Re: What made you stay here?

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:17:53 GMT, karens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Karen)
wrote:

KC <cmk1996@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:43:48 -0400, Dana Carpender
<dcarpend@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



record hunter wrote:

On Mar 14, 9:36 pm, "Rthrquiet" <rthrqu...@xxxxxxx> wrote:

On Mar 14, 6:18?pm, Barbara Wolfe <bevg...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


I just finished a book that was reasonably well written,
using some "big words" correctly, yet in three separate instances, I was
used as the object rather than me.

A good portion of what is published today is neither edited nor
proofread. Sad, but true--particularly so, given what a small
percentage of a book's budget is eaten up by the costs of editing and
proofreading. But publishers have gambled on the assumption that
people will buy books anyway, and so far they have been right.

I recently bought an edition of the works of Jane Austen (JANE AUSTEN,
for goodness' sake) and had to put it aside because there were so many
typographical errors and meaning-altering changes. After two instances
in which I was sure "imprudent" in the volume I was reading had been
"impudent" when Dear Jane wrote it (and a glance back at my falling-
apart copies of EMMA and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE from college confirmed
both instances), I couldn't make myself continue reading. I've since
found a somewhat better edition, but even that still has a few typos.

<heavy, heavy sigh>

Michael



Find a name, find an address, and send it back. I think I'm going to
do the same.

Worse than no editing, and publishers not caring, is when a writer
decides correct spelling and grammar no longer matter. A mystery
writer friend of mine argued with me over and over that she could use
"broach" to mean a piece of jewelry you pin on instead of "brooch,"
because "they had changed the rules." Huh? They Who?

And I told her about it in a pre-printing copy. It just didn't
matter.

<even heavier sigh>


As an author, I must say I find it annoying when an editor "corrects" my
spelling when I got it right in the first place. In my most recent
cookbook, in a recipe for crab, I warned against using "Delicaseas" -- a
brand name for fake sea food -- because the stuff has a lot of added
carbohydrate. The editor changed it to "delicacies," and I didn't catch
it in the galley proofs, damn it.

Dana

Grr. That's just the type of info that your readers are looking for,
I'm sure. They want to know what you know about specific products, so
that they don't have to stand in the aisle reading every label,
because you have done it for them.

KC

Plus, avid cookbook readers yearn for brand names, especially when
it's a specialty book, like a low-carb one. This kind of thing
really does matter to us.

Karen

It just occured that it could be quite misunderstood, too, depending
on how it was presented in her book. If she said something about
Delicaseas being full of carbs, someone would be led to believe that
delicacies are something to avoid. Very different message there.

KC
.

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