Background: a reader felt the need to go into the inappropriate form to discuss how I got something factually incorrect. I’m guessing there was a tonal issue, as my PA asked me if I wanted the comment. (I have not seen the comment because when my PA hesitates to send it to me, it’s usually snotty af and inappropriate.)
As such, they reached my PA rather than me, and I had my PA escort the commentary to the garbage bin.
I don’t know which bit of fact I got wrong in my fiction. And honestly, I don’t care at this stage.
Why?
While I absolutely do a great deal of research, I’m quite tired of the “let’s see if I can catch the author doing something wrong!” game. It’s ridiculous.
I write fiction.
My job is to literally entertain you while telling huge assortments of lies.
ALL of my books have factually incorrect elements. All of them. Most of the time, it’s even done on purpose. The rest of the time, it is evidence that a human wrote the book and made a (gasp) mistake.
Let’s take Iron Unicorn for example. This novel is 130,000 words. There are facts sprinkled throughout. There are also lies, lies, lies liberally used without a single care that they are lies.
I change things all of the time.
I change laws to suit the needs of my books.
I change physics to allow for the usage of magic.
History is changed.
Everything is fair game… because I am writing fiction.
Had I written a non-fiction book, such commentary would have been welcomed and invited. But I am not.
I am not inviting you to go into my contact form to complain you think you found some mistake or another. There is a dedicated form for that, and honestly… even if you DID find something, your attitude during presentation matters.
If you come across as… less than ideal… and my PA notices? Her instructions are to void your commentary.
She does not have time for that nonsense. I also do not have time for that nonsense.
The primary contact form is not a place for you to get on a soap box because you think I should have written a book in a different fashion. If you are not happy with how I wrote a book, you have choices to make.
1: You can keep it to yourself, don’t read my books, and find authors you do like.
2: You can write the perfect, flawless book yourself. (Yes, that means coming up with the ideas, characters, and so on yourself, and then you can type 130,000 words without a single error in them. For the record, that’s 710,933 characters.)
If you can’t write 710,933 characters without a single mistake, then I highly recommend that you step away from the soap box and stop bothering those who are sitting down and tapping at a keyboard 710,933 times to entertain you.
If you think that 710,933 characters, all of them individually perfect, is no big deal, then you should be able to have a smashingly good career as a fiction writer!
Please note that in options 1 and 2, I did not invite you to come onto the general contact form to vocalize your complaints and bother my PA if using the typo form (on this same website) did not render the results you wish.
I check the typo correction form once or twice a year, and yes… I usually throw out the ones where people are obviously trying to play ‘catch the author’ because I write FICTION. I change shit all the fucking time to suit my worlds and books.
Just because the world is LIKE ours does not mean it IS ours.
And yes… I make mistakes.
Sometimes, I very deliberately LEAVE the mistakes as reminders of humanity. Yes! A human wrote the book you read. One specific human, in fact, me. I am an imperfect human living in a world expecting perfection.
A human (me, it’s me, I did it!) wrote the book you read. (Or are reading, as I’m having to do this on a release day.) Since it’s a Royal States release day, I’d rather just not, especially after how the series is not on my top ten list of things to be working on due to how much fussing there was over accents in the audiobook edition of the Vampire of Montana.
Yes, I’m absolutely bitter over that, and yes… the only reason I’m continuing on with the series is because of the Monthly Patreon. They fund the books, and should the funding stop, the books stop. (The fact they support it so much is why there’s basically always a Royal States book in the works. At a minimum, I work on something in the series on the weekends around books that pay the bills.)
Authors aren’t your bitch. They will absolutely make mistakes. And if you are out to play the “catch the author making a mistake” game, you’re not even reading books for the right reason.
Authors aren’t your bitch.
I have a correction tool on the website, just as easy to spot as the other contact form. Going to the primary contact form for stuff like that just irritates the management.
And ensures that your complaint is binned without the author (me) ever seeing it. Yes, my PA absolutely DOES go through the responses to the contact form. And yes… when someone gets on a soap box about “factual” errors in fiction… the response is quietly deleted without me ever seeing it. Although yes, she does tell me it happens. Well, some of the time.
And yes… if someone soap boxes in the typo report tool I offer on this site… I would rather have a mistake in the book than deal with that sort of shit.
And yes… the times people get pissy in the typo report tool, as soon as the bullshit detector goes off, the entry is deleted from the form along with any other commentary the submitter may have offered.
I would rather have a mistake in those 710, 933 characters than indulge some entitled brat on my own website.
