Every Book and Magazine with Typos/Errors?
I am reading Face by Alexie and on page 35 there is a sentence that needs indenting. This a game, finding these tiny errors, locating them in magazines, canonical works, some huge publisher.
One part of me—the part editing The Broken Plate and about to teach about copy-editing—is paranoid. Many magazines feel less (or no) errors are related to the quality of the publication.
Some feel like a typo in a book is a human gesture, a beautiful mole, unsymmetrical ears, the smudge in the painting, the flaw that makes the thing.
How much is on the editor, the writer?
How closely do you look at your galleys (if you get them)?
Do you have a technique to catch errors? The writer, too near, as the worst diagnostic?
War story? One time a magazine had my word “years” changed to “ears.” That smarted a bit. Years, ears…
You?
(image by Mr. Eggers)
Tags: editing, editors, errors, writers
I recently had a poem with a typo in a mag–I think I actually caught it when they sent me proofs, but the typo actually made the poem better! So now it’s a different poem, if only slightly, than I consciously intended.
I read out loud to catch mistakes–easier to do with poetry than fiction. As far as editing a magazine, I’d hate to screw other people’s work up with mistakes. Sure, it’s inevitable, but annoying nonetheless. I did just find a typo on our copyright page, though.
I recently had a poem with a typo in a mag–I think I actually caught it when they sent me proofs, but the typo actually made the poem better! So now it’s a different poem, if only slightly, than I consciously intended.
I read out loud to catch mistakes–easier to do with poetry than fiction. As far as editing a magazine, I’d hate to screw other people’s work up with mistakes. Sure, it’s inevitable, but annoying nonetheless. I did just find a typo on our copyright page, though.
I don’t expect to elicit much sympathy for this comment (ahem), but when reading I spend half my time wondering if that’s a spelling error, if that’s a grammatical error, if that’s a punctuation error – or whether it’s an American form of English as opposed to my British form. I’m cottoning on to most of the differences now, but still some pass me by.
I don’t expect to elicit much sympathy for this comment (ahem), but when reading I spend half my time wondering if that’s a spelling error, if that’s a grammatical error, if that’s a punctuation error – or whether it’s an American form of English as opposed to my British form. I’m cottoning on to most of the differences now, but still some pass me by.
When I get a story I wanna use I do a line edit then give the mistakes to the writer to correct. With this last issue, after we had everything layed out we printed the whole thing out and I proofed it, my designer proofed it and we called in a third party to proof it. And still there were mistakes we missed.
We spelled the word ‘patrol’ as ‘partol’ and not in the body text but in the title of the piece. That was a head smacking moment when we caught that one. And also we spelled a contributors name incorrectly throughout the entire issue. That made me feel like a real asshole for a few days.
No matter how intensive you proof, when you’re working with 100+ pages of text, you’re always, always, always going to miss something. It’s inevitable. Do your best and don’t let it get to you when you fuck up.
When I get a story I wanna use I do a line edit then give the mistakes to the writer to correct. With this last issue, after we had everything layed out we printed the whole thing out and I proofed it, my designer proofed it and we called in a third party to proof it. And still there were mistakes we missed.
We spelled the word ‘patrol’ as ‘partol’ and not in the body text but in the title of the piece. That was a head smacking moment when we caught that one. And also we spelled a contributors name incorrectly throughout the entire issue. That made me feel like a real asshole for a few days.
No matter how intensive you proof, when you’re working with 100+ pages of text, you’re always, always, always going to miss something. It’s inevitable. Do your best and don’t let it get to you when you fuck up.
Is this a typo in the first paragraph?: “This a game…” Should it be “This is a game…”?
Is this a typo in the first paragraph?: “This a game…” Should it be “This is a game…”?
my first book is full of typos (embarrassingly so!). in all fairness, i think i had three days to copy edit a 280 page book. though that’s hardly an excuse.
my very first print publication, in a now defunct journal, misspelled my name THREE times in THREE different ways.
my first book is full of typos (embarrassingly so!). in all fairness, i think i had three days to copy edit a 280 page book. though that’s hardly an excuse.
my very first print publication, in a now defunct journal, misspelled my name THREE times in THREE different ways.
don’t be clever, eric
maybe?
sounds correct when spoken
Chris has nailed it:
“No matter how intensive you proof, when you’re working with 100+ pages of text, you’re always, always, always going to miss something. It’s inevitable. Do your best and don’t let it get to you when you fuck up.”
