A disturbing new development in publishing?

[Kerrybuchanan]

Written in a rush, so please can a mod move if there's a better place for this?

I am currently reading a debut novel, published by a fairly well-known and well-respected publisher who shall remain nameless (not anyone on here!). Within the first four paragraphs, I was tripping over grammatical mistakes and typos (such as where instead of were, etc) and completely random punctuation. Don't get me wrong; it's a great story, well-told, but it reads like a first or early-second draft. I'm reading on, because it's a murder-mystery by a local author, and the actual characters and plot are great, but I am getting more and more irritated by it.

Out of curiosity, I skipped to the acknowledgements at the end to see what the author had to say. There was a message from the publisher there, saying whilst they make every effort to ensure books are carefully edited and proofread, mistakes occasionally slip through. They ask readers to contact them if they spot any errors so they can amend the book, and they give an email address.

Is this a new development in publishing? A cheaper way to get the books out there quickly, without wasting money on basic (and I mean very basic) editing and proofreading? Let the reader, who has already paid for the right to read the book, do all the hard work for them?

 

[Overread]

It's kind of crept in with two angles
1) You get a lot of self published works where the author has either shortened or totally bypassed an editor phase. Or at least a proper one. It's gone through spell-check on Word.

2) You get this also with reprints of older books where the publisher scans the book into the computer and the optical character recognition software isn't perfect and sometimes gives odd words. This one tends to really throw up some oddities especially if the source words aren't common modern English.

In my view it would be fine at least if ebooks were updated on a regular bases much the same way computer-games are and if the issues were minor rather than major. However whilst some ebooks do update its not a big thing really. Books are still mostly on a publish and done unless someone suddenly surges into popularity.

Must admit I've seen a fair few ebooks where this happens and its really jarring and what's worse is I'm normally blind to grammatical mistakes so they've got to be REALLY glaring for me to pick up on them. I think its a mistake of many authors and it likely kills a lot of first time writers who otherwise might well put out decent material; but who can never get a reading audience because the quality of the writing suffers.

 

[Vertigo]

The book I'm currently reading is "published" as an ebook by the Jaberwocky Literary Agency and has this at the back:

Help us make our ebooks better!

If you find any spelling, formatting, or other issues, please let us know! We'll send you a free physical book of your choice from what we currently have in the office, by any of our clients, and do our best to correct the errors quickly. Send us an email at ebooks@awfulagent.com.

Sincerely,
The JABberwocky Team

In all fairness the original was published in 2001 so probably just before ebooks were getting common and I'm guessing this is likely an ebook created from a scan of the original published book (by Pyr I think). So this probably falls into @Overread's second category. And, given the incentive, trust me I'm looking out for errors (none so far!).

However there are a couple of plus points to this one: 1) they are offering a free physical book as thanks and 2) I love the self deprecating domain name they are using (it is genuine just check out www.awfulagency.com)!

What's also interesting is the idea that an agency, rather than author, is effectively getting into self-publishing. Which I actually think is a quite promising halfway house between trad publishing and self publishing.

ETA: I don't actually have a problem with this approach so long as some incentive is applied and genuinely given. So, for example, if a self published author offered, say, a freebie of their next book I'd make the effort to send them the feedback. But we're only talking proof reading/copy editing here.

 

[Biskit]

What's also interesting is the idea that an agency, rather than author, is effectively getting into self-publishing. Which I actually think is a quite promising halfway house between trad publishing and self publishing.

The Ethan Ellenberg agency doing this as well under the banner of Agent Sponsored Publishing with four separate imprints. I assume it's where they see a manuscript that they believe in but can't get a publisher to take, so they turn publisher themselves. I take it as a very positive step - something to shake up the publishing industry and increase the range of competition.

The Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency, Literary Agent


ETA
Worldbuilders Press, one of the imprints, is the publisher for We Are Legion(We Are Bob)

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I have seen that disclaimer and request for assistance before, yes. Are you going to take them up on it?

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I have seen that disclaimer and request for assistance before, yes. Are you going to take them up on it?

