On a recent post I published HERE, author Sally Cronin made a valid point in the comments box “..a note on the UK/US markets – someone bought one of my books in the US in E-version and mentioned that there were some spelling mistakes….. using an ‘s’ instead of a ‘z’ in certain words. Such as ostracise and ostracize. Now that we are promoting our books online further afield it is just a small thing to consider…”.
So, to all Readers and Reviewers on BOTH sides of the North Atlantic Ocean 😀
DO NOT think all spelling ‘mistakes’ are ACTUAL spelling mistakes.
There is a recognisable difference in certain word spellings between British English and North American English – they are a fact of life AND BOTH ARE VALID, so PLEASE make allowance for them.
I do not intend to give examples because there are far too many.
There ARE however, certain words that are used incorrectly because they sound alike (i.e., mistakes) and these DO need to be pointed out TO THE AUTHOR DIRECTLY (so they can correct them – NOT to other potential readers).
Examples:
SITE – SIGHT – RITE – RIGHT – WHERE – WERE -WARE – WEAR, etc….
HOW do you tell the author directly?
Most have websites / Facebook and / or Goodreads pages where you can either leave a message in the comments, on a form, get their email address or message directly.
Many are also on Twitter – but be careful that you are not broadcasting your comments to all your followers and the world!!!!!
TSRA
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
It’s a minefield when writing characters from either side of the pond – exactly a situation that Bro Cameron is facing in his next work when two Brits go to the States. (I know about this, I’ve done it!) Not only the spelling but whole words have different meanings. I just thank the stars that although his characters are gay, neither of them smoke (yes;.. you all know what I mean)
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😀 😀 😀
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Two peoples, separated by a common language. LOL. I lived for two and a half years in Ireland. There are single quotes vs double quotes, depending on what side of the pond you’re on. Also, whether to put the punctuation inside or outside the quotation marks. Not that I’ve heard any, but I bet commas (authors bane) have slightly different rules.
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Commas do have a different “rule.” It’s called “the Oxford comma.”
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I’ve never understood the spelling “errors”. Are we not educated enough to know this? Evidently not. But the wrong word is a pet peeve of mine
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And Mine Pamela 😀
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I think our mobile devices are partly to blame. Autocorrect is really not our friend. We must all do a better job of Proofreading though.
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EXACTLY Pamela 😀
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Reblogged this on Jo Robinson and commented:
Excellent points here!
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😀 Thanks Jo 😀
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Reblogged this on Have We Had Help? and commented:
Some people, particularly our American cousins fail to recognize the difference between UK English and their own. Both are correct depending in which of the two countries you reside in…
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If a book is published in the U.S., American spelling is used. If it is published in Canada, the British version is used. Now, with indie publishers, isn’t the same happening? Is this a new realization or are readers looking to point fingers at indie authors? Just saying.
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It’s my understanding that it’s up to the Indie authors to ‘customise / customize’ their books themselves (as with most other things normally done by ‘Mainstream’ Publishers) 🙂
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Yes, but I’m confused. Does it not follow which country you’re publishing in? Or does U.S. grammar rule? Come to think of it this spelling business has never stood out before. Hmm.
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Good point Sally and SRA!
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I have a ‘Windows Word’ program, and I get flagged all the time when I know the word is spelled correctly, because we, in Canada, being a British colony, also have the same spellings for some words, examples of which are above. I will admit that I have given up and either go with the American spelling, or I hit Add to Dictionary. Color me a traitor, but I try to keep the peace with my neighbors south of my border, and lets face it, Great Britain or Canada have not come up with a compatible word program…at least not to my knowledge.
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Here hear!
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LOLOLOL – There’s always ONE isn’t there? And today, you’re the leader of the pack Lindy LOL 😀
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Excellent point to make, Chris! I personally had a tough time when i moved from India to Manhattan and had to learn American spelling…still switch back and forth. And both forms are valid of course.
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EXACTLY my point Mira 😀
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