Chris has nailed it:
“No matter how intensive you proof, when you’re working with 100+ pages of text, you’re always, always, always going to miss something. It’s inevitable. Do your best and don’t let it get to you when you fuck up.”
I just thought it would be great if any typos in this post were intentional, to accentuate the idea that “[s]ome feel like a typo in a book is a human gesture, a beautiful mole, unsymmetrical ears, the smudge in the painting, the flaw that makes the thing.”
I just thought it would be great if any typos in this post were intentional, to accentuate the idea that “[s]ome feel like a typo in a book is a human gesture, a beautiful mole, unsymmetrical ears, the smudge in the painting, the flaw that makes the thing.”
I thought about that too, e. tried to get my smudged fingerprints in that photo…
Nice, yeah, I was wondering what those were…
Nice, yeah, I was wondering what those were…
I got a finished copy of my book the other day and there are two typos I noticed…and then a friend pointed out a third! I had “balling” instead of “bawling.” Oops.
On the other hand, I think the last few Future Tense releases that I’ve edited (sometimes with the help of friends) have been typo-free. Take that!!
I got a finished copy of my book the other day and there are two typos I noticed…and then a friend pointed out a third! I had “balling” instead of “bawling.” Oops.
On the other hand, I think the last few Future Tense releases that I’ve edited (sometimes with the help of friends) have been typo-free. Take that!!
You might not want to talk about typos, and then use “less” instead of “fewer.”
You might not want to talk about typos, and then use “less” instead of “fewer.”
i think typos are a sign of the general decline of good work. the human gesture is in the writing itself, or should be; typos and the rest just express carelessness and irresponsibility and amateurism. but yours is an interesting counter-intuitive theory, sean, even tough it seems to condone qualities i despise.
i think typos are a sign of the general decline of good work. the human gesture is in the writing itself, or should be; typos and the rest just express carelessness and irresponsibility and amateurism. but yours is an interesting counter-intuitive theory, sean, even tough it seems to condone qualities i despise.
1-3 typos in an otherwise great book feel special to me—very much like the beautiful moles you mentioned. I feel somehow closer to the text for spotting them—ha! So you’re not -totally- perfect!
But if I notice any more errors than that (keeping in mind that I’m reading solely for enjoyment and not for proofing—I’m sure there are 10x more errors that I don’t even catch, in any text), then it’ll probably just be annoying.
1-3 typos in an otherwise great book feel special to me—very much like the beautiful moles you mentioned. I feel somehow closer to the text for spotting them—ha! So you’re not -totally- perfect!
But if I notice any more errors than that (keeping in mind that I’m reading solely for enjoyment and not for proofing—I’m sure there are 10x more errors that I don’t even catch, in any text), then it’ll probably just be annoying.
Stephen, that’s a good point, though grammar and typos might be two different things, though both can be seen as style, or person, or just right/wrong. I mean I feel they are the same and different.
That grammar rule I also butches out loud, too. So maybe I should just learn it?
I mean butcher. That was a typo.
when i interned at Grove/Atlantic (Alexie’s publisher) i was initially shocked how much vital work the two (only two) full-time editors had to farm out to interns. everyone’s so time-crunched it’s crazy. i’m sure it’s worse now.
also, in a bigtime fancypants novel from st. martins press, the author had the protagonist stand beside a saguaro cactus in new mexico. there aren’t any saguaros in new mexico, so that bugged me because no one — not even the author — checked to see where the world’s most famous cactus grew before writing that down? if that were a magazine article, you’d have fact-checkers all over that shit. (though in an essay in high country news i once wrote that i drove a camry when i actually drive a corolla. that’s how much i pay attention to car-related things. i am unmanly.)
when i interned at Grove/Atlantic (Alexie’s publisher) i was initially shocked how much vital work the two (only two) full-time editors had to farm out to interns. everyone’s so time-crunched it’s crazy. i’m sure it’s worse now.
also, in a bigtime fancypants novel from st. martins press, the author had the protagonist stand beside a saguaro cactus in new mexico. there aren’t any saguaros in new mexico, so that bugged me because no one — not even the author — checked to see where the world’s most famous cactus grew before writing that down? if that were a magazine article, you’d have fact-checkers all over that shit. (though in an essay in high country news i once wrote that i drove a camry when i actually drive a corolla. that’s how much i pay attention to car-related things. i am unmanly.)
what’s the source of all these typos and factual and grammatical errors? layoffs in publishing and journalism, for sure, but also a decline in the rigor of English education and a growing relativism when it comes to whether something is true or factual — the triumph of truthiness over truthfulness.
what’s the source of all these typos and factual and grammatical errors? layoffs in publishing and journalism, for sure, but also a decline in the rigor of English education and a growing relativism when it comes to whether something is true or factual — the triumph of truthiness over truthfulness.
