[Gennita Low]

I just received an email from Kindle Quality Control saying I had typos in my book, Tempting Trouble. Okay, not a problem, I can fix that.

They gave me part of the sentence and location, "act like some squeeing teenager."

I went to the section and have read and reread the paragraph and sentence a half a dozen times. I don't see any typos. Can you help me?

My paragraph reads:
Problem number one: she simply had to get rid of these lusty
thoughts about the man. So odd. He was hardly her type and it was
irritating he could make her act like some squeeing teenager around
him.

Thanks for helping me out!

 

[Quiss]

I'm guessing they just don't recognize squee
It's a fairly new bit of slang.

 

[RoseInTheTardis]

Seconded. I'm thinking the word "Squee" is throwing them off. Not much you can do to fix it since it is a real word. :/

 

[MegHarris]

That was my thought, too. I bet it's an older person who doesn't know what "squeeing" means. I think if you tell Amazon you've reviewed it and that you think the reader doesn't know what squeeing means, and refer them to a definition of the word for good measure, they'll drop it.

 

[Bec]

They probably thought you meant squealing.

Annoying!

 

[Gennita Low]

Seconded. I'm thinking the word "Squee" is throwing them off. Not much you can do to fix it since it is a real word. :/

Ya, she's 22 so I thought that word would be appropriate. It didn't even occur to me because I was actually looking for "typos" like wrong spelling or missing alphabet, etc.

 

[horse_girl]

Imho, someone doesn't understand voice. However, if you wanted to make *them* happy, you could put in a comma before "and" and maybe "that" before "he could" in the last sentence. Really, I don't see anything terribly wrong and it's a matter of accepting the character's voice for how you want to go. I've sometimes ignored the letters and nothing has happened. Other times, I responded that the grammar is correct. In this case, the sentence is technically correct and written as the character is experiencing the situation.

These kinds of comments irritate the cr*p out of me, because someone thinks you should follow their rules and change your voice to satisfy them. It's your book. Grammatically, the comma might be the only thing the sentence needs, but even that is optional.

edit: I also have noticed that on the book's page, the system now marks possible spelling/grammar issues. I'd go into the book's listing and scroll down the first page, right under the file upload section and see if anything is marked.

 

[Gennita Low]

That was my thought, too. I bet it's an older person who doesn't know what "squeeing" means. I think if you tell Amazon you've reviewed it and that you think the reader doesn't know what squeeing means, and refer them to a definition of the word for good measure, they'll drop it.

Good idea! Will do that and hope Amazon will get it.

 

[R. M. Reed]

Amazon does that for one "typo?" Authors play with language all the time. Fiction is not textbook English. It's called artistic license.

 

[horse_girl]

Amazon does that for one "typo?" Authors play with language all the time. Fiction is not textbook English. It's called artistic license.

+1

 

[MegHarris]

Amazon does that for one "typo?" Authors play with language all the time. Fiction is not textbook English. It's called artistic license.

It seems that even a single complaint, no matter how frivolous, can get forwarded to an author. I wouldn't ignore it, personally. I would write them back politely and link to something showing it's a word (dictionary.com does not actually list it, but I'm sure you can find a dictionary entry somewhere).

 

[Quiss]

edit: I also have noticed that on the book's page, the system now marks possible spelling/grammar issues. I'd go into the book's listing and scroll down the first page, right under the file upload section and see if anything is marked.

Ha! Those of us writing any sort of speculative fiction are constantly making words up. Not just words, but grammar as well. (Think Yoda). Keeping up with typos seems like a bit of a losing battle, especially if they're using bots instead of human eyeballs at some point.

 

[Saul Tanpepper]

It threw me for a moment. Would "squee-ing" work? Or possibly squeeing.

I also stumbled over "He was hardly her type and it was irritating he could make her act..." It's a style thing, but I want to put a "that" between irritating and he. But if your complainer is referring to that, nothing's going to satisfy them.

 

[Quiss]

It's a style thing, but I want to put a "that" between irritating and he.

This.

I like the italics idea for 'squee'. It seems to be a foreign word to some. Indeed, last year it would have been to me, too.

 

[Gennita Low]

Well, it's the first complaint I received from Amazon, so I thought it was a really bad typo. I did catch one on my own a while back and corrected it without anyone complaining . It was "umpteeth" instead of "umpteenth." I had a good laugh at that typo.

 

[horse_girl]

Ha! Those of us writing any sort of speculative fiction are constantly making words up. Not just words, but grammar as well. (Think Yoda). Keeping up with typos seems like a bit of a losing battle, especially if they're using bots instead of human eyeballs at some point.

And this is why I know of this little "feature"!

 

[Gennita Low]

So change it to "squeeing?" And no explanation to Amazon that squee is a legit word?

 

[Mathew Reuther]

You all know that it's not a real word, right?

It's a slang phrase that hasn't hit real dictionaries yet.

So Amazon is correct that it's not a real word.

Now, that said, I use all kinds of not real words because I write fantasy.

So if you ask me, they should simply get a note saying "squee is a slang phrase for squeal or squeak, and is being used legitimately in this context."

 

[MegHarris]

So if you ask me, they should simply get a note saying "squee is a slang phrase for squeal or squeak, and is being used legitimately in this context."

I agree. It may not be a "real" word, but everyone and his brother uses it. Changing it to italics doesn't make it more or less real; it makes it appear to be a foreign word, which it is not. I'd just tell Amazon it's a common slang term and ever so politely decline to change it.

 

[56139]

I would not even waste my time unless Amazon says they will remove the book or other such BS.  Since when is Amazon the content police?  And WhoTF does this reader think they are contacting the book DISTRIBUTOR to fix a typo?