To ask anyone who knows about books/grammar/literary agents if this is as bad as I think?

[Thosebloodyfullstops]

I wrote a book. I worked really hard on it - research, rewrites, etc - but my one blind spot that I’ve always struggled with is punctuation in direct speech.

So my sentence might read -

‘I am going out now.’ he said.

Instead of the correct -

‘I am going out now,’ he said.

I’m so hot on all other aspects of grammar and spelling but as I say just seem to have a blind spot about this!

Amyway I asked a friend to proof read the book in exchange for me doing him a few house related and driving favours of equal time and value. He is a comms expert and former journalist and sub editor. He sent the book back to me as a word doc saying it was all proofed grammatically and spelling wise. I didn’t give it a full read through afterwards again but began to send it out to agents, the first 50 pages anyway.

Anyway yesterday I did look and there are still lots of direct speech errors like the one above.

I KNOW I should have read it again and I KNOW I should have gone through it myself. So I don’t need lots of posters coming on to tell me that. I would just like to hear opinions on how bad it is. I’ve sent to about 15 agents so far. Will they just stop reading at the first punctuation error? Would my sample be rejected on that alone if they like the rest of my book?

Ugh just wish I could send myself back in time a month and undo all of the emails I sent out!

Dialogue!

I'm a published author and also used to read for a literary agency. I'm very surprised at some of the posts above from people claiming to know the industry. The truth is a manuscript from a non-celebrity with "lots of" basic errors is going to be instantly rejected.

Other sources say the opposite. I suspect it's a changing norm related to the globalisation of publishing. Either way, it's not hugely relevant to the OP and I should not have started the sidetrack, sorry!

The reality however is that most aren't stellar. No first time author should ever assume that others will think their work is "stellar" and overlook errors. Once you have a few publications under your belt you might adopt such an attitude, although by the time you have a few publications under your belt you will be the consummate professional and will be mortified if you send something out with errors.

I think a lot of you on here don't seem to understand what a difficult industry op is trying to get into. Finding an agent is the first of many hurdles.

Trust me, OP. Don't listen to those who think it doesn't matter. It really does.

Thank you.

"Girl, Woman, Other" by Bernadine Evaristo is an experimental novel, which is why there is no punctuation. She uses a stream of consciousness style. It's a great novel. OP is nowhere near Evaristo's level. Evaristo won the Booker Prize. It's like saying to a painter. Just splash paint on a canvas any old how - if Jackson Pollock got away with it you will too and gallery owners will be chasing after you and pay millions of pounds for your work. Ain't gonna happen, I'm afraid. OP has to stick to the rules and submit their work to as high a standard as they can.

Thanks everyone! I’ve gone over it again. There were six instances of this error in the sample I sent out which I have now corrected.

The problem is it really is my blind spot so it didn’t look wrong to me though I accept that to others it may make their teeth itch, a bit like ‘loose’ instead of ‘lose’ for me!

I will drive myself mad thinking about it so am just going to keep writing (am writing book two) and querying with what is now hopefully an error-free manuscript!

Okay, six errors in 50 pages isn't a death knell if they love everything else. But the odds of being offered rep are still teeny tiny so concentrating on writing a new book is definitely the way to go.

When you say book two, is it a sequel to the one you're querying or an entirely new story?

I think the error is a big deal if it is constantly repeated as it shows poor grammar and attention to detail.
More generally, I'd advise using an editing service such as Cornerstones. They can help you develop as a writer and they have the contacts if you have real talent.
Many people waste time writing a first book which has no chance so it's a good idea to find out as early as possible if your story/writing has potential.
Very tough getting published, I wish you luck.

So why is the first one wrong? It's a quote where the person being quoted has finished their sentence.

Because their spoken sentence is part of a longer sentence which includes the information on who is speaking etc — the convention is that a comma concludes the direct speech and a full stop concludes the entire sentence. (Exception made for a question mark or exclamation mark ending the direct speech. So

’Get away from me!’ he shouted.

or

’Are you serious?’ she said.

But

’I had a nice time,’ he said.

I'm a freelance proofreader and copyeditor. I work with one successful author who is now on her seventh book and she still makes this error. It's a blind spot for her too. It's not a problem! I had to be trained to look for this kind of thing, and most people won't have had that training and aren't expected to know it. Your journalist friend may not have any experience with fiction editing, which has its own rules and conventions. Don't worry about it, and if you need an editor - pm me!

Ctrl & H

Find ."
Replace ,"

You also can go through them one by one with Ctrl & F, and correct as necessary.

You're welcome ;)

Freelance book editor here. I feel like I spend much of my working life correcting stuff like this, so it clearly does get through agents/commissioning editors/in-house editors. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Wait, so you did loads of favours for your friend and he, a sub editor, handed your book back with loads of errors? It sounds to me as though he didn't hold up his end of the bargain. Have you mentioned this to him?

Publishers need to get their heads out their arses if the op causes problems. Not everyone is taught grammar to the extent this becomes a problem so not everyone will know to look out for it. I'm well educated but didn't know this was a thing and I doubt the average person on the street will know it's a thing.

If the story is good the agent and publisher can polish up the grammar.

If someone wants to be an author, they need to read lots of fiction. So even if they weren't taught grammar at school, they can pick up on the conventions that way.

Can they? I read a lot and honestly don't pay attention to the grammar to this level of detail. If a book is completely unreadable (like it sounds the booker prize winning book mentioned earlier is) then I'll notice it.

A good well told story is really hard to find these days. Surely that's more important than grammatical conventions?

I was not taught grammar at school and I couldn't explain a lot of the rules, but I know them because I read a lot.

Yes, agents and publishers want a good story, but the competition is extrenely fierce and the industry cut throat. If an agent reads two cracking subs on the same day, one carefully punctuated the other not which one are they more likely to choose?

Telling aspiring authors not to worry too much about SPaG is doing them no favours.

I need a proof reader for my posts!🙄🙄🙄

That isn’t right at all. British punctuation has the comma before the end quotes in that example. I’m an editor. Doing it the other way would be marked as an error in my work.

Is that The In-Laws or is there another author out there making that mistake? The In-Laws is, without doubt, the worst book I’ve read in terms of the amount of errors on every page.

Thanks everyone. Yes, book two is a sequel but like book one can also be read as a stand alone. I’ve seen conflicting advice about mentioning this in the query letter so just said it’s a stand alone with series potential. It’s commercial historical fiction.

Good luck OP. Even if you don't get anywhere with this book, keep going. Persistence is key in the publishing game!