Spelling & PC

During the week I received the first edited draft of my latest novel from my publisher (Robert Hale Ltd.). It was a case of reading through the comments and observations and replying without actually making any changes to the draft. Two things struck me about it: spelling and PC. I have a decent vocabulary of words I can spell and have rarely struggled with that part of the English language. But I was constantly corrected for spelling words like ‘realise’ and ‘organise’ with the ‘s’ instead of the ‘z’. Realize and Organize. This is an American way of spelling those words and others similar to them. It doesn’t bother me if my editor wants me to spell the American way, but I have a feeling that in the literary world, these kind of spellings are the rule rather than the exception. No matter though; my book is now on its way to the printers for typesetting.

PC? Not a personal computer, but political correctness. I was reminded that my use of the word ‘black’ when referring to the features of a Jamaican character in the novel was probably not acceptable in today’s PC climate. You have to ask the question: who brought PC into this world? If a black man tells me I am white, is he a racist? No, of course not. But if I tell a black man he’s black, am I in the wrong? According to those who drive this absurd notion into all corners of our lives, I am. But what about porn? And I don’t mean the top shelf magazines either, but the racy, raunchy muck that lurks between the covers of a novel. And the gangster novels where no two sentences are complete without a string of awful swear words. If you were to parse those books and take out everything that would normally offend someone if they heard it in the high street, the book would be as thin as a newspaper and wouldn’t sell. But use of the word ‘black’? My, my!

I’ve been trying to launch my non-fiction book, A WORD IN YOUR EAR, on to Smashwords. I intend putting all my novels there eventually. It’s easy. So easy that I have struggled manfully to get an acceptable book cover uploaded. I have managed to get my book on to the Smashwords website, complete with jacket, and have actually purchased a copy (e-book). But in order to get the book on to the Premium Catalogue, which is the route to all the other sellers and bookshops, I have to do something else to my book jacket. Trouble is: I don’t what it is I have to do. All I am told is that there is a problem with the cover. It might be missing, corrupt or not big enough; take your pick. I still haven’t figured it out. I’ve e-mailed Smashwords through their help page. Hopefully they’ll come up with an answer, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ll keep on trying anyway. Wish me luck!