# Why are there so many errors in Kindle books?



## Phyrebrat (Mar 2, 2022)

From Stephen King to indies, there are always a small handful of typos. He instead of the, missing definite articles and the odd missing letter. 

How is kindle generated?


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## Christine Wheelwright (Mar 2, 2022)

Phyrebrat said:


> From Stephen King to indies, there are always a small handful of typos. He instead of the, missing definite articles and the odd missing letter.
> 
> How is kindle generated?



I've used it.  As I recall, there were certainly formatting issues.  But I don't think it actually changed any words.  I would assume those typos must have been present in the original document uploaded.


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## Phyrebrat (Mar 2, 2022)

Christine Wheelwright said:


> I've used it.  As I recall, there were certainly formatting issues.  But I don't think it actually changed any words.  I would assume those typos must have been present in the original document uploaded.


That’s what I figured but it’s all books. I’ve noticed since I’ve had it and my software is up to date. 

When I compare the errors to my hard copies of books they’re not there.


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## Christine Wheelwright (Mar 2, 2022)

Phyrebrat said:


> That’s what I figured but it’s all books. I’ve noticed since I’ve had it and my software is up to date.
> 
> When I compare the errors to my hard copies of books they’re not there.



I'm not sure if this is relevant, but out-of-copyright books sometime receive atrocious treatment as idiots cash in on kindle.  Maybe this is what you are seeing?  See the following piece about this:









						The Great Gapsby? How modern editions of classics lost the plot
					

F Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is the latest title to appear in a cheap modern version after copyright expires




					www.theguardian.com


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## HareBrain (Mar 2, 2022)

Phyrebrat said:


> When I compare the errors to my hard copies of books they’re not there.


If these are books old enough to have been originally typewritten, they were probably digitised by printed copies being scanned by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software. That can introduce horrendous errors. They were probably proofread afterwards, but maybe only once.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Mar 2, 2022)

I agree with HB.  In older books it's largely due to scanning errors, followed by inadequate proofreading (or none).  Though I have observed that even in new books by major publishing houses copy editing and proof reading are not as meticulous as they once were.


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## tinkerdan (Mar 3, 2022)

I agree with the OCR thought and have seen the OCR problem with many older books.

However I have a few that were produced by traditional publishers recently that have had more than a dozen obvious errors. I really think there is a bit of slacking in the industry these days.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Mar 3, 2022)

tinkerdan said:


> I agree with the OCR thought and have seen the OCR problem with many older books.
> 
> However I have a few that were produced by traditional publishers recently that have had more than a dozen obvious errors. I really think there is a bit of slacking in the industry these days.


Some genres more than others. SFF is better in that regard than another genre I often read. And I will say that a dozen or so errors in new books that would have been caught a decade or two ago by more vigilant proofreaders is nothing compared to the uncorrected errors I have seen on practically every page of some of the scanned books I have read. I've even gotten sort of used to them, though that doesn't excuse the carelessness of those who publish them.


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## Anthony Grate (Mar 3, 2022)

Using scanning to digitize the content just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Too many variables.


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## Harpo (Mar 3, 2022)




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## Pyan (Mar 3, 2022)

To be fair, though, I think the lower cost, accessibility and compactness of books on Kindle more than make up for the odd misprint and error. Plus I genuinely wouldn't have the physical room to put the books I now have on a 6½" x 4½" device.


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## Please Be Nice (May 14, 2022)

HareBrain said:


> If these are books old enough to have been originally typewritten, they were probably digitised by printed copies being scanned by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software. That can introduce horrendous errors. They were probably proofread afterwards, but maybe only once.


^^^^^
This.

Also most things don't get properly edited before uploaded to kindle.


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## Bramandin (May 14, 2022)

Maybe they're crowdsourcing the proofreading.  Some people have special software where they can highlight errors and send in corrections.


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