Oh, Where, Oh, Where Have the Editors Gone?
I can no longer sit down and read most of my local newspapers without cringing. They're riddled with errors. And I'm not just talking the occasional typo. I'm seeing more and more instances of word choices being outright wrong to the point where the sentence is nonsensical.
Newspapers aren't the only publications suffering either. When was the last time you sat down with a book and made it all the way to the end without spotting at least one error? Um hmm, that's what I thought. Sad to say this tendency looks to become more the norm than the exception: The lost art of editing.
posted by Irreverent Freelancer @ 8:56 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I bought a hardback Library of America edition of War & Peace for a trip to Guatemala. I was so disgusted with the typos and grammatical errors that I came across while reading this classic, that I almost left the book in Antigua. The only reason I brought it back was because I needed the contact information to write a letter to someone, anyone. I doubt anyone would have cared.
A classic--that's even worse. How many incarnations has a book like that gone through and they still can't get it right? GRRR!!
It's funny, Kathy, Michael and I were just having this same discussion a couple of days ago. We also have noticed how prevalent typos and other errors have become in the newspaper, especially in the articles and headlines they put online. Something else I've noticed is that ebooks tend to have more errors, and errors that aren't necessarily in the physical versions -- I suppose because someone was in a hurry to digitize, and didn't do a very good job of editing.
I bought an ebook recently and I could not believe all the errors I found. OK, it was a self-published (self-distributed?) how-to kind of ebook that was very inexpensive but I was nevertheless surprised about how careless the author was. I mean, he obviously did the editing himself, meaning he ran it through the spell checker This also didn't do the trick as we all know how spell checkers don't care about properly spelled words placed in the wrong locataions.
A fellow writer was telling me about one publication she used to write for - she mentioned to the editor one day that she never receives stuff back for rewrites or corrections, and you know what they said? "We don't make changes to anything that's sent in. We assume it's ok." Huh?
I'm reading an ARC in which this phrase appears. It's not a copyediting problem, but even so see what you think: "you won't be able to see me because I'll be hidden."
Well, duh! :)
Hello, did an editor even look at this?
Kathy, I was at the local diner with my daughter yesterday. The new menu offered a turkey "sandsich", a "vegerarian" wrap, and to drink, my personal favorite: the "Chirly Temple." That was in place of the "decafeeinated" tea.
Even my daughter, who hates my obsession with spelling, was rolling her eyes over it.
EP and Katharine, thankfully I don't read many ebooks. Traditional publishers have cut back on editing, so I can't even imagine how bad matters have gotten in the e-publishing world, where fast and cheap are the goals.
Fiona, NO fact checking? It's bad enough they let spelling and grammatical errors slip through, but facts? That's just unacceptable. She must have written for one of the gossip mags. ;o)
You'd think that would at least have gotten a query out of the copyeditor, wouldn't you, Debbi?
Oh, Lori, that would be the last time I'd eat there. Did you leave them a business card on the way out?
Kathy, I did, but I doubt they'd be able to read it! LOL
I'm a designer who also proofreads. Here are a few things that made me cringe lately:
I was just reading a design book and noticed that a picture is printed upside-down, although the caption describes it right-side-up. Cringe.
A marketing and pricing book states that pricing by the hour is not a good idea, because, "...the faster you are and the better you get, the more money you will make." Exactly opposite of the point the author was trying to make. In my copy of the otherwise excellent book, I had to cross out "more" and write in "less." Cringe.
My local newspaper is called "The Daily Something" (name changed to protect the guilty). I call it "The Daily Mistake." Cringe.
Arrgh!
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