Forum: Editors/Reviewers Hangout

I've just tried my first time at getting in touch with an author to point out some spelling mistakes in his story when I thought about how I was doing it and if it was the best/preferred method.
I would copy and paste the paragraph with any errors into an email, with a pointer to where the paragraph was in the chapter - I highlighted the error with a red background and then put my correction in square brackets next to it and high lighted with a yellow background - leaving it up to the author to do the correction.

Is it better this way or would it be better to just copy and paste the whole paragraph and do the corrections without pointing them out to the author?

Is it better this way or would it be better to just copy and paste the whole paragraph and do the corrections without pointing them out to the author?

Your way, i.e., sending corrections marked, is better. It's harder than it might appear to (a) find the para in question, and (b) to scan word-by-word to see the changes.

Of course, the reaction you get might have nothing to do with the way in which you flagged the errors!

bb

the best/preferred method

Because you are talking about unsolicited correction, i.e. you are not an editor/proofer chosen by the author, I would recommend simple respectful statements with the minimum of information required to highlight your proposed correction.

When I have done this, I use a simple text format in the feedback process. No colouring, bracketing or other highlighting required.

The format of:

the large yewwow dog ran around
should probably be
the large yellow dog ran around
has always resulted in positive responses for me.

Multiple corrections are handled my multiple pairings like that.

ANY editor can easily open the chapter in whatever editor he normally uses, search for the first string, and choose whether to make the change in context.

The only caveats are that the first string be precisely as it is in the chapter, and that it be long enough that it is unlikely to be duplicated in the chapter.

Simples.