I found out the story is so much more important than the grammar errors

[Guest]

.. The reviews of my novel proved that.

[Dennid]

No publisher ever said, "This story is brilliant. I'm going to publish as it is. Warts and all!"

[Michael]

Learning grammar and punctuation is 'not' difficult. And better sentence structure will help you create a better story.

[Claire]

If you're publishing on Amazon, readers can report you for errors. Too many, and Amazon pulls your book - even if you're an established author. Time is valuable; people have a choice how to spend it and they won't waste it on a book that not even the author believes is worth editing properly, despite the wealth of software out there that makes it easy to do.

Show the reader respect. Do the work, use the grammar tools. I wouldn't read a work littered with errors - no matter how 'good' the story - because it demonstrates that the writer places zero value on their own story, and has no respect for my time. Plenty others do.

[Rosteet]

Chef: "I burn lots of food and my flavors are disgusting, but I occasionally make a chicken breast that is ok."

[Renee]

It's not always that way. In my contests, a polished story trumps creativity. That's what we score on primarily. Actually, my score sheets are built around my "Story Checks" file (the one I shared this morning), since those are simple things a publisher looks for. And yes, creativity on top of polish can definitely push the scores higher. But most publishers are looking for works that are almost ready to publish; items which need very little editing. My goal is to help authors practice polishing their stories for that submission process.

And when reading books, I want to read works by authors who care about making my experience a good one. There's nothing like poor editing to confuse me and take me out of the story. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it's easy to tell how hard the author tried.

[James]

It's just my opinion, but someone who doesn't care about grammar and punctuation isn't a writer. Would you hear a professional musician say, "I play a lot of wrong notes but the most important thing is the tune"? Would you hear a mathematician say, "I don't know how decimal points work – it's all about the numbers"?

[Dave]

The thing with grammar errors is that there's a critical mass. Below that level, you're absolutely right--above that level and the reader can't figure out what you're saying and the book will tank.

[Adele]

A couple of errors are no big deal, but if the work has too many, people will stop reading, leave negative reviews, etc. There’s an expectation that a published work has a level of polish to it so it looks professional. I’m an English teacher and read papers riddled with errors for a living. In my leisure time, I quite expect to read more polished, professional work.