There’s an error on Page 8 of Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood that continues to bother me. It calls the whole structure of the book into question.
There’s an error on Page 8 of Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood that continues to bother me. It calls the whole structure of the book into question.
I agree.
“tough”
I once had a job proofreading knitting patterns. Very meticulous work. And I hate it when I find mistakes in technical stuff! I find it distracting to find typos and, especially, spelling errors while reading “literature”. It’s an annoying distraction. If something is well written (and well edited), a good reader knows what is “intentional” spelling-, punctuation-, grammar-wise, etc. BTW, has anyone ever found a typo in The New Yorker?
I agree.
“tough”
I once had a job proofreading knitting patterns. Very meticulous work. And I hate it when I find mistakes in technical stuff! I find it distracting to find typos and, especially, spelling errors while reading “literature”. It’s an annoying distraction. If something is well written (and well edited), a good reader knows what is “intentional” spelling-, punctuation-, grammar-wise, etc. BTW, has anyone ever found a typo in The New Yorker?
PS- I actually don’t mind typos, etc. on HTML GIANT. It’s the medium. It’s accessible, it’s democratic, it’s free. Much is written “conversationally”, in real time. (Most of it…. some of the longer, more “academic posts have obviously been well composed, but again, due to the medium/nature of a blog, errors in them do not bother me either.)
And I love many of the “voices” I “hear” when reading various posters and commenters. Don’t ask me to name names! (Or go ahead, ask!)
PS- I actually don’t mind typos, etc. on HTML GIANT. It’s the medium. It’s accessible, it’s democratic, it’s free. Much is written “conversationally”, in real time. (Most of it…. some of the longer, more “academic posts have obviously been well composed, but again, due to the medium/nature of a blog, errors in them do not bother me either.)
And I love many of the “voices” I “hear” when reading various posters and commenters. Don’t ask me to name names! (Or go ahead, ask!)
Oops! Left out a * ” * after “academic”. Ha!
Oops! Left out a * ” * after “academic”. Ha!
Ok, I learned the rule now at grammar girl, thanks.
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/less-versus-fewer.aspx
I am on page 80 now of Face. There is a comma with too large a space gap, 12 lines down.
you’re right, sean. grammar and typos are different and i thought about that after i posted it. also, sorry for being a pedantic little shit hehe :)
you’re right, sean. grammar and typos are different and i thought about that after i posted it. also, sorry for being a pedantic little shit hehe :)
Not beeing native speaker (whichever language) a poet can build-in grammar errors and another linguistic weirdness in his lyric textes. Surely, most people will suppose, all these mistakes were completely generated by the skillessness of the author, but they are actually intended. I mean, a perfect language belongs to people, who were born in this language. The rest of people has a luxus to take and use this language with necessary distance.
Personal style is specific sound, taste and smell of language. The inteded errors can give it a shape.
Not beeing native speaker (whichever language) a poet can build-in grammar errors and another linguistic weirdness in his lyric textes. Surely, most people will suppose, all these mistakes were completely generated by the skillessness of the author, but they are actually intended. I mean, a perfect language belongs to people, who were born in this language. The rest of people has a luxus to take and use this language with necessary distance.
Personal style is specific sound, taste and smell of language. The inteded errors can give it a shape.
If you want to erase every single tiny little mistake from any piece of writing, give it to an ordinary English teacher. Believe me, he/she/it will find absolutely everything in there, without any great effort. And we (yes, sigh) even get some perverted pleasure out of it. It is very curious, and a little sad.
If you want to erase every single tiny little mistake from any piece of writing, give it to an ordinary English teacher. Believe me, he/she/it will find absolutely everything in there, without any great effort. And we (yes, sigh) even get some perverted pleasure out of it. It is very curious, and a little sad.
I just now found a typo/grammar error on page 102 of The Mezzanine by Baker: “…I was reminded of…dreams in which I been trying to drink very thick shakes through impossibly slender straws.”
