Lipo typoIs it just me or have you also been noticing more and more typographical errors in US books lately. In my trade paperback edition of Gomorrah for example, I've counted 8!
I'm not one to nitpick, but if I'm paying good money for my books, I'm expecting it to be 100% free from any error -- whether a typo or a grammatical one. Frankly, typos in books just reek of mediocrity.
It's bad enough that we see typos every day in the net (like in this blog occasionally), but at least the stuff we see online is free. There's nothing like reading a book that's riddled with typos to make any book lover start pulling out his hair violently.
Is the recession to be blamed for all this? Are publishers cutting on corners on their editorial processes? Does it really hurt to have one more pair of eyes go through the galleys just one more time?
3 comments:
Oh how I agree....it's just as bad as the newspapers today--I don't think the position of copy editor exists anymore. There seems to be no pride of publication...if it sells, who cares if it's not correctly spelled, or has sentences with no verbs, etc.?
I think the IM/text sphere has invaded the publishing industry although they won't admit it. When I get an ARC I always send an email with 'to be edited' to the publisher. I have yet to get a response.
Anyway it's nice to know someone else out there cares. Maybe if we all start asking for our money back, or publicizing loud and clear that "THIS BOOK HAS "X" number of typos" we might get something started. I wonder if the authors care?
I'm reading a book printed in 2001, University of Chicago Press (of all places). I'm halfway through and I've already counted 6 errors including the incorrect spelling of George Mosse as George Moose in the text (even though in the Bibliography it was spelled correctly). I'm only halfway through the book, but University of Chicago? I don't think its IM/text sphere that has invaded publishing but an over reliance on word processing software and spell check software. People are no longer used to having actually review and proofread.
Hi Tutu! I definitely agree with you about how some book and newspaper publishers have made do without copyeditors. It's sad, that's what it is.
Hello Lance! I can't believe that book you're mentioning was published by University of Chicago! My goodness! That university even publishes The Chicago Manual of Style!
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