[bookshare-discuss] Re: Fw: Your book has been marked for more editing
- From: "Kim Friedman" <kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:41:35 -0700
Hi, Traci, I guess you are one of the deranged perfectionists. I guess being
particular is part of the job. You're in a very ticklish position because
you're doing stuff that is out of the common run of things according to some
folks. I think there is education needed in interpreting (let alone
understanding) the language of the books, particularly if there is a use of
words spelled in a particular way, idioms, expressions, etc. The folks who
are unfamiliar with what you're doing are no doubt bewildered. And of course
the computer won't know from Adam about those spellings, expressions, etc.
It'll gather the spelling is wrong rather than a deliberate attempt by the
author to represent the speech and dialog habits of the characters. This
whole spelling thing can get really dicey because there are two schools of
thought on this: according to one school, use regular spelling all the time
but use selective representation of words which indicate a dialect. (Some
people find spelling all dialog in dialect very distracting and it might be
considered disrespectful if the spelling is used to put down or disrespect
the speakers who may not use "standard" English.) Another school apparently
doesn't see anything wrong in recording or making up spelling for people who
don't talk in the "prestige" language or dialect. Write now I'm proofreading
a book where some of the dialog is written in a dialect reflecting the
speech of certain people from Liverpool or that of Yorkshire. I am
unfamiliar with current urban fiction (for the obvious reason that I haven't
read any) so have no idea how people speak currently. Yes, Traci, I am out
of step and am not up on the current slang, idiomatic expressions, etc. I
want you to know I sympathize with you and applaud your efforts to bring new
fiction or non-fiction to Bookshare. Regards, Kim.
_____
From: traci [mailto:season@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 5:22 AM
To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: Fw: Your book has been marked for more
editing
Hi
When I got my very first rejection email, I took it on the chin because I
was new to scanning and figured I'd learn from the mistake. I adjusted and
readjusted my scanning settings until I came up with what appeared to be
clean, junk free work. Well, as junk free as possible. If it means that I
read text with all punctuation, then so be it. Yes, it will be annoying but
worth the trouble. If you scan an 800 page book and it is rejected, that
bites. I don't care how much you try not to let it bother you because that
takes a lot of time and dedication. When I scan, I try to go over each and
every word. Most times I think I am successful and other times my helpers go
mad because I'm having them input the correct text if a word is out of
sequence. So I agree that a clean read through is necessary. I have read
books prior to qc and better standards that I have had to leave comments for
book quality so I completely get it. Again, I know I sound like a whiner
but it starts to feel pretty personal and the rational side of me realizes
this for the silliness that it is. Still, when you submit that many books
and never receive the message stating that your book has been submitted, it
is a real downer. I wouldn't even know what that email looks like. And the
really sad part about it is the subject matter that I chose to submit is in
very limitted supply. It isn't just with bookshare. I read an article where
librarians were encouraged to put these books on their shelves because the
audience is growing and the books are very popular. One of the books I
submitted took me a few months to get since it was backordered and its
sequel is still on back order. So to have a disability and to be able to
have these particular books available is great for those who are interested
in reading them as you won't find them on the NLS site or in the library
itself. Believe me, I went with a few friends and looked to no avail. I
just wish I could get someone to read one of the books so they could see the
lingo I'm talking about because I am pretty sure what is being considered as
typos and scannos are not scannos at all but are indeed part of the text of
the books. Okay, rant is over. I haven't been to bed yet. Was scanning until
i got the email. Good night/smorning.
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database 5325 (20100730) __________
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