What's important to you in a book

[Mireille]

I'm asking this question because I read a book a while back that had me both loving and hating it at the same time. I loved it because the storyline was great. There could have been a bit more character development, but other than that the flow was good and I wanted to keep reading to find out what was happening. What I hated was the very bad grammar and spelling. Now,don't get me wrong, I never go into a book expecting perfection. God knows that the first print run of 'Crossover' was far from spelling error free... I actually call it my typo edition. The book I read, however, had at least two or three spelling errors per page. There were sentences whose structure was so off that they just didn't make sense. More than once I had to reread a sentence over and over to try and figure out what the writer had been trying to say. Another thing that threw me off was how every once in a while, the author would change from past to present tense in the same sentence.
Now, like I said, I don't go into a book looking for errors. I read to get lost in the story and can usually ignore the little typos that get missed here and there. However, when the story is interupted because my brain just can't manage to ignore the mistakes, it kills it for me.
I loved the story, but hated the writing. I'm just not entirely sure how to rate this one.
What about you? Do you expect perfect grammar and spelling or can you let a few errors pass? Or is it good enough that the story be great? :)

[TL]

I don't expect perfection, especially with Indie published novels, and I've run across enough traditionally published novels with typos to not expect perfection from anyone. If they can't catch everything, then nobody can. However, if I read a book that has the kind of problems you describe, I will drop it a star or two, even if I thought the story rocked. It ruins the experience and my experience and frustration reading it goes into my overall opinion. If I rate lower because of typos and grammar or tense, then I make sure to write that up in the review, and recommend paying an editor in the future. I'm paying for one, because I would hate for a reader to find these kinds of problems in my work. It's nonsense to publish something that your proud of and do it sloppy.

[Mireille]

TL wrote: "I don't expect perfection, especially with Indie published novels, and I've run across enough traditionally published novels with typos to not expect perfection from anyone. If they can't catch eve..."

:D so true. Why put hours upon hours into writing these stories if you can't spend a few more making sure it's error free. (And I don't mean perfect... no one is perfect)Ugh... I just tell myself there are two hundred copies of 'Crossover' out there somewhere that are going to be worth a lot of money one day. :P Ah, the things I've learned since then. :D

[Christina]

There are technical and creative aspects to every artistic expression. A pianist with beautiful touch and expression won't make it if he/she isn't technically competent. Dancers works years to be physically capable of using their bodies as expressively as possible. So why would we writers expect that we shouldn't have to be technically competent too. Anything that lessens the impact of the creative expression, diminishes the power and prestige of the work.

[Mireille]

Christina wrote: "There are technical and creative aspects to every artistic expression. A pianist with beautiful touch and expression won't make it if he/she isn't technically competent. Dancers works years to be p..."

Very well put, Christina :)

[TL]

Amazing way to put it Christina. I love that. Can I use that when I'm teaching others? Not something I do a lot, but I've had some people who want to write their ideas ask me how to do it right, because they're struggling. I love helping.

[Heidi R.]

I don't know how I missed this discussion, Mireille! I loved the responses Christina and TL gave to your question.

I recently read a book full of poor grammar and spelling errors but enjoyed the story, so gave it a good rating anyway. The errors and grammar DID bother me, but they bothered a friend of mine even more, and because of that she didn't give it a good rating, although she like the story. The question is, do you contact the author and tell them about the grammar/spelling issues, or do you just let it go? I have another author friend who self publishes and he accidentally had a chapter mix up in one of his books. I let him know right away and he was very appreciative and corrected it. But I've known him for a while now and wasn't uncomfortable letting him know. The book I mentioned above was by an author I don't know and wasn't sure how receptive she would be if I brought it to her attention.

I think by you using beta readers, you're covering that area really well...I don't know how many indie authors use beta readers, but I'm pretty sure the author I first mentioned, didn't (that's how obvious the errors were).

Good grief...I'm rambling. Anyway, the question "what is important to you in a book" is definitely a good discussion question!