"Peons of Praise"--The Author Said That

Uh oh. Don't get me started on publishing houses.

I've complained about this before, but it seems relevant here. I've been asked on several projects to leave mistakes uncorrected because the author thinks it "sounds better" wrong.

My most recent problem: The division of the publisher I work for is outsourcing all work. Yes, including editing and proofreading. This means that nonnative English speakers are editing and proofreading.

Here's one of the dooziest paragraphs I've encountered:

Caught by the demands of needing to be live and flexible, she became anorexic and bulimic, requiring hospitalization and near death experiences.

This was about someone well known. How many mistakes can you find?

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Oof.

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How many mistakes can I find? Enough that I'd send that back to my high school staffers for a rewrite.

That's truly awful.

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I feel your pain, Roberta. I stopped doing political literature years ago when a client/politician told me not to correct his errors because he had made them intentionally. He was trying to appeal to uneducated voters.

I told him he had clearly hired the wrong person.

That was the nicest thing I could think to say.

(He hadn't paid my bill yet.) :wink:

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Sue dat sumbitch, Eva. I tried editing political stuff once. I'm too picky. Big problem. I actually wanted stuff to be right. You know, like factual info. I quit. Worked as a volunteer. No paycheck to be missing.

What a woild.

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Oh, he paid me. I never had to sue him. But eventually I did have the supreme pleasure of throwing him out of my house.

Yes, I did! Cool

He had produced a blatantly self-congratulatory mailing wherein he took credit for one of MY community accomplishments! Then he had the gall to ask me for my signature on the mailing as an endorsement! Un-be-liev-able! Not only did I kick him out of my house, but I turned around and referred him to my biggest competitor. Killed two birds with one stone.

Joe Nation knows the sumbitch. In case he reads this thread, he might be interested to know that after that election, the cockroach served one more term before term limits kicked in. The sumbitch is now a lobbyist, and therefore damned to an even lower circle of Hell.

Dontcha love a happy ending?!

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I walked into my place of business one afternoon and saw that my manager had put out our new sale signs. Well, right there on the main table was a large sign that proclaimed 40% off panty accessories!

Not so unusual, except for the fact that we are a kitchen gadget store.

The sign was SUPPOSED to say 40% off pantry accessories, my boss never noticed.

Yes, I did take it down :wink:

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You're a good kid, Adistar. Did you tell your boss? Embarrassed

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Roberta wrote:

Caught by the demands of needing to be live and flexible, she became anorexic and bulimic, requiring hospitalization and near death experiences.

More please, Roberta!

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How the hell can some management orifice outsource written material that is targeted for a specific readership?

I have a friend whose a best selling author, Ive never asked him about the editing process he deals with. He wont talk about his work now because he's on strike.

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Roberta wrote:

You're a good kid, Adistar. Did you tell your boss?

Yes, I walked up to him with the sign and asked "What's wrong with this?"

It took him a few minutes to catch it, then he blushed and threw it in the shredder. Laughing

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msolga wrote:

Roberta wrote:
Caught by the demands of needing to be live and flexible, she became anorexic and bulimic, requiring hospitalization and near death experiences.

More please, Roberta!

Hey, are you msolga or Oliver Twist? Don't have more that are interesting or even amusing. However, I do have a publishing experience to pass along.

Someone wrote a book on nutrition that was a huge success. She was asked to write a cookbook. I was asked to edit it. I have never worked on a cookbook. How hard could it be? Lists--ingredients and instructions.

Big sigh.

Right off the bat, I knew I was in for an ordeal. First recipe: Not all the ingredients listed were mentioned in the instructions. And as I rolled along, grumbling and saying dirty words, I found plenty of ingredients mentioned in the cooking directions that weren't in the list of ingredients. I also found a few recipe titles that didn't reflect what was actually in the recipe. (Am I being too picky?) Grilled chicken when roasting was in the recipe. Steamed beans with no beans. (Too picky?)

Editing the book was a monumental task. I was glad to be done with it. It was published and was a success. Naturally the author was asked to write another. She agreed and requested me as the editor. Big sigh.

Three recipes in, I found a list of ingredients and no directions at all. Thud. (Too picky?)

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My wife actually cooks like that.

No walnuts? Use rum instead.

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can't go wrong with rum. I agree.

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"Another heart rendering story, my heart bleeds for you, want sympathy again?"

An A2K author.

This quotation cements the friendship.

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Roberta wrote:

My most recent problem: The division of the publisher I work for is outsourcing all work. Yes, including editing and proofreading. This means that nonnative English speakers are editing and proofreading.

I'm wondering if the novel I just finished was published by your publisher, Roberta, or whether all of them are out-sourcing now. I came across a number of quite glaring errors, which really grated. (One of the reviews for the book I'd read also noted the errors.) Very poor! I would not be at all happy if I was the author of this book.

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msolga wrote:

Roberta wrote:
My most recent problem: The division of the publisher I work for is outsourcing all work. Yes, including editing and proofreading. This means that nonnative English speakers are editing and proofreading.

I'm wondering if the novel I just finished was published by your publisher, Roberta, or whether all of them are out-sourcing now. I came across a number of quite glaring errors, which really grated. (One of the reviews for the book I'd read also noted the errors.) Very poor! I would not be at all happy if I was the author of this book.

I don't know what to tell ya. Maybe the author isn't happy. Maybe the author doesn't know the difference and/or doesn't care. If you bought the book, the author gets the royalty, the publisher gets the royalty, and you get a bunch of errors.

I'm currently proofreading a book that was edited and typeset in a foreign country. No one told me this. But I know it. Quality. Not just strange and alien mistakes that English software (let alone English editors) wouldn't let pass. But sloppy typesetting that you rarely if ever see from American compositors. It's also clear that no one at the compositor is looking at anything. Print and ship.

This is a proofread. This means that someone edited it. My latest bizarro encounter: camoradry. Not quite right, is it?

Grrrrrrrrrr

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Roberta wrote:

...camoradry. Not quite right, is it?

No, not quite, Roberta!

I guess your "proofread" becomes a sort of edit, then? (on the cheap!)

Grrrrrr Evil or Very Mad

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You noticed that? Thought it was just me.

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Roberta wrote:

You noticed that? Thought it was just me.

The proofread really being an edit, you mean, Roberta?

So this means you'd be doing pretty much the same work as you would have done (as a editor) but paid less because it's less "important" work?

Rolling Eyes

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"Peons of Praise"--The Author Said That

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