Comments on: Don’t Let This Happen to You! – From The Vault of Publishing Horror Stories http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/ A Monthly Newsletter for the Small Press and Independent Self-Publisher || Published by RJ Communications The Print Buyers' Alternative Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:44:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Jonathan http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-32695 Jonathan Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:39:05 +0000 http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/#comment-32695 Thanks for this great article and an important heads-up. I am finding there is more work involved in editing and proof reading than there is in writing and revising. It's the latter that requires a vast amount of attention to detail and concentration... whereas writing can (hopefully) just flow. Thanks for this great article and an important heads-up.
I am finding there is more work involved in editing and proof reading than there is in writing and revising. It’s the latter that requires a vast amount of attention to detail and concentration… whereas writing can (hopefully) just flow.

]]> By: LaVonne http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-31380 LaVonne Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:04:12 +0000 http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/#comment-31380 I used to proofread SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) compliance documents and we actually had to set our spell checker to catch when the "L" was left out of "public." It was also not unusual to see the "o" left out of "account" (not good!) One of the best ones I recall was for a company called TransTexas Pipline, where the word processor accepted the spell checker's suggestion of "Transexual"! Yes, the client saw it and, fortunately for us, he had a good sense of humor and just thought we were just playing a joke. I used to proofread SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) compliance documents and we actually had to set our spell checker to catch when the “L” was left out of “public.” It was also not unusual to see the “o” left out of “account” (not good!) One of the best ones I recall was for a company called TransTexas Pipline, where the word processor accepted the spell checker’s suggestion of “Transexual”! Yes, the client saw it and, fortunately for us, he had a good sense of humor and just thought we were just playing a joke.

]]> By: Santhosh Reddy http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-31284 Santhosh Reddy Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:01:15 +0000 http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/#comment-31284 Many times our team found out silly mistakes in the final version of an article after it went through several rounds of editing and proofing. But nothing hurts as much as finding a mistake in the published version. I believe reading aloud a draft can catch errors that are difficult to spot. Many times our team found out silly mistakes in the final version of an article after it went through several rounds of editing and proofing. But nothing hurts as much as finding a mistake in the published version. I believe reading aloud a draft can catch errors that are difficult to spot.

]]> By: Jean http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-31054 Jean Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:08:21 +0000 http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/#comment-31054 I live in Boston and once found a pamphlet that listed various walking tours/ routes throughout the city. I started howling with laughter when I read that one of the stops was at Boston Pubic Library I called the company that put out this little gem of information . I could hear an audible gasp from the poor girl when I told her of the mistake. I kept imagining the tourists reactions when they read about such places in Boston, Mass. I kept this beauty of a typo on my refrigerator for some time after that. The “L” in “PUBLIC” was left out. Think about it. That was not good. I live in Boston and once found a pamphlet that listed various walking tours/ routes throughout the city. I started howling with laughter when I read that one of the stops was at Boston Pubic Library I called the company that put out this little gem of information . I could hear an audible gasp from the poor girl when I told her of the mistake. I kept imagining the tourists reactions when they read about such places in Boston, Mass. I kept this beauty of a typo on my refrigerator for some time after that.

The “L” in “PUBLIC” was left out. Think about it. That was not good.

]]> By: Rob http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-29278 Rob Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:56:45 +0000 http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/#comment-29278 I've always felt that someone who can only think of one way to spell a word, has a damn poor mind. I’ve always felt that someone who can only think of one way to spell a word, has a damn poor mind.

]]> By: Debra Slover http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-29081 Debra Slover Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:25:38 +0000 http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/#comment-29081 Carolyn: Wonderful tips. I would like to add another tip for authors doing a final proof. I stumbled across Acrobat Reader's read aloud function during my final sign off. I was sent the file as a PDF. My book had been proof read two professionals (my editor and proof reader) as well as myself and three professional colleagues. None of us caught this error "I saw her head to over the barn." It should have read "I saw her head over to the barn." That was the first of seven mistakes that Harold, the name I gave the computer reader voice, caught. My point, humans have a tendency to compensate for such mistakes when reading, even the professionals. Harold he can only read the words on the page in the order they are written. Harold won't catch some of the mistakes you mention regarding usage, but it is a great and free tool that everyone could benefit from using. I didn't know about this function until then and was surprised that none of the professionals I was working with knew about such a wonderful tool. Debra Carolyn:

Wonderful tips. I would like to add another tip for authors doing a final proof. I stumbled across Acrobat Reader’s read aloud function during my final sign off. I was sent the file as a PDF. My book had been proof read two professionals (my editor and proof reader) as well as myself and three professional colleagues. None of us caught this error “I saw her head to over the barn.” It should have read “I saw her head over to the barn.” That was the first of seven mistakes that Harold, the name I gave the computer reader voice, caught.

My point, humans have a tendency to compensate for such mistakes when reading, even the professionals. Harold he can only read the words on the page in the order they are written. Harold won’t catch some of the mistakes you mention regarding usage, but it is a great and free tool that everyone could benefit from using.

I didn’t know about this function until then and was surprised that none of the professionals I was working with knew about such a wonderful tool.

Debra

]]> By: Kathryn Marion http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-29046 Kathryn Marion Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:59:43 +0000 http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/#comment-29046 Great advice. The webmaster needs to take heed as well: In the right-hand column of this page is "What to submit an article that will go out to over 60,000 subscribers?" Great advice. The webmaster needs to take heed as well:
In the right-hand column of this page is “What to submit an article that will go out to over 60,000 subscribers?”

]]> By: Tony Burton http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-28931 Tony Burton Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:11:59 +0000 http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/07/08/don%e2%80%99t-let-this-happen-to-you-from-the-vault-of-publishing-horror-stories/#comment-28931 Carolyn, I had a sort of weird problem. The book was written in MS Word, then ported over to FrameMaker. Something about FrameMaker didn't like underlining from the version of MS word used by the author. I had never had an issue before, so as everything was OK in the Word version, I didn't re-proof the FrameMaker version. There were two instances of underlining. In each case, FrameMaker deleted everything underlined and everything AFTER the underlining until there was another hard return, at the start of the next paragraph. So, about eight lines of text were missing from the book in toto, in the middle of two paragraphs. Luckily, it was only the ARCs that were printed this way, but still! Wasted time and money. Lesson learned: inspect the manuscript closely and word-for-word in EVERY stage of the process, even when you "KNOW" it's good! Tony Carolyn,

I had a sort of weird problem. The book was written in MS Word, then ported over to FrameMaker. Something about FrameMaker didn’t like underlining from the version of MS word used by the author. I had never had an issue before, so as everything was OK in the Word version, I didn’t re-proof the FrameMaker version.

There were two instances of underlining. In each case, FrameMaker deleted everything underlined and everything AFTER the underlining until there was another hard return, at the start of the next paragraph. So, about eight lines of text were missing from the book in toto, in the middle of two paragraphs. Luckily, it was only the ARCs that were printed this way, but still! Wasted time and money.

Lesson learned: inspect the manuscript closely and word-for-word in EVERY stage of the process, even when you “KNOW” it’s good!

Tony

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