm sure it was well received in that case at least.

[Matthew]

I have written on a web based novel site and it is near impossible to get anyone to edit your work! Basically you will have to wager your relationship or already be established. The problem isn't editing though, trust me I have written over 100K words without help and have far fewer mistakes than these books. The issue is that they don't perform multiple rewrites, or their first language isn't English.

[Craig]

I think one of the challenges is that there is a lot of gaming lingo that will go straight over the head of most traditional editors. That means you have to find an editor that knows the genre. They certainly exist, but they require more work to find.

I'm fortunate that one reached out to me. He's been a huge help, and sent through hundreds of fixes for my most recent 'final draft' - which easily justified the cost.

[5euro]

But editing is not only about gramma and spelling.

Editing is also about loose ends, continuity, shorthen/straigthen the story, plot progerssion and such things.

And whith this i struggle much more then with basic gramma or spelling.

After almost all LitRPG books i have the feeling, if i would be an editor, is would just mostly redcross entire pages and chapters and most books would end up with 1/2 - 2/3 lesser pages.
Everything in a good book should contribute to the story or the characters and should not be necessary to be repeated. If there is something just happening without an impact to either the plot or the develoment of your characters, or setting a tone/atmosphere for your book, it just has no reason to appear in the book you are writing.

Of course its a hugh scale of grey and there is no black/white, but in LitRPG they are just massivly nagtivly pushing the bounderies of what i experienced in all books i read before.

And often it seems like an author had an somewhat good an solid idea to start with, but didnt took the time to develop an idea for a whole story, and just started writing and saw where it got them.

[H]

I wouldn't necessarily disagree but a good book from an author that is a good story teller, I'll credit that to creative license even if something seem extraneous to me.

That said grammar and spelling checks are sorely lacking, more rarely you'll even encounter simple to catch copy/paste errors that could be avoided with a simple re-read by the author; Then there are editing mistakes made by the author (probably sleep deprived) like exchanging the quest completion and receive messages.

Anyhow the best advice I could give an author is to re-read their work during/after or both preferably.

[Naomi]

There are many different types of editing, and you need the appropriate context for each. Editing for grammar is what it is. A grammar editor won’t necessarily pay enough attention to the story to notice when you mix up character names and the like. You need editors for grammar, continuity, etc., and afterwards, you need someone to read the whole thing for everything.

This is a lot of work! And if you want it done well, you need to pay for it, but if you want people to buy copies of your book to keep on their shelves, it’s probably worth the investment.

When web stories are published a chapter at a time, you can get away with one dedicated editor + fan sourcing, but that said...

The errors really do yank you right out of the story. You’re immersed in this world, and then all of a sudden the MC “would” do something that it seems like they really “wouldn’t” do, and then you have to question everything until you no longer realize while you’re reading it anymore...

[Rohan]

I've published two Litrpg books now and to add my two cents:

1. Both my books were sent to an editor for copy editing + proofreading.
2. However, I found numerous missed errors by the editor (which resulted in my own self-edit thereafter).
3. Self-editing is tough. Time-consuming and tedious. Sometimes more so than the initial drafts.
4. Its my impression (and it may be an incorrect one) that some freelance editors 'rush' their edits due to scheduling constraints and need to get to their next project.