I loved reading this! I'm not at the fact-checking stage yet for my first book, but I really enjoyed learning about your process.
I agree about the trust piece. Most books I've read recently have had errors that really took me out of the moment. And these were bestselling authors with Big Five publishers. So I guess it is also reassuring that mistakes are probably inevitable and happen to everyone. But it's still worth doing our best to correct as many of them as we can!
I'm so glad it was helpful, Oona! Happy to chat more about it, if you ever want to take a deeper dive into what the fact-checking process was like. I love knowing that you're working on a book, and I'm eager to hear more about it!
A Little Princess was also my first favorite novel, and I, too, called it The Little Princess for years. I think it was because Sara Crewe was so singular to me! I remember that it felt like a revelation when I noticed the indefinite article, making my beloved Sara only one of potentially many little princesses in the world.
How funny that you called it by the same name! I could relate to Sara on so many levels and remember being so drawn to her story.
My daughter now has a copy of the book, though she had trouble understanding it when we tried reading it a few months ago. Going to save it for when she's a little bit older!
I didn’t read ALP with my kids, but when my kids were in elementary school my husband read The Secret Garden out loud to the kids and I got interested enough to reread it. Some aspects of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s books haven’t aged well—we had lots of discussions about colonialism and race. But the creepiness of that book (all the grownups die in the first chapter!) reminded us of Lemony Snicket.
I loved reading this! I'm not at the fact-checking stage yet for my first book, but I really enjoyed learning about your process.
I agree about the trust piece. Most books I've read recently have had errors that really took me out of the moment. And these were bestselling authors with Big Five publishers. So I guess it is also reassuring that mistakes are probably inevitable and happen to everyone. But it's still worth doing our best to correct as many of them as we can!
I'm so glad it was helpful, Oona! Happy to chat more about it, if you ever want to take a deeper dive into what the fact-checking process was like. I love knowing that you're working on a book, and I'm eager to hear more about it!
A Little Princess was also my first favorite novel, and I, too, called it The Little Princess for years. I think it was because Sara Crewe was so singular to me! I remember that it felt like a revelation when I noticed the indefinite article, making my beloved Sara only one of potentially many little princesses in the world.
Thanks for sharing this, Sarah. :)
How funny that you called it by the same name! I could relate to Sara on so many levels and remember being so drawn to her story.
My daughter now has a copy of the book, though she had trouble understanding it when we tried reading it a few months ago. Going to save it for when she's a little bit older!
I didn’t read ALP with my kids, but when my kids were in elementary school my husband read The Secret Garden out loud to the kids and I got interested enough to reread it. Some aspects of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s books haven’t aged well—we had lots of discussions about colonialism and race. But the creepiness of that book (all the grownups die in the first chapter!) reminded us of Lemony Snicket.