(“I been” instead of “I’d been”)
And this in a book about a young man obsessively concerned with detail.
This bugged me so much, and seemed so unexpectedly coincidental, having read this post (and commented, above) earlier today, that I had to get my sorry ass out of bed to write this comment.
I just now found a typo/grammar error on page 102 of The Mezzanine by Baker: “…I was reminded of…dreams in which I been trying to drink very thick shakes through impossibly slender straws.”
(“I been” instead of “I’d been”)
And this in a book about a young man obsessively concerned with detail.
This bugged me so much, and seemed so unexpectedly coincidental, having read this post (and commented, above) earlier today, that I had to get my sorry ass out of bed to write this comment.
It is so hard to publish an error free book or magazine. When I was younger and more arrogant I used to copy edit mass market paperbacks and return them to the publisher. I grew out of that. I looked at the PANK 4 proofs today and saw an error in the TOC, something I’ve pored over countless times and an error I could have easily overlooked. I’ve come to realize that it is near impossible to publish something completely error free, especially when it is 240 pages long and includes a lot of experimental work. I’ve also found that writers are not as diligent in perusing their galleys as they could be. Sometimes I don’t think they really read them, especially with our print galleys. If there are lots of errors in a publication, I am less inclined to respect the creative work but if there are a few, I shrug it off because, as the saying goes, to err is human.
We finally have a copy editor on staff, Alicia Kennedy, who is outstanding and I feel she has really helped us step up our game in terms of publishing error free books and magazines. If you’re looking to hire a great, reliable copy editor, we highly recommend her services.
It is so hard to publish an error free book or magazine. When I was younger and more arrogant I used to copy edit mass market paperbacks and return them to the publisher. I grew out of that. I looked at the PANK 4 proofs today and saw an error in the TOC, something I’ve pored over countless times and an error I could have easily overlooked. I’ve come to realize that it is near impossible to publish something completely error free, especially when it is 240 pages long and includes a lot of experimental work. I’ve also found that writers are not as diligent in perusing their galleys as they could be. Sometimes I don’t think they really read them, especially with our print galleys. If there are lots of errors in a publication, I am less inclined to respect the creative work but if there are a few, I shrug it off because, as the saying goes, to err is human.
We finally have a copy editor on staff, Alicia Kennedy, who is outstanding and I feel she has really helped us step up our game in terms of publishing error free books and magazines. If you’re looking to hire a great, reliable copy editor, we highly recommend her services.
This is something we have run into. There really is nothing you can do, sometimes, particularly when a typo is a word spelled correctly but is still the incorrect word. The eye tends not to catch that sort of thing.
This is something we have run into. There really is nothing you can do, sometimes, particularly when a typo is a word spelled correctly but is still the incorrect word. The eye tends not to catch that sort of thing.
Typos bother me, they do. Once I found a typo on the back cover of a book of poems published by a good publisher – the word “taught” was used when it should have been the word “taut” – three or four intelligent people looked at that word and nobody noticed it was wrong? I was going to write to the publisher out of a misguided sense of zeal, but a friend talked me out of it. Later I looked at the publisher’s website and the exact quote was copied from the back cover to the website, typo and all – again two or three intelligent people were involved. Is “taut” a word we’re losing?
Typos bother me, they do. Once I found a typo on the back cover of a book of poems published by a good publisher – the word “taught” was used when it should have been the word “taut” – three or four intelligent people looked at that word and nobody noticed it was wrong? I was going to write to the publisher out of a misguided sense of zeal, but a friend talked me out of it. Later I looked at the publisher’s website and the exact quote was copied from the back cover to the website, typo and all – again two or three intelligent people were involved. Is “taut” a word we’re losing?
http://www.blackocean.org/scary-no-scary/
People need to know, Chris. People need to know.
But, oh man, I hope no one who minds ever reads a PG book.
http://www.blackocean.org/scary-no-scary/
People need to know, Chris. People need to know.
But, oh man, I hope no one who minds ever reads a PG book.
I was trying to let the innocent remain innocent!
I was trying to let the innocent remain innocent!
I received a call for submissions the other day from The Rio Grande Review, a journal associated with the MFA program at UTEP. I count two typos and four grammitical errors in this one letter:
Dear Friends,
We thank you for having submitted your work on previous occasions, and we would like to invite you to do so again. Please submit and if possible forward the call to other interested wirters. Thank you
Dear Writers,
We are now seeking submissions for our spring edition of Rio Grande Review. This issue is themed around OBSESSION-AVERSION.