I'm tempted, but it'd take a lot of time and energy, as there are so many issues. I don't think anyone has ever proofread it at all!

 

[tinkerdan]

Errors are definitely not new.
Asking for reader help is.
This smacks of the self-published as in many cases they do seem to be begging the reader to find their mistakes.

The reason I say that errors are not new is that I've been re-reading all my Heinlein paper-bound novels published over 50 years ago and have found at least one grammatical error in each of the first 15 that I've finished. Many instances there are as many as half a dozen errors though I might allow some literary license since some times his characters use slang. Even so for the most part there are glaring errors with either missing words or misspelled words and in one instance the repetition of words that suggest the sentence structure may have been otherwise in a previous version.

 

[Vertigo]

Errors are definitely not new.
Asking for reader help is.
This smacks of the self-published as in many cases they do seem to be begging the reader to find their mistakes.

The reason I say that errors are not new is that I've been re-reading all my Heinlein paper-bound novels published over 50 years ago and have found at least one grammatical error in each of the first 15 that I've finished. Many instances there are as many as half a dozen errors though I might allow some literary license since some times his characters use slang. Even so for the most part there are glaring errors with either missing words or misspelled words and in one instance the repetition of words that suggest the sentence structure may have been otherwise in a previous version.

Agreed but my example was an established agency with an established and traditionally published author (the book in question was originally published 2001). I've already found half a dozen errors (about a third through 430 pages) so I shall probably send it in and see if I get a free book out of it! Though I'm not quite sure how that would work as anyone else could have sent in all the same errors since I bought it...

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

A free book would go down well, but this publisher is offering nothing. And it is a publisher, too. A moderately well-known, middle-sized publisher. That is really terrifying, because having now finished the book, I can not believe any editor or proofreader has ever looked at it. I'm not talking about half a dozen mistakes, but literally hundreds scattered throughout the book. I'm deeply embarrassed for the author.

There are multiple cases of the incorrect word being used, e.g. assume instead of presume; tense confusion, e.g. "Josephine Bloggs thought of the home life XYZ had gave her..."; it's as a possessive and head's as a plural; the list goes on and on. There's also multiple repetition, both of fragments and sentences in the same paragraph and of ideas throughout the book, as though the author has forgotten that they've already said that earlier.

I'm tempted to contact the publisher, but I have no dea what to say. "Your book is crap?" Not true, as the story and characters are great. "You should sack your editor?" Because there is an editor named in the acknowledgements. "Allow me to make corrections for you in exchange for a hefty fee?" Yeah, but I'm not qualified as a proofreader....

I sort of want to give it a 1* review, but that wouldn't really reflect the book as a whole, and I try to avoid giving those if I can. Advice?

 

[HareBrain]

It's tricky, as presumably it's not the author's fault and it would be unfair to punish them. But neither is it fair to let publishers get away with that kind of crap. Clearly "every effort" has not been made, nothing like. As a first step, I'd email them as they ask, point out how many errors there are (but not that you'll prepare a list for them!), and suggest they get a revised and properly proofed edition out in a month or two, as otherwise they are very likely to be picking up some bad reviews and wider comments.

 

[Ursa major]

It's unlikely, but could they have, in error, published the wrong (i.e. prior to being properly edited) version of the manuscript?

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

This sounds like a bit of cheek to me. One of the few advantages for an author in going the trade route in my view, is free professional editing. I'd happily accept a few errors from such a book. But what you're describing doesn't sound like that at all - and getting the readers to do the editing is appalling.

On the other hand having just spent two weeks going through the tangled morass of a second edit my editor sent me and having finally published the finished book yesterday, I'm in a somewhat contrary mood. I'm swinging between grumpiness and exhaustion. Take anything I say for the next few days with a grain of salt!

