Typographical Idiosyncrasies
Geez. Ever suspect that written text rewrites itself while nobody is looking?
I recently had a few queries from Anchor as they prepare for the massmarket release of The Other Lands later this summer. Seems the copy editor found some mistakes and wanted to run them by me.
Mistakes? Now, a year after the book had been put through the editorial mill by Doubleday? Surely not!
Er... or maybe so. They produced several gems that I'll not repeat here. Happily, they won't appear in the paperback. They will live on the hardback, of course, but that's part of what makes hardbacks worth it. Little... um... typographical idiosyncrasies (that's what I call mistakes whenever I can).
I guess I can be thankful that I have a publisher that copy edits a book that's already been copy edited. Nice to have professionals involved...
I recently had a few queries from Anchor as they prepare for the massmarket release of The Other Lands later this summer. Seems the copy editor found some mistakes and wanted to run them by me.
Mistakes? Now, a year after the book had been put through the editorial mill by Doubleday? Surely not!
Er... or maybe so. They produced several gems that I'll not repeat here. Happily, they won't appear in the paperback. They will live on the hardback, of course, but that's part of what makes hardbacks worth it. Little... um... typographical idiosyncrasies (that's what I call mistakes whenever I can).
I guess I can be thankful that I have a publisher that copy edits a book that's already been copy edited. Nice to have professionals involved...
Labels: Creative Process, The Biz, The Other Lands, Writing Life
posted by David Anthony Durham at
10:00 AM
2 Comments:
Was there a similar process for the release of the book 1 paperback? I think I saw one small typo in the hardcover but I'd have to reread to find it. Didn't bother me though and I still enjoyed the book. =)
Do publisher's accept unsolicited remarks on "typographical idiosyncrasies" from readers for future printings or is it generally an internal process? I've noticed ebooks (particuarly older ones) suffer typos.
Oh, I'm sure there was. I don't recall getting copy edit queries for a paperback before, but I'm sure they did something similar before. Technically, my paperback publisher is a different house than the hardback publisher (although they're all under one uber-umbrella).
Before, it's more that I'd notice a typo myself and mention it my editor, assuming it would get fixed for the paperback - or for future printings of the same edition.
I'd say it's generally an internal process. But that's mostly because I'm not sure how most readers would get in quick contact with most editors. The easiest way, I suppose, for a reader to channel the remarks would be through email the writer him/herself. Not all of them would welcome that, though...
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