Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Hi Nathan,

I recently signed with an agent at a reputable agency. The agent that I signed with is new, though others in the agency have strong sales records. I've been getting worried because this agent consistently sends me emails with typos in them--I understand a few, every so often, but almost every single email I've received from her contains some kind of error (their vs they're, misspelling a word, etc.). Her last one contained four separate errors in just a couple of sentences, and many of these mistakes she has repeated throughout her emails. It's tough for me to understand how someone who consistently makes such mistakes edited my manuscript fairly well, or how someone who is in the publishing business is so sloppy with her writing. Again, I'm not bothered by the fact that's she's made an error, but that this seems to be a recurring and pervasive problem. Am I just being paranoid, or is this a warning signal?

Alex

alexwhite wrote:Hi Nathan,

I recently signed with an agent at a reputable agency. The agent that I signed with is new, though others in the agency have strong sales records. I've been getting worried because this agent consistently sends me emails with typos in them--I understand a few, every so often, but almost every single email I've received from her contains some kind of error (their vs they're, misspelling a word, etc.). Her last one contained four separate errors in just a couple of sentences, and many of these mistakes she has repeated throughout her emails. It's tough for me to understand how someone who consistently makes such mistakes edited my manuscript fairly well, or how someone who is in the publishing business is so sloppy with her writing. Again, I'm not bothered by the fact that's she's made an error, but that this seems to be a recurring and pervasive problem. Am I just being paranoid, or is this a warning signal?

Alex

I don't know that I would necessarily worry, especially if she edited your manuscript well. She could be typing on a phone or just trust that the message is getting through. Everyone has quirks, if this is the only quirk your agent has you're probably doing fine. If there's other sloppiness you see you might take it into account though.