[Rant] Do editing/proofreading errors drive you mad, too?

[Ourph]

Also, there is a distinction between "industry standards" and average". Regardless of the fictional Lake Wogeban where all of the children are above average, half of anything must be below average. Unless everything is equally bad and equally good and thus equally the same, its the nature of "averages".

It's also in the nature of "deviation from the mean" that some points fall further away from the average than others. The question is, why can (for example) Expeditious Retreat Press and Malhavoc, RPG publishers who are on the small side, with few employees and no special access to resources, brand names or corporate backing put out books that are at least as high in quality (speaking strictly about editing/proofing here) as the industry leader, WotC (i.e. average or above average) while larger companies with more employees, the advantages of a unique brand name, corporate affiliations and stronger marketing put out books which are not only below the industry average, but much further below than some small, shoestring, one-man companies who barely scrape by? If, when it comes to quality editing and proofreading, deviation from the mean is directly correlated to financial resources as the "industry insiders" in this thread have suggested, then the "quality average" should be composed of an obvious distribution of the poorest companies with the lowest quality products and the financially stronger companies with the highest quality products; and the deviation of a particular company from the mean should be a direct result of their financial resources (i.e. if company A is 20% poorer than company B then their products should be about 20% more error-ridden than company B).

But that is simply not the case. Companies with resources that far outstrip many of their competitors regularly put out sub-par products that are much worse than their resources would predict. As a result, I strongly question the assertion that financial resources play the biggest role in determining the quality of a company's products.

 

[babomb]

I'm no John Cooper, but they bother the hell out of me. The most egregious example I've seen in an RPG book is Fantasy Flight's City Works/Cityworks, which can't even get it's own name right consistently.

 

[Thurbane]

That being said, why don't more publishers/writers put out an open call for editors?

Excellent point, one I was going to raise myself...

 

[Ghostwind]

Mostly because of budgetary concerns. No one wants to work for free.

 

[Seonaid]

Mostly because of budgetary concerns. No one wants to work for free.

But that's not true. Three people (that I remember) have posted here that they'd be willing to do it for free. Maybe the other two were tongue-in-cheek, but I'm dead serious. If you give me credit and the right to take a couple pages' excerpt for my portfolio (hell, you could even pick the pages, if you're afraid I'll spread secrets), I'd be happy to edit for free. I don't even want a comp copy of the product. It would be nice, but it's not necessary. Or if you feel bad "not paying" me (or whomever), offer a token--a comp copy and a couple of bucks. I once read a textbook published by a small press that was so riddled with errors that it was almost unreadable. I would have seriously edited their book--it was about 100 pages and, with the number of errors, would have taken several hours' work to do--for $10. There were three authors, all of whom had full-time jobs that weren't writing, and that would have been less than $4 out of each of their pockets if the publisher wasn't willing to pony up.

It pains me to see things that aren't edited well. Particularly if, as has been bandied about, there is some sort of expectation of a certain level of production.

That being said, I would much prefer a document that's obviously been spell-checked and grammar-checked (i.e., things like "they're" and "there" are missed, but there's no spelling mistakes, like "womman") or one that's had a major "find & replace" than one that appears to have had no one look at it. At least that publisher cared a little bit about it.

And let me just say that if there are any publishers in any field who are relying on their writers to be well enough versed in grammar, punctuation, and all the other rules of writing, they need to read this thread. It's been said before and I could add to the list, but writers are not good editors much of the time.

Edit: I should add that most likely people who edit for free one day will want to be compensated for it, especially if they're trying to get a fledgling career off the ground, but you'll never run out of people willing to get into the business, even if it's just to tell their friends, "Hey, look, my name's in this one!" And as long as they're screened appropriately, it won't cause more work for or otherwise be detrimental to the publishers. A good screen will take a little bit of time to set up, but once it's done, it won't take more than a moment or two to assess a candidate.

 

[Cassandra]

Three people (that I remember) have posted here that they'd be willing to do it for free. Maybe the other two were tongue-in-cheek, but I'm dead serious.

Okay, I'm no idiot. Please consider this an open call for editors/proofreaders. Anyone in this thread who is willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement and work for comp copies of PDF products, and compliments, speak right up. I'll watch this thread, but you can also e-mail me through the forum or contact me directly by e-mail at: editor (at) tabletopadventures (dot) com .

 

[TarionzCousin]

It's been said before and I could add to the list, but writers are not good editors much of the time.

My ex-girlfriend worked at the Wall Street Journal for several years. They had to edit and copy-edit every writer whose article or OpEd piece they published. Nobody is prefect.

Also, Seonaid spelled Connecticut right. That should get her hired right there.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Also speak up when you find something to admire...

I gotta say, I was impressed - a Rule of the Internet is that any long post opening with "Editing and typographical errors drive me crazy" is bound to contain one or two itself.

Yours looks clean. (Apart from 'generalizations' and 'realize', but that's just cultural indoctrination working against you )

-Hyp.

 

[Cassandra]

Yours looks clean.

Thanks. I'm not sure people realize what kind of pressure there is in posting on forums over a sig that labels one as an editor.

 

[MKMcArtor]

Thanks. I'm not sure people realize what kind of pressure there is in posting on forums over a sig that labels one as an editor.

I agere 10)% wit hthat statemint.