An open letter to Tagalog pocketbook authors and editors

I asked my mom to buy me some books I could read while I did my "warding" duties to my lola in the hospital. Little did I know that I would be bombarded with outrageous mistakes in spelling and grammar in all the stories I read. It would have been fine if the same bloopers were made twice, but all throughout the story?!

Ano kaming readers, bobo?

I do love to read cheap books especially if they're quite a steal, but to subject the readers' senses to multiple errors is just not right. They don't add to the stories' humor, if the stories are supposed to be humorous.

Writers, I'm also a writer. I do know how hard it is to rectify your own mistakes when it comes to grammar. And spelling. However, "convinience" 10 times in a book is...unimaginable! Kahit isang beses man lang, di natama? Hanubayan!

Editors, you're supposed to check for errors in the manuscripts you receive. Why, oh, why didn't do your job properly? Really, is it too much to ask?

Occasional mistakes are fine. I'm a very forgiving person. Besides, I do commit the same ridiculous errors sometimes. But I'm a writer for the new media; I can change those blunders even after 3 years; I am my own editor.

Sana naman ay di gaanong nakaka-eskandalo ang mga pagkakamali natin sa maiikling nobelang sinusulat natin. Kung computer ang gamit sa pagta-type ng mga storya, gamitin kahit man lang ang spell checker.

No offense meant. Thank you po.

Yours truly,
Shari Cruz