[lit-ideas] Re: speaking of omissions
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 03:40:08 +0900
Can't cite particular sources, but I recall recently reading that the
corporate takeovers of what were once small, high quality publishers has
decimated job opportunities for the copyeditors and proofreaders who used
to check for such things. The rush to replace expensive, highly skilled
people with technological band aids has also affected academic publishing,
where, increasingly, authors are expected to deliver camera ready copy to
their publishers, who are, in effect, responsible for nothing but printing
and publicity (meagre unless they expect a bestseller).
John
On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 3:21 AM, Paul Stone <pastone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> When I read a book, which is quite frequently, I almost always catch
> at least one 'error' in the copy : a word left out, a letter dropped
> or something small like that.
>
> I am currently reading a Robin Cook book called "Crisis" that I bought
> on a remainder as a hardback last week. I think it was about 5.99 or
> something silly like that. Anyway, it's a really good book -- for what
> it is, a medical/thriller/mystery doodad, but the copy is appalling.
> I've counted SEVEN errors so far and I'm only 2/3 through. And these
> are not small errors that may be overlooked. It's almost as if they
> didn't proof it enough. A character is referred to as another
> character's name within the space of a paragraph. Words are missing.
> Etc. Does anyone "in the know" have any info as to whether 'mistakes'
> like these would cause a hurried reprint in which case the 'old' run
> is immediately remaindered? I've read other Cook books (sic) and they
> were exquisitely edited.
>
> just wandering,
>
> p
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--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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