People who come, respectful of the fact writing a book is hard, and submit a typo on the form because they genuinely want to help? This is wonderful. Please keep doing it. But please remember there is a real person behind the books I write. And yes… *I* write them. I never use AI in any fashion on my book. I don’t use pro wirting aid or grammarly. I only hire artists who design their own covers manually using stock images… that were taken by real photographers. I don’t even use help tools in writing software.
(I would show you some of the commentary I get when people decide to play the ‘let’s see if the author got it wrong’ game, but frankly… they can get quite rude, mean spirited, and otherwise nasty. So I won’t.)
Let’s not, okay?
Please put the material in the appropriate form. The “contact the management” form is not where you go trying to fast-track errors you don’t like. And if you are reporting a “factual” error, please remember that I write fiction.
That means “not fact” for those of you who are not certain.
~R.J.
Thank you for all the hard work you do to entertain your readers. I absolutely love… LOVE… your work. I appreciate the skill, imagination, humour, point of view and the extreme diligence you provide us and wish the self-entitled “snots” would take their oh-so-valid opinions and STUFF them. Please take care of yourself, as best you can, ignore the ignorant and know that most of your readers know we can’t do what you do so just revel in the worlds you create. Thank you again.
<3 Thank you for reading!!
Many years ago I was on a writing weekend with the option to present queries to a published author. I told him I wanted to write a fantasy piece set in a fictional town within a real UK county. A friend, who was not a writer had queried this as she only liked books with real life settings. “Tell her to buy a f*ing atlas,” snapped the author. It has amused me ever since! Author’s choice – ALWAYS!
Yeah, seriously… if people don’t like stuff like that, they should stick to non-fiction and leave the fiction for people who want to actually use their imaginations.
*Sigh*. And there’s another couple thousand letters that didn’t need to be typed that could have gone to another bill paying project that your REAL fans are anxiously awaiting. So sorry you have to put up with this level of harassment. And I make no mistakes, it is a form of harassment, even if others disagree.
I have never in my 6+ decades of reading “corrected” an author. I did once correct a nursing instructor while a student as she had flipped the valves in the heart, then rather than owning it, claimed it was the pediatric version. Spoiler- they’re the same…. With that said, haters gonna hate. Nothing is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. Yes, I do wince over mis-spellings, grammatical errors (& horror of horrors RunOn Sentences- of which I am GUILTY!). But honestly, if it isn’t a thing you WANT to correct (Like Texans having authentic Texan accents) pitch it. Ignore it. Those folk (haters) want a response so they can make themselves feel better. Farkle them. Not worth your time or your angst. Hugs!
Yep, I ain’t correcting shit just because someone didn’t like it.
“Why don’t you try to write your own book if you do not like the way I wrote mine?” is always what I’m thinking. And I’m never impressed with people who are there just to spot errors.
They aren’t even trying to enjoy the book…
You are a wonderful writer that makes me smile every time I read your books over and over. I am sorry that there are people who have to tear down your work. I am one of a million people who love your work all of them. And I don’t care about your typos or any other human thing that happens.
If anyone can find a book without a mistake, they are likely missing something. As an apprentice editor for a small, but prestigious history publisher, I was told by the managing editor that no matter how carefully books were proofread (generally at least three times including one round of “reading aloud”), she knew that the director would invariably open the new release and find a typo.
We are all human!
Please don’t change anything. I’m a 67 year old man who absolutely loves your work. I just finished Playing With Fire for probably the the sixth time and I’m halfway through Hoofin’ It for the same amount of times. I still actually lose sleep because no matter how many times I’ve read them I still have a hard time putting them down. I’ve probably read thousands of books in my life mostly SF and Fantasy. Of the many famous writers wove work I’ve read I think you are my favorite by far. Thanks and please keep up the great work.
Rick
I have occasionally noticed mistakes or misspellings when reading, and I acknowledge and continue reading the book. It might be different if it was every other word was something that did not mean what they thought it meant or was misspelled. That is just the mark of a sloppy author. Mistakes and misspellings happen to EVERYONE! I am so glad you have a PA that screens that crap. As for accents, I still do not understand what the fuss was about. Each region has a different way of saying things. I am from Oregon, and I have family all over the country, especially in the south. I hear people from all over the country, and they all sound different, and you can usually guess where they are from by how they speak. Dallas Texas and Boston Massachusetts have totally different accents. People need to stop being entitled anal-retentive idiots. A book I just finished stated that people are no longer trained in courtesy and manners and he hit it on the nail. Now they feel free to indulge every selfish act and whine and claim racism when anyone objects. (Even when they are the same race as the objector.)
I am sorry you keep getting bad comments. I have checked your spelling occasionally and discovered that I can’t spell. That is why I never criticize anyones spelling. I also type crappy. Without all the crap on my computer, this would have taken me at least half an hour to type out. I am glad you have someone to check what you are getting.