Our idea: Obsessions can be plaguing and oftentimes, dictate the direction and content of our writing. Here are the RGR office we are especially fascinated with the idea that to some degree, all writers are “obsessionists.” What we find even more interesting though, is that at times we become obsessed with our aversions. With this in mind, we’re asking that texts submitted for our Spring 2010 edition consider this dynamic in some fashion. Whether this means writing about an obsessive aversion, an aversion, obsession, or how the two complement and direct/enhance/or inform one another, that’s up to you.
Deadline: February 5th, 2010.
To view our complete submissions guidelines, visit our website at http://www.riograndereview.com
We look forward to reading your submissions!
Sincerely,
Rio Grande Review Editors
Sahalie, Miranda & Silvana
Is this a record?
I received a call for submissions the other day from The Rio Grande Review, a journal associated with the MFA program at UTEP. I count two typos and four grammitical errors in this one letter:
Dear Friends,
We thank you for having submitted your work on previous occasions, and we would like to invite you to do so again. Please submit and if possible forward the call to other interested wirters. Thank you
Dear Writers,
We are now seeking submissions for our spring edition of Rio Grande Review. This issue is themed around OBSESSION-AVERSION.
Our idea: Obsessions can be plaguing and oftentimes, dictate the direction and content of our writing. Here are the RGR office we are especially fascinated with the idea that to some degree, all writers are “obsessionists.” What we find even more interesting though, is that at times we become obsessed with our aversions. With this in mind, we’re asking that texts submitted for our Spring 2010 edition consider this dynamic in some fashion. Whether this means writing about an obsessive aversion, an aversion, obsession, or how the two complement and direct/enhance/or inform one another, that’s up to you.
Deadline: February 5th, 2010.
To view our complete submissions guidelines, visit our website at http://www.riograndereview.com
We look forward to reading your submissions!
Sincerely,
Rio Grande Review Editors
Sahalie, Miranda & Silvana
Is this a record?
belatedly reading chris toll’s comment (i was away for a few days), i was just reminded that i caught a typo (or, more precisely a grammar error) in the promo of my latest academic book (ENTERTAINMENT & ETHICS) on the web site of the publisher. it was a problem of agreement, with media being used as a singular noun. presumably a lot of intelligent — or at least educated — people looked at it before i got an eyeful.
belatedly reading chris toll’s comment (i was away for a few days), i was just reminded that i caught a typo (or, more precisely a grammar error) in the promo of my latest academic book (ENTERTAINMENT & ETHICS) on the web site of the publisher. it was a problem of agreement, with media being used as a singular noun. presumably a lot of intelligent — or at least educated — people looked at it before i got an eyeful.
I found the following in Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer:
“Lawrence was, in some ways, a relatively careless writer, indifferent, or so he claimed, to the appearance of his words on the page. ‘What do I care if ‘e’ is somewhere upside down, or ‘g’ comes from the wrong fount? I really don’t.’ Needless to say, this easy-going attitude to matters typographical didn’t stop him lambasting publishers for failing to pick up on exactly this kind of mitsakes: without this capacity for energetic self-contradiction there would be no scrimmage.”
So Dyer is writing about Lawrence’s views on typos, and writes “mitsakes.” What I can’t figure out is whether this is intentional, like a little wink-wink to the reader paying attention. Seems like he’d make it just a bit more obvious if so. Just seems like a weird coincidence if it’s not intentional, as I haven’t noticed any other typos in the book.
I found the following in Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer:
“Lawrence was, in some ways, a relatively careless writer, indifferent, or so he claimed, to the appearance of his words on the page. ‘What do I care if ‘e’ is somewhere upside down, or ‘g’ comes from the wrong fount? I really don’t.’ Needless to say, this easy-going attitude to matters typographical didn’t stop him lambasting publishers for failing to pick up on exactly this kind of mitsakes: without this capacity for energetic self-contradiction there would be no scrimmage.”
So Dyer is writing about Lawrence’s views on typos, and writes “mitsakes.” What I can’t figure out is whether this is intentional, like a little wink-wink to the reader paying attention. Seems like he’d make it just a bit more obvious if so. Just seems like a weird coincidence if it’s not intentional, as I haven’t noticed any other typos in the book.
great book either way.
great book either way.
very true
very true