I was a bit grumpy last night and flipping through Boddington's Safari Rifles II didn't help. After noticing, again, some of the bad photos etc in the book, I got to thinking. The last 3 Boddington books I've bought have been plagued by terrible proof reading/editing. Granted, Safari Guide II and Big Game Argentina were collaborative efforts, but the editing/proof reading was really poor. Bad to the point that it does reduce my enjoyment of them. I'm not talking about the Spanish syntax in Big Game Argentina, but basic grammar and word usage that will look fine to Word, but not to a reader. This is not to pick on CB, he's one of my favourites and I'll still be buying his work but wow, you think the publishers would want to produce a product that was better than high school standards.

Rant over.

Dean

Glad you didn't blame Craig. He is the most literate of all the gun and hunting writers, IMHO. As you obviously realize, the errors you find in books are too frequently not the fault of authors.

For example, the editor of my biography changed "whitetail" to "white-tailed" every time the word appeared. This resulted in many readers believing I was ignorant enough to write "white-tailed buck" and "white-tailed doe."

Professional proofreaders are as obsolete as buttonhooks and buggy whips. Microsoft's Word has replaced them and editors are supposed to catch any glitches. However, while an editor may have an advanced degree in English, lots of problems can result if he/she does not know the subject thoroughly.

Bill Quimby

I'll admit I know next to nothing about the publishing business, but you'd think cost effective alternatives could be found. Hunting books are definitely a niche market with a lot of knowledgable enthusiasts buying the books. How hard could it be to find someone not connected to the project but with a bit of knowledge on the subject who'd be willing to proof a book in exchange for a free copy if they did a decent job?

Ah well, I'm getting pretty good at editing as I read and am basically resigned to it. If I was paying for a plug in the book though, I'd be far less understanding.

Cheers,
Dean

How long does it take you to read and correct 95,000 to 150,000 words? What is the least amount per hour that you would do this work for? Odds are it's a heck of a lot more than the price of the book.

Incidentally, it doesn't take long before readers identify and reject authors who accept payment for plugging products in their books. It not only is unethical, it's downright dumb!

Bll quimby

Bill,

You are right that you couldn't afford to pay a person enough to do the job. I'll bet you could find passionate people to do a book or two a year as part of their hunting lierature hobby though. Getting quality, timely work would be a bit hit and miss though. That idea may end up being more trouble than it is worth, but the results wouldn't be any worse than what I often see now.

Using the word plugging was very sloppy on my part. I was thinking of paid ads and project sponsors, not a company paying an author to produce good reviews. Dumb is about the right word to describe that practice. I'm a bit surprised that paying sponsors would but up with bad typos showing up beside pictures of their products.

I'm glad to have the niche publishing companies, but sometimes get annoyed at the lack of quality control.

Dean

If you find a good proof reader please pass on their info to me. 100 pairs of eyes can read the same book and still not catch everything.

Once it goes to press, it's too late until the 2nd printing and it is humiliating. On the other hand there aren't too many books that don't have at least a couple grammatical errors.

I published something a couple years back and all final drafts were approved by me. When it went to print however, the editor apparently thought that my sentences were too short so decided to comma splice a bunch together! I was and am still upset about that as it was my name on the thing and I therefore looked like the moron.

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
How long does it take you to read and correct 95,000 to 150,000 words? What is the least amount per hour that you would do this work for? Odds are it's a heck of a lot more than the price of the book.

Incidentally, it doesn't take long before readers identify and reject authors who accept payment for plugging products in their books. It not only is unethical, it's downright dumb!

Bll quimby

Bill, I'm available mid winter, .10 a word....

Bill, you might want to apply to Filmit. See his post above.

Bill Quimby

No doubt, you guys never got letters directly from Elmer Keith...

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
No doubt, you guys never got letters directly from Elmer Keith...

I saw him at Safeway today, he promised to write....

quote:

Originally posted by filmit:
If you find a good proof reader please pass on their info to me. 100 pairs of eyes can read the same book and still not catch everything.

Once it goes to press, it's too late until the 2nd printing and it is humiliating. On the other hand there aren't too many books that don't have at least a couple grammatical errors.

billithewild.... ten cents a word 20 cents a correction, no sin tax....

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
No doubt, you guys never got letters directly from Elmer Keith...

I wish I'd saved the letter I got as director of SCI's publications. It bore no resemblance to anything I saw published below his byline.

Bill Quimby