As someone who reads a lot of self-published books, I’m always surprised at the number of typos I find. They’re not necessarily on every page, nor in every book, but I’ve found many overall. You know what else I’ve discovered? Typos in traditionally published books. I’m bringing this to light because someone said that typos in a book can mar an author’s reputation. This means that self-published authors aren’t the only ones who make mistakes. I agree it’s not good if a book is riddled with typos, but marring an author’s reputation sounds harsh, especially if there are only a few here and there. As a self-published author, I strive to avoid typos, but I’ve learned that no matter how many times I review my work or even have another set of eyes on it, mistakes still occur. On one occasion, I had a typo on one of my covers. It took months for anyone to notice, but thankfully, someone told me about the error, and I promptly fixed it. I’ve also had others find minor errors on the inside of a few of my books, which were easy to fix. I never enjoyed learning about mistakes, but I was glad to learn about them so I could fix them. Besides that, those experiences showed me that no matter how hard I tried, several typos happened.

What inspired this article is that the most recent self-published book I read had several typos before I was even halfway through. It was written by the founder of a well-known organization. Shouldn’t an author of that caliber have a typo-free book? This also led me to wonder if typo-free books were even possible. Perfect books should be possible, but if minor errors are, in fact, unavoidable, what should we do about them? I have a few ideas. First, I suggest that we extend grace to those who’ve made minor errors in books. Anyone can have a typo in their book, no matter who the author is. We should always strive to be error-free, but is beating ourselves up or badmouthing an author because of it productive? I doubt either of those options would make us feel better in the long run. Second, if you have their contact information, you can write them and kindly let them know about the mistakes you found. They can’t fix them if they don’t know about them. If no contact information is available, you could leave a review to point out the errors and what you appreciated about the book. Third, you can focus on the value of the book’s message. I’ve read books with several typos, but I liked the content and appreciated what I learned. Fourth, you can encourage writers you know. Writing isn’t the easiest endeavor, and a little encouragement goes a long way. Are expectations for a typo-free book unrealistic, or are minor typos unavoidable?