The Royal States are my favorite books. I am sorry to tell you that I found nothing wrong in the book. I just read to enjoy. Please keeping mind there are us poor people who don’t look for things wrong and just enjoy what you write.
I’m glad you have a PA to mostly shield you from the stupids.
There are a couple of other authors that I follow (not you!!) that often write a sentence describing a situation that I would write differently. But I am aware that I COULD NOT write the pages surrounding that sentence. So nothing happens beyond a momentary “I would prefer …”
There are times when your characters assert a “fact” that makes me wonder if it’s an invention or actual fact. Not any kind of objection – just wondering if it’s true in the real world.
There are few times when I know the material in question and I know you have “bent” a fact to make your storyline work. Go for it, girl !! That’s good fiction !!
Some people are just born stupid.
Sigh.
(On the other hand, I’m on my third time through Trickster King! It’s making me very happy, and I’m having a lot of fun with Grave Affairs.
I apologize ahead of time for the Stupid People who will try to fact check you on that one)
Is Grave Affairs out yet? Did I miss it? I thought I pre-ordered EVERYTHING!
It’s ok, Dana – I’m referring to the read along. RJ always gives us plenty of notification when she is releasing a new book.
Umm I think I’ve sent in 1 time using your error tool, but it was also before I understood that the errors were sometime on purpose and sometimes a pun or play on words that I didn’t get. I was excited that you responded to my request and that you were very gracious about my inexperience / no knowledge of why things were the way they were. I think I’ve learned more about the publishing world from reading your posts and now cringe at how I thought I was “helping” when in fact it was probably just causing stress when that wasn’t the intent. I’m glad you are so frank about the publishing world as I’ve been sending the info to my teenager who wants to be a writer for her career job. I don’t want to discourage her but I would rather her know the reality of how hard it is rather than be crushed when she can’t make it alone on publishing. So from an avid fan who loves your work, stay the course and just keep posting for us ignorant fans who don’t k ow any better until someone tells us. 🤗🤗
Have people forgotten or not heard of “Artistic Licence or Poetic License.
The following small quote from Wikipedia says that it is a “….. deviation from fact or form for artistic purposes”.
Loving Trickster King!
I just don’t get people who have to pick things apart and be obnoxious about ‘mistakes’ they say they’ve found. I’m very pleased you have a PA to sift & discard them, buffering you from that crap.
I found your books during the lockdown, have read them all 4+ times and assert that the last several years would have been much bleaker without all my amazing & amusing book friends you’ve provided. So please grind the haters into the dust beneath your feet and focus on those of us who enjoy what you have written and wait in happy expectation of what you will write!
Every writer with a merch store need a variation of a t-shirt with this on it:
“Authors aren’t your bitch.”
Truer words than that I have rarely read.
Heavens (or hells) help this person if they should read a book with an unreliable narrator. It might melt their little brain (more than it is already damaged).
Just keep doing you
Stupid people are going to stupid. Sorry, don’t blame you a bit for binning the pearl-clutchers. I love love love the Royal States and pretty much all your FICTIONAL worlds (haven’t been able to really get into the Rift King, but that’s on me, not you – I swear all the distractions happen when I’m trying to read it lol) and would be heart-broken if you were to stop. Please don’t stop.
Hugs and (platonic) kisses, but only if you want them; the offer’s out there though!
This made me laugh, everytime i read one of your books i think wow she must have done this job before she was a writer.. then the next book, now this is what she must have done before. 😂 You have some of the best researched books ive ever read! People are so stupid
Great explanation of Fiction. Once I was telling a friend about the book I was writing set in a fictional town. She kept protesting that she lived near there and there was no town. I finally said to her, “That’s why we call it fiction.”
So, well said. Merrily
This. This is why I don’t send oops you spelled that wrong messages. Authors have enough to deal with without adding agricultural byproducts to the mix. Love, love love your work.
As much as I wish it wasn’t so, the Internet has given a lot of folks that wouldn’t have the guts to say the words to your face or put forth the effort to actually write a letter the ability to rip others to bits anonymously. I applaud your work & for having a PA that can hit the delete button before it has a huge impact on your writing. I enjoy the heck out of your books. They are a bright spot in what is increasingly becoming a bleak world. Thank you, your PA & all the non-asshats that support you & all the other hard working writers, illustrators, editors & publishers out there. Y’all rock!!!!
I will always be baffled at how people think spending under 10$ on a book gives them the right to an opinion on how it’s written. The only thing I will comment on is how you and several other writers have spoiled me and others with superbly written books. Please keep writing and continue to ignore the idiots.
I love your books so much! I have read every single one. And a bunch more than once. They are my escape when I really need it. Someday I hope to join your Patreon.
