I did it. I used the wrong word. It wasn’t that I didn’t KNOW which word to use…my fingers just typed it wrong. When I was copying the synopsis of each Libby Fox novella into the synopsis of the compilation of the three, I saw these words and cringed. She learns that their are things out there more dangerous than vampires as she searches for the Secrets of the Wolf. Yes, I used “their” instead of “there”! My face is so red! I’ve noticed when writing that my fingers sometimes just type a familiar word even when it’s not the word I meant to type. Sometimes it’s really a weird mistake and the word makes NO sense in the sentence. That’s why proofreading is SO important. I fixed the word in the synopsis this morning and I hope Amazon makes the change quickly. I wonder how many people noticed….
How about you? Do you ever find yourself typing the wrong word? Have you ever let it slip through in a book or a synopsis? Were you embarrassed?
lauralynnelliott.com 
I do those all the time. Also your and you’re, even though I’m Mistress Grammarpants and it’s not actually a problem in my head at all. Today I have an interview posted on someone else’s blog in which I totally typed words in a sentence in the wrong order. It doesn’t even make sense. But we also do that kind of thing when we speak–for some reason we just think we’re more deliberate when we write.
I even have to proofread my posts and comments. I’ve had a view errors slip through there, too, but almost all blogs have errors. But I was so embarrassed when my synopsis was there for everyone to see with that wrong word there. LOL (I used the word “there” three times in this comment, but at least it was spelled the correct way.)
Oh I’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt so many times they are even considering making a sweater for me.
I certainly hear what you are saying on the brain typing a word that just makes no sense. When my daughter was young I remember one night I was writing, it must have been around midnight, and I was so tired that I must have been half asleep when I wrote it, because after my daughter’s bottle was finished I checked what I had written and the entire final paragraph of what I had been working on was strange. It had absolutely nothing to do with the scene, the novel at all in fact. Not even the same characters. Yet when I read it through, it all flowed and made sense. I must have just gone onto autopilot and started writing whatever my brain was thinking about.
It happens to me when reading when I am really tired. That last page before I turn off the light I often find my brain reading sentences that make no sense and when I re-read it, the sentence wasn’t there at all. Especially with it is lines of dialogue I am reading.
I think it’s definitely worse when we’re tired. I also think that there are words that are easier and more familiar to our fingers, so if the first few letters are correct, we type the rest of the word differently than what we meant to.
I am doing good when I type the right word. It’s why I have you as an editor.
Congrats on the Libby Fox set; I hope it does great and opens a whole new bunch of readers to your world.
Jonathan
Oh, well, all writers aren’t great at grammar. That’s why proofreaders are so important.
I hope Libby sells.
Ack! We’ve all had that moment where we realize our mistake. Like you mention…it’s not that you didn’t know the correct word to use, but we get going along and our fingers type wrong while our brains somehow ‘correct’ the mistakes as we’re reading.
Don’t dwell on it (yeah…I know…harder than it sounds). If it’s any consolation, I didn’t notice. It’s fixed now – and that’s what counts! 🙂
I just hate using the wrong word. I’m so uptight about that. I guess it’s because I was so good at grammar in school. I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older, my fingers overtake my brain more than they used to.
You know, I noticed that when I was copying the descriptions of each book to the post I did yesterday and meant to tell you. I caught it then and fixed it before I posted. I wish I had remembered to tell you. 😦
Well, I probably found it at about the same time you did, so no big deal. 🙂
Yep, I’ve done this, too, and it’s incredibly embarrassing. The problem is that some of these words are so similar that it’s hard to see them when you’re writing them and spell check won’t pick it up. I’m glad you caught it before it was out there for too long.
I think we’ve all done something like this. It’s just that I think people look harder at indies because they assume there will be more errors. Of course, I find errors in traditionally published books all the time.
I hear you on finding errors in traditionally published books, and for some reason, we’re told we must do better work. Part of me wants to ask, “Hold on. Why not insist the traditionally published books be better than they are?” Of course, we’re aiming to polish up our books so they’re free of errors, but I don’t like how people are easier on the traditional publishers. If I produced books as bad as some of the traditionally published books I’ve seen, I’d be getting a ton of complaints in my inbox. I say all books should be held to the same standard, whether there’s a publisher involved or not.
(getting off soapbox now)
Oh, I’m on the same soapbox. The standard should be the same.
We’ve all done it so don’t worry about it.
It’s hard not to beat myself up for it, though. LOL