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Vertigo]

To be honest I wouldn't completely exonerate the author either. A book is a piece of art created by an artist and they should have sufficient pride in their own work to check the final draft themselves. Yes, I'd expect a traditional publishing house to do a half decent job of editing my work, but would I trust them to do so? No, I'd want to check. And that does sound like a pretty horrendous example; I doubt I'd have finished reading it if it was that bad. That sort of thing will destroy my enjoyment, but I guess I can be a bit of a pedant at times, but it's not conscious I simply notice whether I want to or not and each time it pulls me out of my immersion in the story. And that totally spoils the read for me. So if 'twas me I'd probably happily give it 1 star, maybe two if the story was really that good.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

It's tricky, as presumably it's not the author's fault and it would be unfair to punish them. But neither is it fair to let publishers get away with that kind of crap. Clearly "every effort" has not been made, nothing like. As a first step, I'd email them as they ask, point out how many errors there are (but not that you'll prepare a list for them!), and suggest they get a revised and properly proofed edition out in a month or two, as otherwise they are very likely to be picking up some bad reviews and wider comments.

This is what I think I'll probably end up doing.

It's unlikely, but could they have, in error, published the wrong (i.e. prior to being properly edited) version of the manuscript?

Yes, that's what I wondered, too.

To be honest I wouldn't completely exonerate the author either. A book is a piece of art created by an artist and they should have sufficient pride in their own work to check the final draft themselves. Yes, I'd expect a traditional publishing house to do a half decent job of editing my work, but would I trust them to do so? No, I'd want to check. And that does sound like a pretty horrendous example; I doubt I'd have finished reading it if it was that bad. That sort of thing will destroy my enjoyment, but I guess I can be a bit of a pedant at times, but it's not conscious I simply notice whether I want to or not and each time it pulls me out of my immersion in the story. And that totally spoils the read for me. So if 'twas me I'd probably happily give it 1 star, maybe two if the story was really that good.

I agree, and I wouldn't usually manage to get beyond the first page with such a badly edited book, but I found the story riveting enough to keep me turning the pages. Clearly the author has major issues with grammar, punctuation, and accuracy of vocabulary, which they should really be trying to address themselves, but it doesn't look as though much support was provided by the publisher to help them improve.

 

[Cathbad]

When I was in college, I was taught that "most" errors in a published work was the fault of the Editor. It is expected that the author will make mistakes, not only grammatical, but in continuity. If a professional editor misses the mistake, could hardly blame the editor (and yes, proofs for a final approval have always been sent to the author; so he/she can, indeed, make one last check).

As far as pushing it off on the readers? Shameful.

Might call for a letter: "Dear Publisher, I have found 19 grammatical errors in your book, Bouncing Betty Looses Her Grip, as well as two continuity errors. If you would like to know what these are, please see my rates below. Remittance can be made to my PayPal Account, notadumbass@duh.net. After payment, I will forward you the results of my edit. Sincerely..."

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Can I employ you as my agent?

 

[Serendipity]

Last year, I read a book from a top-rate publisher, and I ended up screaming at all the typos. It drove me nuts. I really felt sorry for the debut author - to the extent I commented about it in a review on Amazon.

I know it's darned near impossible to catch all typos. Basically if it becomes a chore reading through the typos, there are too many of them. If a typo catches you by a rare surprise and you think they are only human, then it's get-away-withable. Where the borderline is, I don't know.

As for the debut author, I feel she'll have 'lost marks' with the science fiction readership because of it. Which is a great pity because I expected her to improve in her story-writing.

 

[Overread]

Thing is when the errors are very obvious and also in the first few chapters that's a huge sign that something has gone wrong or steps have been missed out. Because those first parts should be the parts that everyone publishing is checking the most. They are what will make or break the book in sales. They are what grabs and hooks your readers, and if the beginning is really poor then most people won't get into the story and won't get into the book itself.

To mess up the opening is basically throwing the book away.

 

[anthorn]

This happened with Twelve Kings of Sharakai. Hardback was full of errors.

 

[Cathbad]

I reviewed the first Dragonlance novel for a college newspaper. I had so wanted to give it a good review; it was TSR's first published novel.

But they had obviously skipped the editing phase. To this day, I have never seen so many errors in a novel! Spelling, punctuation, and someone speaking at a meeting they had left two pages before!

Too sad.