And as for typos, they don’t bother me, it does not change the story, the plot, the world you have created and released into the world.
The magic you have released into the world is something that no typo can diminish!
Love your books, mistakes and all. Also love your snark. You keep writing and I will keep reading.
I loved and thoroughly enjoyed the Trickster King and it is fiction. Great, enjoyable fiction. Glad you have the PA!
Some people need a life if all they have time for is to report stuff THEY think is wrong. Personally, the only time I rarely report something (directly to the author, not Amazon’s site) is when it is obviously a grammatical typo (like a fat finger issue). I’ve written enough that I truly understand how you become blind to your own errors.
In the just curious category, since you mentioned AI, are you thinking about doing something to let readers know that your books are not written using AI? As a fan and returning reader, I understand you don’t use AI for any of your books; but AI has made it very difficult to select authors at a glance that do not use the technology for writing their books. I want to support authors like you who actually write their own books instead of having a machine do it for them. Until Amazon and the other publishing companies decide how they want to handle this, it seems to be up to the authors to let their readers know they don’t use AI. Is there a way you let new readers know besides having them go to your website or FB?
Thanks!
I will not be including a “this book was not written with AI” disclaimer on the book page. And honestly, people aren’t going to believe it even if I do because people lie about shit all of the time. our websites/FB is realistically the only place we can make our stances known on this matter. And reader trust in authors is at an all-time low because of things like AI.
But AI is pretty distinctive in how it is presented, and readers are going to catch on to AI works fairly quickly and learn to just avoid those authors.
Jesus fuck. People make me not want to have anything with people. This is one of those, if you can’t say something nice go read a different author!
I took your advice and have a PA who checks my reviews for useful feedback and monitors website contact and incoming emails. Even when reviews were good, reading them was making me stressed and writing a struggle. Openly posting about the writing life is a huge help for us little authors just starting out!<3
Please don’t think that what that reader is what everyone thinks. I absolutely love each of your books and eagerly wait for the next one. I read for my enjoyment and your books are in the group of books that I enjoy the most! Thank you for your wonderful writing!
So sorry that you get people who have nothing better to do than critique what they read for ‘mistakes’! As an author, it is up to you how the worlds you create behave, and people who look for factual things in works of fiction deliberately should not be reading fiction – especially if they then rant about it on line. Yes, I am pretty sure most authors make factual mistakes in their books, but even experts make mistakes, and non-experts cannot be expected to know anything from top to bottom, not matter how much research into the subject they may do.
Fiction is meant to be an escape from reality, and to be enjoyed. I can understand that some may get annoyed at mistakes – as I do at times over misuse of some words, most of which I tend to blame on the use of spell-check substitutions and/or lack of good proof readers (if any at all). But there are ways of letting the author in question know without resorting to rudeness and rants, as you clearly point out. I hope that the fact that most of those who read your books do so for the pleasure and amusement they get from them can outweigh the disgruntlement that letters such as you describe appearing causes.
And just as a by the way, I am one of those who thoroughly enjoy ALL your books, under all of your pen names, and have just finished reading ‘Trickster King’, which arrived on my kindle yesterday evening. I adore Pat, and will be very sorry if you discontinue the Royal States series. They certainly bring up some uncomfortable subjects, which perhaps many people would prefer to ignore, but they are still well-written and interesting stories, with enough humour to leaven the seriousness of the emotional trauma involved in the tales. Please don’t take comments from nit-picking readers too much to heart, after all, it is just one opinion, not that of the majority of the folk that love your books.
I pretty much blew through Trickster King non-stop today (2/13). Yes, I know it was downloadable from Patreon before then, but for some reason my link thru there doesn’t work (my computer keeps insisting it is unreadable. Sigh. ), so I buy via B&N.
I am always amazed & shocked when readers (or alleged readers) make bad comments on your books. Most of them are in my repeatedly re-read section of my ereader.
Seriously, if one doesn’t like a book or a series — don’t read it!
Do you have the right type of program installed to read epubs?
I agree with you R.J. I don’t read as many books as I read over the years, as well as now (that I have retired) looking for errors: I don’t care.
Please keep on keeping on what you do.
Love the wirting aid. Just perfect!
I am just shaking my head and Thumper is running through my mind, “My mama said if I couldn’t say anything nice, I shouldn’t say anything at all.”
You are an amazing writer and I will say that until the end of time, and idiots that don’t know the difference between real people and AI, as well as fiction and non-fiction should get a clue. I adored Trickster King and I’ve already read it twice. As with several other of your books, it will be an often read comfort read. I LOVE the Royal States world and will be more than happy to completely enjoy anything you write and release in it. Thank you for all your hard work!